Does Greg Mattison have a realistic chance of surviving the storm?

Submitted by BlowGoo on

Subject line says it all.

 

I think Mattison's peformance has been solid.  He has been a key component of this coaching regime's success at recruiting.  And he has roots to the program.

Obviously, it depends on the HC.  But is there precedent for a new HC coming in but keeping DC intact in a high-profile program?  

Are there significantly better and obvious choices available of which I am not aware?

Though I do not buy into the "Michigan Man" prerequisite, Mattison surely represents some cultural stability for the program, so I would think he's a strong candidate for retention.  I just want to know if that's an utter pipe dream...

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stephenrjking

November 9th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^

I don't think he wants to. He's said this is his last job, and that he took it partly because it was with Hoke and partly because it was close to family. I think he will retire whether the next guy wants him or not.

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LSAClassOf2000

November 9th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^

There was an SI article in 2011 which actually laid it out as precisely this - his daughter, as I recall, lives in Tecumseh or thereabouts and even owns a business in Ann Arbor now. He also has grandchildren now and has mentioned in subsequent interviews that he would rather be close to them and has expressed that he has grown tired of the "nomadic" life that he's lived as a coordinator in college and the NFL. 

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aaamichfan

November 9th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^

John Harbaugh is absolutely not going to quit his job where he won a Super Bowl in order to coach at a college program he went to high school across the street from(but otherwise has no personal connections to). The only Harbaugh we have a chance at is Jim. John has been a smokescreen all along, and only morons would think he's a actual candidate.

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AmishRule

November 9th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^

I'll do that, because since you said it "absolutely" won't happen I'm the idiot. My bad. I just read some good posts here awhile back based on a couple articles on John Harbaugh and of course that idiot JUB made a couple guesses that included John, along with Jim. And you're right he has no ties here, except going to school across the street...and his father working here, his brother playing here, his ex defense coordinator now here, his wife is from here and he once said... "Being from the Midwest, the Big Ten is everything, and I always dreamed of being a Big Ten coach like my dad. I loved it and said, ‘It would take the best job ever to get us to leave here. (http://www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/people/people_john_harbau…) I'm sorry, you know all and us morons know little.

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EZMIKEP

November 9th, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^

I think that unfounded whispers of that being a possibility have planted that idea and nothing else. Michigan football is at a point where it's financial success in the future depends on it success on the field. The program has used up all of its Goodwill which in turn means that Hoke will not in anyway be given another pass. Whether that is Jim Harbaugh as the head football coach or somebody else Brady Hoke is done at the University of Michigan. Even with a win over OSU. Sorry was trying to reply below on keeping Hoke another year.

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tolmichfan

November 9th, 2014 at 5:37 PM ^

That is definitely a fair argument but you don't think a win at OSU and ruining thier chance at the playoffs wouldn't show hope for the future and bring excitement back to the fan base? That with an AD that is more fan friendly I think would keep the faithful happy. Now bringing in Harbaugh would bring the ultimate excitement back to the fan base. But this new pres is by no means dumb but he keeps saying that Acedemics are more important and blah blah blah. So when I hear that with reports of ads at NW and CMU it makes me wonder if they already know Harbaugh won't come.

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saveferris

November 10th, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^

That is definitely a fair argument but you don't think a win at OSU and ruining thier chance at the playoffs wouldn't show hope for the future and bring excitement back to the fan base?

No, if anything it should make the fanbase angrier. If by some miracle, Michigan rolled into OSU and played the game of their lives and beat the Buckeyes, the question we should ask then is, "where the hell has this been all season"? This team still looks sloppy and disorganized. This team still can't move the football with a 5th year QB at the helm. This team has gotten progessively worse every year. These are the facts and one win, no matter how good it might make us feel, should not change the overall conclusion that Brady Hoke is not going to succeed here.

