Brady Hoke BHCC Bits
I know I could have put this down in the other thread, but I figured some of you would miss it.
I commented last night that Brady and Brandon made fun of RR last night. I want to clarify that statement as this, they didn't make fun of RR by name, but they did make references to the old regime and/or previous failures.
Example 1: Someone asked Brady if he will be bringing back the defensive huddle. Brady responded and said something like, "well I'd like to, but a lot of that is dictated by the offense, especially that up tempo spread joke offense". Now that is not verbatim, and I am trying to remember if he used the word "joke", but he made a comment that was close to that.
Example 2: Dave Brandon made a comment to the group saying how much he hated last years Illinois game. Would invite anyone to a basketball game next year if thats what they liked watching. This was in reaction to a comment by someone asking about defense and he basically said that we will be playing defense again under Hoke and our last regime didn't know how to.
Other tidbits:
1. Denard and Molk are doing very well. Denard looks comfortable taking snaps from under center because he used to do it in HS a lot. Not as big of a learning curve as some people might have expected.
2. Denard was never leaving. Hoke didn't even need to talk to him, but he did. Hoke said that Denard was talking to his Dad during the coaching change and Denards Dad told Denard, "listen, you're not leaving Michigan. End of story." Denard agreed with his Dad and told him that he wasn't even thinking about leaving anyways.
3. Coach Hoke says hello to his players during each meeting by saying these things:
Hoke: "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" or "Good evening"
Players: "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" or "Good evening"
Hoke: CHAMPIONSHIPS?
Players: 42
Hoke: YEARS?
Players: 132
Hoke: BEAT?
Players: OHIO!!!
...and then they go on with their business for the day.
4. We will have a kicker...and he will make field goals.
5. Strike policy that most of you know about is: a strike is academic primarily. If you go to class late, leave early, skip, do something stupid, etc. Then that is a strike.
1 strike = wake up at 5 am and push a 45 pound plate 100 yards 12 times without removing hands from the plate or taking a knee.
2 strikes = same thing except two days.
3 strikes = you and your position group have to do it one morning.
4 strikes = the entire side of the ball you play on has to wake up at 5 am and push plates (he said he has never had anyone make it to 4. Either the kid quits or he is held accountable by his teammates and stops making poor decisions).
Well, thats about all I can think of right now. I'll add more later if I think of anything interesting that I left out.
Bottom line is that Hoke is a pretty darn good public speaker. He makes people feel comfortable in him as a head football coach, is honest, and shows that he truly cares about the kids more than anything else. There was a lot of laughing, joking, poking fun of different audience members that I found to be hilarious and impressive because he knew so many "Michigan people".
It was a memorable game, but I'd prefer not to be in another game like that, where our defense is almost completely helpless. 2000 Northwestern was a game where it went the other way. I do not remember that one fondly.
WTF OP.... you should know by now that Hoke is far more refined than to diss the prior coach... I highly highly doubt he said "joke".... though I would expect him to refer to that offense as a "gimmick", as (correct me if I'm wrong) Hoke has in the past. That is irresponsible of you to infer that Hoke and Brandon were mocking RR. Hoke calling the spread a "gimmick offense" is not mocking RR, nor is Brandon show his abhorrence to bad defense.
They were 100% poking a little fun at RR. I never said they were mocking, but they were referencing the old regime and making fun of certain parts.
So, as Bo would say....NO!
I was there, you were not.
[From the OP: "Dave Brandon made a comment to the group saying how much he hated last years Illinois game." ]
Why exactly was Brandon complaining about a thrilling overtime win, in a sold-out stadium, on one of the most gorgeous fall days of the year? That was the most fun I had in Michigan Stadium in many, many months. I suspect it was the most fun that our football players had last year.
Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Is this a picture of what you "hated," Mr. Brandon?
I have to disagree. That was one of the worst games I have ever seen. I remember being excited about becoming bowl eligible, but I hated the game. It seemed like we were waiting for one of the teams to lose the game not waiting for one of the teams to win it.
Those were the days when the Detroit radio guys were soliciting calls from "Michigan fans who might want Michigan to lose so that Rich Rodriguez would get fired."
And the hosts were busily saying that the win over Illinois was one that would make Bo Schembechler roll over in his grave because the defenses were so bad.
It was one of the most dreadful, shameful weeks for the Michigan fan-base since they hung Bennie Oosterbaan in effigy on the Diag.
who could win big 10 games at home, you would have thrilling moments more often, no?
Its kinda sad that the players and fans were excited by simply becomming bowl eligible. Says alot about the previous regime. Here"s to hoping we never have to go though that again.
That it ever had to come to that.
Making fun of the previous regime is utterly classless. The more I hear and read about DB, the more I think he's a stupid, ignorant, arrogant prick who got to where he is not through force of intelligence, but, rather, by possessing a modicum of charisma that he leveraged with his connections forged as a Michigan football alumnus. Not a very good hire...
I couldn't agree more with this.
You may be right on his personality traits, but you're hurting trying to find negative things the guy has done in the substance of the job. The coaching search is off-limits because: A. There still is no actual evidence he screwed anything up during the process. Just a lot of wild speculation from Rich Rod zealots B. We don't know how Hoke will do.
On the positive side:
--he helped get the Crisler Arena package through, plus lights and a new scoreboard at the Big House,
--lined up the Alabama neutral site game
--led Michigan through the gauntlet to a positive end on the football sanctions issues
--reestablished ties with the innocent key members of the 92 and 93 Final Four teams, paving the way for full healing and reconciliation
--strongly endorsed Beilein at the start of the season
--gave the ok to get an NFL defensive coordinator for massive $$$$
I am not in love with any looking back in a negative way on the last coach (even in fun). But in fairness, condemning it without being there and really seeing the method of delivery, is probably very presumptuous too.
