Can Hoke Become Another Moeller?

Submitted by BursleyHall82 on

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?

Alvin Wistert

January 5th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^

It could be because all 3 of those coaches were assistants when Harbaugh played at Michigan. Also Moeller was an assistant or head coach at Michigan from 69-77, 80-94. I respect the hell out of Brady Hoke but it is not required to knock Moeller down to build him up. It's a testament to Hoke he graduated 69/69 but how many players graduated in the 22 years Moeller was at Michigan. Hoke will be welcomed back the same way Bump Elliot was welcomed back.

WestQuad

January 5th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^

Moeller was a fantastic coach.  It was a shame he had to resign.  I liked Carr a lot, but Moeller could have been another Bo given another 15 years.  

After a few years of winning with HARBAUGH, Hoke will be remembered fondly for 97, 2011 and his recruiting.  He is Michigan's biggest fan even if he wasn't our best coach. 

blueblueblue

January 5th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^

Definitely. And having Hoke around would be good for UM. It would show that UM accepts some responsibility for the Hoke era, for Hoke was not a good hire, was not ready for UM, was in over his head. Having him around would show maturity on UM's part, would demonstrate that UM does not hold grudges, and would show that while wins and losses are paramount, other things such as graduating players and buidling a family are also quite important. Hoke represents those latter two things. 

Badkitty

January 6th, 2015 at 2:08 AM ^

The student body, alumni, faculty, regents, and other non-AD employees of the University of Michigan are complicit in Hoke's record as a football coach??? How about letting Hoke take responsibility for his record, for his play calling and his game preparation. How am I or you or anyone except for the players themselves and the coaching staff responsible for their wins and losses? I am pretty damn certain I'm not going to wear a hairshirt in penance for Hoke's lack of coaching ability. There were some on this board who were underwhelmed by his hire from Day 1. His win-loss record eventually reverted back to his statistical mean. It seems like some people try to make him some sort of martyr when the reality was that he just wasn't a very good head coach here.




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go16blue

January 5th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^

I don't know why people are brushing this off like there's no way it will happen. People say that since Moeller's issues were only off the field, we're fine having him back. How does that make sense? Wouldn't someone with off the field issues but a good team be exactly the type of person you wouldn't want back?

Hoke is well respected throughout the Michigan community, and boosters loved him throughout his coaching tenure right up until the end. As evidenced by JH's press conference, we aren't going to shun him and let his name fall into obscurity like with Rich Rod. I definitely could see him back here as an integral part of the community in the future.

AZ-Blue

January 5th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^

why we would want ANY UM coach to "fall into obscurity."   RR gave his best and it turned out it wasn't a good fit at the time (thanks Gerg).   I'd like to see all head coaches return at some point to share in the celebration of future sucesses.  RR hasn't bad mouthed UM once since he was canned.  In fact, he talked about it with a sense of regret that he didn't achieve what he believed he could here.  Telling him to f-ck off and stay gone sounds real classy and doesn't represent what the majority of us want.

Ruffneck61

January 5th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^

I'm not saying we should of kept RR, but I will say that he has earned a lot of respect for the way he handled the whole firing fiasco. He did it with grace and class. When he was broadcasting live games and if Michigan was brought up he had nothing but love for us and the players. He will always be Michigan in my eyes

Tuebor

January 5th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^

No thanks. 

Gary Moeller - 44-13-3 (0.7583) with 3 B1G championships and a Rose Bowl Victory

Brady Hoke - 31-20 (0.6078) with 0 B1G championships and a Sugar Bowl Victory

 

Get Jim Harbaugh

January 5th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^

Of course not. Gary actually won a good amount of games. Brady did not do the same.

EDIT: After reading his Wikipedia page, I learned that he played for OSU. I had no idea that was the case until now.

Blue in Yarmouth

January 5th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

from the time he was hired I thought it was a mistake but Brady Hoke did nothing to warrant being black listed from the UM family. As much as I would have preferred a different coach, I know he did his very best and his failure wasn't from lack of effort or desire, he simply wasn't a good coach. 

