Can Hoke Become Another Moeller?
Gary Moeller's legacy related to Michigan has always fascinated me. He was fired in disgrace after embarrassing himself and U-M, but after a few years in the NFL, he came back and is now fully accepted as a beloved member of the Michigan family. There he was last week, posing with Harbaugh, Lloyd and Hanlon.
So, my question is: A dozen or so years from now, can Brady Hoke have this same legacy? When we introduce our new coach in 2027, will a gray-haired Brady Hoke be there, wearing a Block M shirt and posing for photos? Does Hoke have a future as another Gary Moeller?
January 5th, 2015 at 9:39 AM ^
The answer is no. Will Rich Rod get to come back in 2027?
January 5th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
Coach Harbaugh might be useful here.
The Hanlon anecdote is the pertinent part. Hoke stood for the same ethos, the one that makes Michigan special. That's why he will always be respected by the program. His time was ultimately a failure, but this video might explain why he was so universally loved and supported, and why people wanted him to succeed.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^
Moeller was actually a good coach.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:41 AM ^
Does that mean you have inside info that the Raiders are going to hire him?
January 5th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^
Moeller and Hoke both embarrassed Michigan for very different reasons. Which is why I'm wondering if Hoke will ever be welcomed back the same way Moeller was.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^
He never embarrassed Michigan.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^
You can say that making us irrelevant in football isn't embarrassing (I would disagree), but concussion-gate was embarrassing, and that's on him.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
Finally! I can't believe I had to get this far down in this thread before someone mentioned the most valid reason for Hoke NOT being accepted back.
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January 5th, 2015 at 10:51 AM ^
I'd argue player safety is a wider-net issue, and therefore was on the A.D. My expectations of a football coach is to coach football, not diagnose concussions. What was plain to see on television may not have been plain to see from the sidelines, and while admittedly embarassing, should have been handled differently.
An optimal A.D. response would have been a statement immediately after the game, discussing what was seen from the sidelines while addressing the NCAA approved and universally accepted player-safety systems that were in place that day; addressing how player-safety systems are developed; while acknowledging that the game proves a birds-eye view is a necessary additional implementation; and that from this point forward, a licensed medical professional will sit in the booth, with a video monitor, and alert the coaching staff if any diagnosable health issues become apparent.
Our A.D. (at the time) was incapable of providing an optimal response; and considering player safety is a chief concern of the athletic department, Brandon had to face his ineptitude; which he did gracefully by tendering his resignation.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
Don't ever...ever...EVER...call it "concussion-gate" again. In fact, the whole pinning the word "gate" to bad situations is so amazingly stupid, pointless, and meaningless. Watergate Hotel is the NAME of a hotel.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
And so began thread-gate...
January 5th, 2015 at 7:34 PM ^
I thought this was meme-gate
January 5th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
"- gate" has meaning not because fo the etymology but rather because of the usage.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
Issuing an offical apology to Dantonio, a coach who just admitted that he wanted to shove it down your team's throat at the end of the game. Who never misses a chance to call your school and program arrogant and never fails to show his contempt for the Maize and Blue was embarrassing.
A coach whose team not only lost, but showed no heart, passion or fight was embarrassing.
Not knowing how to handle issues and resorting to blatantly lying at press conferences was embarrassing.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
Gary Moeller embarrassed himself off the field not on it. His record at Michigan was 44-13-3, going 4-1 in bowl games. Hoke's legacy at Michigan is mediocrity.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
What did Moeller do? I could just google it but maybe you guys could give a better explanation.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^
And became belligerent.....
January 5th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
Exactly. His faults had nothing to do with the field. Moeller was a good coach and his record showed it. Hoke's record shows otherwise.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
IMO, Moeller's problems off the field were more of an embarrassment to Michigan than Hoke's problems on it.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
but in a public perception sense, then no way.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^
Your absolutley correct. Our society forgives indiscretions like Garys, but you can't do anything to change Hoke's football record and for all the lambasting that RR got for breaking the bowl streak and the losing records, Hoke (except for his 1st year w/RR players) falls into that same general category.
January 5th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
Was not the one who cheated on his wife, it was his wife who cheated on him, thus, making him the victim.
His wife took him to a very public place thinking that he would not dare to make a scene, and chose theat venue to tell him, but when alcohol is involved, as it often is in bad behavior, Mo lost his sense of propriety, and acted the in a manner that many of people would have acted if put in a similar circumstance.
The two people who really embarassed Michigan are Mo's, I can only assume, ex-wife, and the person who commirtted adultry with her, presumedly Les Miles. Mo is only guilty of bad judgement induced by alcohol.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
but still became belligerent when asked about the Shane Morris concussion.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^
Moeller getting fired is kind of similar to Ron Burgundy getting fired in Anchorman. You can't say "Go fuck yourself, San Diego" and expect to keep your job. It wasn't that the station wanted to fire him, their hands were just tied on that one.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
Moeller was begrudgingly removed from his position for an off the field incident. Hoke was happilly removed from his position for his performance on the field.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
And it's been suggested he may have survived the incident (with his job) had Bo been in town to help mitigate the fallout.