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tolmichfan

November 11th, 2014 at 12:35 AM ^

Hoke and RR have had to deal with (by Michigan standards) Historically bad rosters. Even a guy like Brian, who is leading the Fire Hoke charge mounted on his blazing white horse that people haven't seen since Alexander The Great rode Bucephalus across the Hellespont, agrees look at his last mailbag post. The team getting worse has more to do with attrition and bad recruiting in the last 2 senior classes. In Hokes first year he could have torn the roster down like RR and played Denard at running back and Gardner at wide receiver and let Bellomy take his lumps at qb, and we would have probably won 3 or 4 games. The next year the total would have grown to 5 and so on till we get to where we are right now. I'm happy as hell he didn't do that but then everyone could say hey every year under Hoke the team is getting better. But I still hear the anti RR crowd piss and moan about him tearing the program down in his first year even though at the time it was probably the right move. I also think the injury to Pape has had a bigger effect on how bad the oline has been than anyone ever notices on this board. The interior of the line has been bad since Molk graduated. The last two years at center, which is the most important position for calling out blocking assignments, would have been locked down by an upperclassman that was supposed to be pretty good. Imstead we had to roll with a guy that wasn't physically ready last year (miller) and a guy who was only ever going to be a back up (Mealer sp). So no not every loss is always the coaches fault just like every victory isn't.

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tolmichfan

November 9th, 2014 at 4:27 PM ^

I know this isn't the popular sentiment on this board. But if we win out Hoke has a very realistic chance of keeping his job. Hell I'll even say if we don't get the doors blown out against OSU he has a chance.

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Blue Bunny Friday

November 9th, 2014 at 5:27 PM ^

Okay. The head coach isn't responsible for knowing when players are injured and should be taken out?  Hoke wasn't the one who started Morris, and then played him until he was broken AND woozy?  Who's responsible for making sure the 3rd string quarterback has a helmet when he's now the backup?  Probably someone who answers to Hoke.  

Hoke is the one who came out on a Monday and gave BS answers to questions reguarding the concusion that was diagnosed on Sunday.   He should've known or should've made it clear that he needed to know.

Hoke said Gibbons didn't play against OSU or go to the bowl game for 'family issues'.  That was a lie and one that caused people to feel badly for Gibbons.  He's done it several other times with less serious issues.  He has a choice of being more vague or more direct and he chose a middle ground that made things far worse.

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raleighwood

November 9th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^

I agree that the Morris situation lies primarily with Hoke.  It's his fault that Morris was even in the game at the time of "the hit".  Morris was ineffective and hobbling.  He shouldn't have been in the game.

I'll give Hoke a little more of a pass on Gibbons.  He was an actively enrolled student in good standing all season so I don't have a problem with him playing up until the issue was re-prioritized by the University.  I think there's a pretty thin line between "family issue" and "personal issue".  Surely his family was impacted by the issue at hand (what do you think his mom thought about her son being on the brink of expulsion for a sexual misconduct issue?).  "Family Issue" is fine with me and I wouldn't consider it to be a lie.

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Blue Bunny Friday

November 9th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^

I think you're a very understanding and forgiving person.  <-- that's a compliment.  I just also think that Hoke is an ass for choosing that wording.  Family implies that it's his family that is an issue.  He was not married to the girl he allegedly sexually assualted and, thankfully, did not have a child with her.  I believe that family was used so that there would be no further questions on the topic.  If anyone accepts that Hoke is "Not fully aware", then he should still be considered not at all qualified to be the head football coach at Michigan.  

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tolmichfan

November 9th, 2014 at 5:10 PM ^

I said it wasn't popular, but I'll bite. So (if we win out) we would have beaten 5 power conference teams in a row and 1 top tenish team on the road and another team with a winning record in the bowl game. He would have shown in the face of all the turmoil of this season he held his team together. He is well liked and respected in the coaching community. If you don't believe that then why do top coordinators (Nuss and Mattison) leave good jobs to come coach with him. This defense has gotten better in each game and now that they have game experience running it they are getting real good at it. The offense is terrible but you can argue that has to do with injury and youth. The oline has also improved tremendously over the course of the year. Our top play makers (funch green gardner smith) are all playing through injuries. We r so injured at running back that the fourth string back started yesterday. Funchess can't be a deep threat cause he can barely run, gardner can't be a dual threat and his accuracy issues have a lot to do with lingering effects from his broken foot on one foot and a high ankle sprain on the other. Also Hoke is the best recruiter this university has seen in 20 years going back to when he was the d line coach. Look at the years between his times in Ann Arbor recruiting definitely suffered. Drew Henson to commit when he knew he would have to compete with Tom Brady for the starting job. So yes I do think Hoke has a shot if we win out to keep his job.