He shouldnt go down in UM history being mentioned with the likes of Bo or Yost, but he should be given respect for what he did here. After all, all he was guilty of was taking his dream job when it was offered to him, and who wouldnt do that? The blame for what has transpired here over the past 7 years is on DB and that is where it should stay. He, in my opinion, should never be allowed back in AA at all, let alone to a ceremony such as the one that was had when JH was introduced. 

I'll always respect BH and wish him nothing but the best and hope the rest of the people (fans, alums, former players etc) in the UM sports community do the same.

BlueinOK

January 5th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^

I'm going to think of Hoke as a great DL coach that helped Michigan win a national title. I plan on forgetting his time as a head coach. :) 

jdon

January 5th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

 if we win in the next two years there will be a lot of 'revisionist' history about Hoke and what a great man he was...

as it is right now it is hard to be mad at Hoke.

 

As for Moeller he is the FUCKING man.  my love of Michigan was cemented under him (I was 13 in 91).  I wanted him to stay with the lions for fucks sake.  Shit, if he was here in the 90s we would have won two national championships...

jdon

 

RoxyMtnHiM

January 5th, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^

I was at the '91 Gator Bowl that was Desmond's national coming out party. iirc, Miss was the favorite, maybe a substantial favorite. Miss fans were talking a lot at pre bowl events, so it was great to stomp their team by four TDs or so and watch them beat from the stadium with so much time left. We haven't done anything remotely like that over the last four seasons.

JamieH

January 5th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^

That is not how I remember it at all.  Ole Miss was not a substantial favorite.  Pretty sure it was a pick-'em game at best. 



Now Ole Miss fans did talk a ton of trash.  But that is just because Ole Miss fans are stupid.  Sorry if I offend anyone, but I've interacted with a lot of opposing fans.  Ohio State fans are by far the worst, but even they aren't nearly as dumb as the Mississippi fans that were at that Gator Bowl.  Good grief the stupid hurt that day. 



 

SalvatoreQuattro

January 5th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

and all of a sudden he has 'issues". That's unfair.

Both guys should be welcomed back. Hoke failed. That isn't a crime. Mo succeeded on the field, but embarrassed the program with that incident. That is a forgiveable mistake.He didn't hurt anyone nor even as much put someone in physical danger. 

Both are good men who did a lot of good things for Michigan. Why wouldn't they be welcomed back?

Yeoman

January 5th, 2015 at 11:40 AM ^

Here are all Michigan's 20th century coaches, ranked by the difference between their winning percentage at Michigan and their predecessor's.

  1. Bo Schembechler +.249
  2. Brady Hoke +.203
  3. Fritz Crisler +.174
  4. Fielding Yost +.083
  5. Harry Kipke +.038
  6. Lloyd Carr -.005
  7. Gary Moeller -.038
  8. George Little -.083
  9. Bump Elliot -.103
  10. Langdon Lea -.125
  11. Bennie Oosterbaan -.156
  12. Elton Wiemann -.239
  13. Rich Rodriguez -.348

King Douche Ornery

January 5th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^

 During this coaching search/hire process that have made Brian a ton of money for clikcety click clicks--THIS HAS TO RANK IN THE ALL TIME WORST. Geebus message board guy--PLEASE STOP TRYING TO THINK!!!

BlueLava009

January 5th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

The only controversial thing Hoke had during his tenure was Concussion gate, which granted was pretty bad.  But a lot of that heat directed was "in the moment" coupled with ANOTHER crap season, people were really calling for a new coach becuase of the product on the field. 



Hoke was a great guy, had nothing but love for Michigan, bad coach here, but I'd welcome him back.

'07LesMilesMafia

January 5th, 2015 at 11:56 AM ^

honestly, i believe hoke when he says he didn't see morris get hit or stagger. the man was clueless on the sideline, of course he didn't see the play and had no way for it to be communicated to him. if i was hoke i would stay away. the man was an absolute failure; why would he want to be reminded of that?