I miss Mo. Glad to see him at the presser.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:44 AM ^
Moeller was a real good coach but a drunk. Hoke is a good guy but a loser. Wins and losses are remembered in football.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^
I'm not a drunk, my goodness there was that one night in Pasadena on January 1, 1998...
January 5th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^
Gary Moeller a drunk due to a single incident....I mean Jimmy was arrested on a DUI charge....
January 5th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
Well that's just patently false, and an ignorant statement.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
Gary Moeller was/is not a drunk. He had one bad night. Anyone that knows him would tell you he was a social drinker at best. Period.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^
Moeller is welcomed back with opens arms because A) he won Big Ten titles B) had a Heisman winner and C) was treated unfairly for being a long time, loyal coach who made a mistake. The admin didn't have his back, so he quit.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
Was Moller fired because of that one incident or was there a longer history?
January 5th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
He was arrested in Southfield on a disorderly conduct charge after drinking too much, and resigned shortly thereafter.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^
He suffered thru some of the same struggles Earle Bruce did at osu. Following a legend can't be easy. He fielded good teams, but he also had his ass handed to him a couple times - badly. Something that NEVER happened to Bo. I think if the on field performance was just a shade better he would have garnered enough support to survive excalibur.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
Funny thing is Moeller won bowl games. Something Bo couldn't do...
January 5th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ^
I can't seem to remember any other "ass-handings". And both of those games we one touchdown deficits at the half. His problem were those back-to-back 4 loss seasons where his teams did not finish the regular season strong. If Ricky Powers doesn't cough up the ball running out the clock in 1993 or the Hail Mary doesn't happen in 1994, that would likely have been enough to survive excalibur with Bo out of town.
January 5th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
in pretty freaking thorough fashion. And do we really know that he was "a drunk," or want to assert that. He had an incident which--in retrospect--that admin decided to can him for. Perhaps he was carrying around a problem, and something of a time bomb. Otherwise, the consensus seems to have grown that it could have been handled differently.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
Bo got his ass handed to him vs. Iowa in 84...and he lost to Minnesota a couple of times when his teams were heavily favored.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^
In Bo's Lasting Lessons Bo describes Moeller as a guy who hardly ever drank.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
After my last wine cooler, I became more beast than man.
January 5th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
Also, Moeller was apparently going throug some difficult times in his personal life at the time of this incident. There were a lot of rumors floating around, who knows what was really going on.
January 5th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
Moeller Story: 1994, we lose the stunner to Colorado but fans are still pumped. Fans definitely didn't seem up in arms as an earlier commenter states. At homecoming, against Wisconsin, ESPN gameday was on campus and the place was electric. The frat I was in held a pep rally with Craig James and Chris Fowler on hand, marching band on the street and Moeller shows up late, appeared to be pissed as hell about something. After giving a oddly brief speech to the huge crowd packed out front, he turns and several of the brothers extended our hands out to Mo saying "good luck coach," etc. His words to us - "How do I get out of this f--cking dump?" and stormed past us w/o so much as an acknowledgment of our presence. Granted, it was a frat house, but that was a major F.U. He had issues.
We respected Mo and at the time, chalked it up to Mo being a cranky guy that hated doing the PR stuff.
Regardless, he was a great coach and talk about recruiting - that '97 NC team had a bunch of his top gets (Steele, Griese, Sword, Tuman, Weathers, Howard, Jansen, Ray, etc).
January 6th, 2015 at 12:36 AM ^
being pissed? After all, CJK5H and hates Michigan, too, but was there broadcasting the event along with Chris Fowler.
January 6th, 2015 at 6:13 AM ^
James and Fowler seemed to have a great time - drank a beer, played a pretty competitive pickup 2 on 2 bball game with a few of the house's better players. If he hated UM then, it didn't show.
As for Mo, like I said, we laughed it off. In hindsight it fit the image that took him down. Which was the only reason for sharing it. Contrast a great day with a troubled coach that showed on the field as well when Wiscy whipped us good.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^
Shouldn't have been fired. Maybe sent to rehab, but not canned like he was. As good as Carr was, Mo was better.
I could see Hoke coming back for events in the future, but he'll never be "beloved" like Mo and Carr. Because he didn't win enough games.
January 5th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
If you've got to send the guy to rehab, you probably can't keep him on the job.
I don't think Mo needed to go to rehab, though. By all indications he was not normally much of a drinker.
January 5th, 2015 at 9:49 AM ^
Hoke just said we practiced hard..
January 5th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
True... But who cares? Hole did his best. He continued to support the players after he was let go. I guess to me in terms of welcoming a guy back, the character depends slot more than wins/losses.
We screwed Moeller. It's right we should honor him. We gave Hike a shot, and he busted his butt. He wasn't up to it, but he gave it his all. Further, I really think he did well to shelter the locker room when things fell apart and he was exposed by Brandon. He took some bullets for the AD. Yes, welcome him back.
Finally, I'd say yes, we invite RR to all these things if he wants to come. I'm not a huge fan of the way things turned out here with him, but we treated him worse than we should have.
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January 5th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
are equal.