2 recent Hoke interviews

Submitted by born1ntheArbor on

Here's two interviews that Hoke has done recently (Link 1 and Link 2). A lot of it is just fluff that makes you love the fact that Hoke is our coach (mainly the second one). And also an epic amount of coach speak (especially the first one) even for him.

"That still bugs me," Hoke said. "We moved the program a little bit, hopefully, in the right direction. We gave a lot of people a lot to cheer about, and that’s fun, because of the passion people have for Michigan football. But our goal is to win the Big Ten championship.

"We didn’t do it. We played two games on the road (against Michigan State and Iowa), and give credit to your opponents, but we didn’t play like Michigan. That sticks with ya."

WindyCityBlue

March 15th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

....is that our goal should be to win National Championships, not Big Ten Championships!  I still don't get why old school Michigan peeps stick to this goal.  While certainly a great and prestigious achievement, we are Michigan fergodsakes, and we should be aiming higher.

Also, going 0-4 in OOC and winning the Big Ten, would not be a successful season in my mind.  

born1ntheArbor

March 15th, 2012 at 2:46 PM ^

With the SEC lovefest going on, I think it'd be hard for a non-SEC school to get in the NC game unless they won their conference. Not saying we don't want to win non-conference games, but they pretty much have to win their conference to even be considered. Honestly though, to me it seems like Hoke says win B1G championship, but he seems more a "we must win them all" type of guy.

Also, the "team that shouldn't have been there" last year (aka Alabama) kind of destroyed LSU in that game.

UMGooch

March 15th, 2012 at 2:31 PM ^

Can't win a National Championship without winning the Big Ten Championship first. Well, maybe in some weird, hypothetical season it could be possible...but highly unlikely. If we can get our teams back to winning Big Ten Champs regularly, I'll be ecstatic. You'd consider winning all Big Ten games (including MSU, OSU, and the championship game) an unsuccessful season?

I'd rather compete against OSU, MSU, PSU, Wisconsin, and the like than constantly be competing with the questionable schools in the SEC. Not to mention, the National Championship involves tons of stupid, garbage politics, selections, etc. Only the Big Ten Championship can be decided by wins vs. losses. For example, even if MSU went 12-1 last year, it's unlikely they would've been selected over LSU-Alabama.

 

FrankMurphy

March 15th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^

That doesn't bother me so much because I think it just means Hoke focuses on things he can control. Unlike the field for the national championship, every team controls its own fate in the B1G (especially now that we have a conference championship game). If you don't win the B1G championship, it means that you lost at least one game. Not so for the NC (Penn State '94, Auburn '04, Utah '04, Boise State '09, etc). At the end of the day, every coach wants to win every single game. Hoke is no exception. 

Keep in mind that Hoke was on the staff of the '97 team that had a perfect season but had to split the title with Nebraska. That probably affects his outlook a bit and might be the reason why he talks about the B1G championship as his goal.

denardogasm

March 15th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^

The term coach speak bugs me a little, at least in reference to Hoke.  It implies that he is being insincere, and I don't think there's an insincere bone in Brady Hoke's body.

born1ntheArbor

March 15th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^

I don't really think coach speak means insincere per se. And you're right, Hoke does seem to be one of the most sincere people out there. I think it's more of a way of putting things in a way that's really generic and offends no one but at the same time pumps up your home crowd. It usually revolves around a few central points that the coach feels needs to be passed onto players +/- fans +/- recruits. It also involves using a lot of words to say what normal people could say in a few words.

Hoke's coach speak usually revolves around: Michigan is a tremendous place; Michigan degree is tremendous; tradition; toughness; accountability; senior leadership; B1g championships etc...I don't for one second think that he doesn't mean any of this stuff, but they're always things I see him fall back on. And sometimes he uses them to answer questions that he doesn't really feel like answering. I remember some intense long rambling answers from Hoke that somehow tie whatever question to "toughness" and "accountability" even if it kind of makes no sense at all. It's an intense game of connect the dots where the dots aren't even on the same page. But he somehow makes it work at the time. It isn't until after the interview and you think about the answer where you go "wait...what?".

maizenblue87

March 15th, 2012 at 6:23 PM ^

No doubt Hoke is consistent and uncompromising in articulating the expectations of the program. That's great - he sets the bar high and his kids will reach that level.

As a fan, I feel Hoke is reluctant to acknowledge what he has accomplished so far. I don't know any Michigan fan who wasn't pleased with the team 132 experience, or who doesn't see a bright future.