BlueInWisconsin

January 5th, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^

Threads like this have the unfortunate side effect of highlighting how many Michigan fans are also assholes. Sorry Michigan football wasn't able to validate your self worth for the past few years. However that is more a reflection on you than Hoke.

WCHBlog

January 5th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^

Just curious, but how many of the "At least Moeller won" folks were around and remember that era?

History is much kinder to Moeller's on-field record than people were at the time. There was a certain segment that was not happy with back-to-back 8-4 seasons, and there was feeling that Michigan could get 'over the hump' if they just had a real coach.(Which is why Ann Arbor Torch and Pitchfork did pretty nice business when Lloyd was hired).

It seasons silly to think about now after nearly a decade of irrelevance, but those were different times for Michigan football. Moeller's incident was embarrassing, and he didn't handle the aftermath very well, but the guy had one bad night. Two of the big three coaches at Michigan have DUIs, which I consider worse since at least Moeller didn't try to drive, and nobody really cares. If Moeller had better support at the time, he probably would have survived. 

I think with hindsight, people can see that Moeller was probably treated a little unfairly at the time, and that's why his legacy isn't as tarnished.

InterM

January 5th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^

And you're right, Moeller was on the hot seat even before the Excalibur incident.  If anything, that incident just provided an excuse for doing what many wanted to do anyway.  As you point out, the feeling at the time was that any halfway-decent coach could get Michigan to an 8-4 season, and that Moeller was tailing off after having the benefit of players who carried over from the Bo era.

marysuecoleman

January 5th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^

Give it another 10 years and we'll have fond memories of Hoke, guaranteed. Okay, he had his cringeworthy moments and general performance regression, but he ran a respectable program. Besides the concussion issue, there were no scandals, academic fraud, or violations. Also, in case everyone forgot, he coached us to a Sugar Bowl win. The last BCS Bowl we had won was 12 years earlier...

CoverZero

January 5th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^

This is a question that I pondered a little bit last week.  Moeller's situation is very unique.  He had been a long time assistant under Bo, before he became HC.  After he got fired, he had a fairly successful NFL run which also helped him reestablish respect as a good coach.  His love for Michigan is very interesting, considering he was the Captain of the 1962 Ohio State team!

Hoke...I dont know.  My first thought is that he needs to take the opportunity now to get himself back in shape.  He needs to start watching his diet and excercising.  The man needs to drop 40 LB.  It is not good for a man his age to be in that kind of condition. If he does not change his personal habits, Im sad to say he may not be around in 2027.

russ1028

January 5th, 2015 at 2:00 PM ^

That may happen in the future. It's not Hokes fault that he failed as our coach and in turn help bring down Michigan football. For that I blame Brandon. Brady never should have been offered the job. I mean hell, if they offered me the job I would give it a shot.

I am sure Hoke thought he could do it. I am sure he believed it when he said they had a great week of practice. I am sure he truly believed it when he said we had a special team. I am also sure the reason he believed those things is because he was not yet qualified to coach a major D-1 program. I am sure he tried very hard and he failed. There should be no malice towards Brady Hoke.

FrankMurphy

January 5th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^

It depends on what Hoke does post-Michigan. Bump Elliott's tenure is roughly analogous to that of Hoke, and he was welcomed back at Michigan after he resigned... until he became the AD at Iowa. He held that position for 21 years. To my knowledge, Bump never came around Michigan much after that, even after he retired in 1991. He's seen as being more a part of the Iowa family than the Michigan family. Moeller was welcomed back partly because he didn't associate with another college football program after he left Michigan. 

So, if Hoke goes on to coach somewhere else and rebuilds his name with another program, then I don't see him being given the Moeller treatment at Michigan. If he decides to call it a career and goes into broadcasting a la Glen Mason, then sure, I think they'd welcome him with open arms.  

INTERESTING FACT: Bump is still alive and could theoretically come back, but he's 90 years old and probably isn't able to travel easily.