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saveferris

November 10th, 2014 at 7:10 AM ^

Ok but he still picked to coach with Hoke.
And get paid a shitton to do it. Jesus, this meme that Brady Hoke attracts top level coaching talent on the force of his charisma alone is beyond tired. Go back in time and offer Nussmeier something in the neighborhood of what Borges was making and see if he's still clamoring to take the job. I have no doubt that Hoke is a good guy to work with/for, but Mattison and Nussmeier are pulling in over $700K a piece with their respective gigs, and THAT is what sealed the deal for both of them.

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J.Madrox

November 9th, 2014 at 6:05 PM ^

I think you are drastically over-rating the defensive improvements based on them beating up on 3 crappy offenses. Penn State is terrible and Indiana and Northwestern are bad, so holding them down isn't all that impressive. Have they improved, maybe, but this is still the same D that got torched by Gary Nova. They are solid against bad teams, but can't hold up against effective offenses.

How long are injuries and youth going to be an excuse for Hoke? Its year four, any youth at this point is his fault for not bringing in and developing players sooner. OSU lost 4 of their 5 offensive lineman from last year and their starting QB got hurt a few weeks before the season, but their offense seems to be doing OK. Every team deals with injuries, good coaches work with what they have, bad coaches end up with Michigan's offense.

I am tired of recruiting talk. To have big time success you need to recruit well, but recruiting alone doesn't win games, you need coaching. For all we know Hoke is a terrible judge of talent because the players he recruited haven't produced on the field. Add to that the fact that this last bastion of positivity, recruiting, is no longer applicable. The current class is falling apart and will not improve if Hoke sticks around. He might be able to rebound some in 2016, but the minute Michigan losses a few games, those recruits will jump ship as well.

There is very little positive left to say about Brady Hoke. I don't care if he wins out, he needs to be fired. If 7 and 5 in year 4 is acceptable to you, thats fine, but diminishing returns over 4 years are not good enough for me. Simply put, the man is a poor football coach.

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saveferris

November 10th, 2014 at 7:35 AM ^

Let me offer a different perspective.  OSU just dropped 49 points on the best defense in the Big 10, on their field, with a freshman QB and 4 new starters on their O-line, despite losing the turnover battle.  This is the same defense that MIchigan, with a more experienced OL and a 5th year senior QB under center, struggled mightily to score 11 points against.  Talent-wise, Michigan is the only program that has come close to keeping pace with OSU on the recruiting front, so that is all you need to know about the difference between having Brady Hoke leading your football program.

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tolmichfan

November 10th, 2014 at 8:38 AM ^

The question from the Op was will Mattison stay if we change coaching staffs, and my comment was IF we win out the coaching staff has a good chance of staying. Do I Think we are going to win, no. I think we have a punchers shot at winning. If Clark or Ryan or Mone somehow knock Barnnet out and we are playing Cardale Jones I think the percentage of winning gets to about 50%. But Hoke has gotten the most out of his teams for the OSU game and the past two years we should have gotten blown out and last year it came to the last play of the game and two years ago we took our back up QB and had the lead going into half time.

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AnthonyThomas

November 9th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^

No way we win out. OSU will drop 50 on this team. The defense isn't bad but it gets negative help from the offense with all of the horrible turnovers and field position. What is possibly stopping OSU from dropping 50 on this defense? Are they going to score less points than Notre Dame, or Minnesota, or Utah? Doubt it. 

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tolmichfan

November 10th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^

If your asking me if I have some insider knowledge, no I am just makeing observations. I think the odds of Hoke coaching next year are 60/40 he isn't coming back. The president highered a guy that's takes pride In the fact he fired the best man at his wedding. I have been a fan for a long time and since the 70s they have only fired 2 coaches. Gary because he got arrested and RR because Dave and big dollar boosters didn't like him. Hoke is Loyds boy and I would imagine Loyd still has some clout in the athletic department. Also the timeline of the AD search and the coach search lines more up with giving Hoke another year and then possibly fire him the next year. Brandon didn't come in on day one and fire RR and if we don't have a new AD before OSU I just don't see Hoke getting fired. Also I know it doesn't sound like it from my posts but I want Harbaugh. Again for this off season the timing is just bad for that to happen. Financially it doesn't make sense for the 49ers to fire a coach that has taken your team to 3 NFC champs and one Super Bowl. Now trading Jim to another team makes the most sense for them or letting him coach out his contract.

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JT4104

November 9th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^

He has done a solid job with this D since his return....with that said. A Full house cleaning is in order. Not one person associated with Hoke should be back next year.

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