Brandon strikes me as a very arrogant man, but as Nate has suggested, I think his business practices have been very solid since he stepped in. I'm ok with this.
He has a nice list of accomplishments outside of the football program but why is the coaching search off limits? For me that's the AD's most important function. Hoke has a great chance to be successful but he wasn't a lot of people's first choice, myself included. I don't like the fact that DB needs to break down video with the coaching staff. I didn't like him showing up in the Fab 5 doc and looking for apologies for something he wasn't even around for. I don't like the fact that he stretched Rich Rod's dismissal into a 2 day ordeal and then cracks on him at banquets or whatever last night was. I knew Rich Rod for longer than I've known Brandon and I had a lot of respect for RR that he would make the right decisions. DB hasn't done anything to inspire that same kind of faith/respect. In fact, he's gone in the opposite direction.
I do not think it can be claimed that DB is doing well until we see how Hoke turns out. His entire legacy will hinge on that. Especially if RR goes elsewhere and wins. Michigan always has and always will revolve around the success of the football program. It does not matter how much money he makes the school. If the football team is losing he will be viewed as a failure.
What a fatuous post. Where does one begin?
1. The credit for the Crisler arena renovations goes to Bill Martin, not Dave Brandon.
2. The credit for the Michigan-Alabama game similarly goes to Bill Martin, not Dave Brandon.
3. Bill Martin led Michigan through the bulk of the NCAA violations ado, not Dave Brandon.
4. You want to give Dave Brandon credit for endorsing Michigan's basketball coach? What else was he supposed to do? Say he doesn't support him? Dave Brandon endorsed Rich Rodriguez, too, but I don't see you including that on his list of "accomplishments." Is this a case of selective memory, or are you just choosing only those facts which support your post?
5. Lauding Dave Brandon for spending big-time money to lure a big coaching name? There's absolutely nothing exceptional about this, other than the fact that Michigan hadn't done this in the past. Spending real money on top-flight coaching talent is what competent ADs do, not the work of any particular genius on Dave Brandon's part.
6. The coaching search is not "off limits" and asserting so doesn't make it true. "A": There is evidence that Dave Brandon overlooked more qualified coaching talent and made a nepotistic hire. Regardless of whether you believe this, you cannot deny that Dave Brandon left the football program twisting in the wind by firing Rodriguez without having a replacement ready to take the helm. That alone is prima facie evidence of incompetence. "B": Even if Hoke succeeds, it does not mean he was a good hire by Dave Brandon. The wisdom of a particular hire must be judged at the present time based on all available evidence (e.g., coaching record, other available candidates, etc.).
7. One need not be present to comment on the propriety of snide remarks about the previous coaching regime. It doesn't matter if Dave Brandon was kidding: any comments that made fun of or disrespected Rich Rodriguez are classless.
If I fired someone, I wouldn't take potshots at them to groups of strangers. I would undoubtedly be thinking some of these things in my head, but I wouldn't go around blurting them out to just anybody. In such a public position as athletic director of one of the best athletic departments in the country, what you say gets scrutinized (see: this board) and pored over. Now, I'm sure Dave Brandon doesn't give a f-ck what any of us think (despite what he may say in a boilerplate email response), but I think I'd be a little more thoughtful in how I chose my words.
It's 5:00 and I'm outta here.
It's cool to believe in your own style of MANBALL and all, but I wouldn't hastily call the spread scheme a joke when Michigan has traditionally never defended spread teams well.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Just because Michigan almost never defended spread teams well does not mean that the spread is the way to go. Especially the read/option spread, which I believe will fade away along with its inventor(R-Rod). Look how quickly NFL defenses adapted to essentially kill the wildcat fad. Seen Pat White lately??
Using the word "spread" to describe an offense is really too general anyhow, there are passing based spread offenses and then theres read option/running based spread offenses. IMHO I see the run based spread as a thing of the past, as in 2004 because it puts the entire offense on the very specialized skills of 1 guy(QB) and places him in harms way far too often.
I could be wrong, maybe R-Rod will win mulitple NC's somewhere else running his same old schtick, I'm just betting against it myself. Just like I'll bet against Cam Newton ever becoming anything in the NFL, just like I did Vince Young & Demarcus. Instincts tell me that there are certian things in football that, through years of trial and error become undeniable truths. Once in a while something comes along that is an anomoly and brings all those old paradigms into question. Barry Sanders never ran to the assigned hole, just read and reacted but nobody is building their offense on the premise that this is money in the bank. Run first QB's have come before(Randall Cunningham) and failed to win consistantly. I don't ever see that trend changing in any real or lasting fashion. I could be wrong, but I've got $1000 riding on it right now(Brother in law insist's RR will win more games than Hoke over the next 6 yrs) I'll eat the crow and pay the bill if I'm wrong but I took $500 from him saying Brees would win a superbowl before Vick . I trust my instincts.
If you have an ounce of love for UM you had to think the Illinois game was one of the best games ever. Yes, neither defense could stop the other offense but both teams played their hearts out and never quit. Best of all, we won.
What did he prefer, the MSU/OSU games?
P.S. I think Bill Martin was long gone when the Alabama game was arranged.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 PM ^
The first report of the Michigan-Alabama game on this blog was on August 8, 2010. (See http://mgoblog.com/content/michigan-alabama-dallas-2012) Bill Martin was the AD at that time and would remain the AD until September 4, 2010. Yes, the official announcement of the game didn't come until about a month after Martin's retirement, when Dave Brandon had taken over the AD spot, but most of the work had (reportedly) been done by the time Martin left, leaving only the minutiae to be nailed down. In other words, the job of securing the game was done by Bill Martin, not Dave Brandon. Dave Brandon just happened to be the man in charge when the press release was issued.