Hoke's 15 stops
I found this beyond interesting. http://www.freep.com/article/20110421/SPORTS06/110421052/Hoke-will-make-15-stops-around-U-S-visiting-former-U-M-players?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
In my eyes Brady Hoke has already done more than any coach in a very long time to make sure the former players are included and wanted. This latest step is truly impressive. They've all but thrown open the doors to The Fort to accomodate former players and make them feel welcome again. Now Brady is bringing the Fort out to former players who couldn't make it in. First, I'd love to know why these particular 15 stops/who specifically each stop is focused on. Hopefully we'll hear more reporting from here and the paysites about whom Brady is meeting with and how it went.
I must admit, Brady has certainly done all the right things in the offseason. Not a single mistake I can think of. I just hope he's rewarded with wins come fall. With the charm and class he's shown, I hope he's the coach for a very long time. However, we all know that prophecy depends primarily on 12 Saturdays in the fall, particularly the last one.
I doubt some handful of individual players are the target of this. I'm guessing it will go down just like any touring alumni event with stops at most major metropolitan areas around the country and a handful of stops in Michigan so the folks who live in those areas can attend.
BWC has never struck me as a 'William'. Just sounds funny to me. This sounds promising, though.
I think the two young corners, (Courtney) Avery and (Greg) Brown, they competed well.
William is what his mom uses when he's in trouble - his get in trouble name as my kids call it.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
It;s a little weird to see stops to speak to only former players, but it's his perrogative I guess. Not really a big deal, but it's good to see him trying to unite the alumni.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:05 PM ^
Could he be killing 2 birds with one stone here- Appeasing the Michigan alum and visiting recruits? Is there a recruiting dead period in the summer I am forgetting? That would be a really smart move if this was the case.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
I'd be shocked if he wasn't recruiting during the trip.
April 21st, 2011 at 11:07 PM ^
The email that went out to the players specifically said that the coaches would be out recruiting during these stops.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
Is he going to have a clandestine meeting in Columbus? Maybe they meet in Ohio Stadium--kind of a go where they least expect it thing. They could get drunk and pee on where the sousaphone player dots the 'I' in the Ohio spelling lesson.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
April 21st, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
Hoke gets it.
He understands the traditions, what Michigan Football means to its fans, alumni, and former players and coaches.
I really hope he wins and wins often enough, you simply have to root for this guy to be successful. Go Blue!
April 21st, 2011 at 10:35 PM ^
Just win - you can "get it" all you want, but you have to produce results. Honestly, I find it pathetic that being a "Michigan Man" means kissing everyone's ass. From the donors, to the alumni, to former players. I'm glad to be one of the "Leaders and Best," but sometimes we sure don't carry ourselves that way.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:43 PM ^
I think the real way to be a "Michigan Man" is to win lots of games. If Hoke goes 2-10 (please no) the next two years, he won't be a great "Michigan Man" that everyone loves anymore.
FWIW, great coaches suck up to alumni and former players and fans. It's just the way it is.
Robert Montgomery Knight.
Many of the great coaches win so many games that they don't need to. Knight is a good example by the other poster. Bo Schembechler is another example. I believe he said something like he couldnt give a damn about anyone but his players. So is Woody Hayes. It can cost you though. Earle Bruce was very unpopular with alumni, didnt win enough games to be a great coach, and he got broomed on his first bad season. The guy finished with a winning record against Bo.
Kissing asses of alumni and donors is a very lucrative business (see Taubman and Ross) and is not exclusive to Michigan. Everyone from Harvard to OSU is doing the same thing.
April 21st, 2011 at 11:19 PM ^
if he starts losing does that mean he gets it still?
April 21st, 2011 at 10:32 PM ^
Most interesting part of that article for me was Hoke's mention of Nathan Brink towards the end. I know it doesn't say much about our depth when a walk-on is being mentioned but I'm always glad to see those guys succeed. Here's to hoping he can keep up the good play in the fall.
April 22nd, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
i played against nate brink in high school, the dude can play
April 21st, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^
that was said to him. No, he was reporting things that were said to WTKA hosts Webb and Weintraub, whose excellent in-depth UM reporting make Snyder irrelevant and useless.
This is irrelevant and wont make a single first down or third down stop come 9/3
This is all nonsense built to fix an issue that wasnt really an issue at all--the alleged banishment of former players. This isnt why Rodriguez lost games and wont be why Hoke wins any games.
I am with Ryan Van Bergen
Perception is reality. If a number of alum/former players felt that they were not welcome or that things had changed, then the reality is that for them it had. Whether or not that was the actual case. Hoke is trying hard to erase that perception and I think he needs to do this. He is making the right moves off the field and we all hope that he is also making the right moves on the field come Fall.
April 22nd, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
is for potential recruitment of future players. After their time as a Wolverine, these players have dispersed around the country, but still want: that "tie" to the U of M. The positive aspects related to their full support of the program can make a difference in recruiting.
This isn't a lot different than having alumni support the university. This doesn't just mean $$$ donations, it can mean hiring fellow U of M grads.
And it wasn't RR's fault that he didn't understand this "intangible". He did his absolute best ... both with the current players and the alums, but he really couldn't fully understand "Michigan".
Finally, it was Bo use of "Michigan Man" referring to who would coach the BB team in 1989 that enforced the term. It was Bo that studied the tradition of Michigan, from Yost to Chisler to Oosterbahn. Bo revered the past like no other coach I've ever seen (and I'm old). He taught his staff to respect the fact that they were now a part of the Michigan legacy and they needed to also understand what that meant. He re-built this football program from the scrapheap in the 50's and 60's to the program we have today, and above all his football teams were all about defense and toughness. So Bo passed the "keys" to Moeller, and when that flamed out, Carr took over (both had been taught by Bo about this intangible) and this HAD to be with Bo's blessing.
I have nothing bad to say about RR and his efforts over the past 3 years, I truly believe he did his best to coach this team. It was simply the wrong decision by the former AD.
Go Blue !
I also think that, the more former players are seen supporting the university and showing up to events, the bigger of impact it can have on recruiting. I live in Columbus, and Eddie George and Archie Griffin are around EVERYTHING here. If BH can convice Tom Brady, Charles Woodson, Jake Long etc to start showing up around campus more, that has to have a great effect on recruiting a 17 year old kid.
of the state (Holland) and last night around 9pm I saw a bus decked out in Maize & Blue parked outside a common restaurant on the lakeshore. This bus was decked out with plasma's and couches inside it, it did not look like the average tailgating bus. It also had a White denali / suburban parked right next to it with MAIZE liscence plate. I wonder if he stopped in the Tulip City to see former players?? Jay Riemersma, Rob Renes, or maybe they were just dropping Seth Broekhuizen off after realizing they don't need him
I hope they honor their word and keep Seth on scholly so he can get some value of his stay in AA.
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
But can he coach football?
as a program that is fractured, disunited, and beset by backstabbing, open bitching and pissmoaning. It is hard enough to recruit when you've had three highly-publicized disappointing seasons in a row punctuated by the firing of the head coach, and it's that much harder if opposing coaches can plausibly tell recruits that Michigan's program is at war with itself. This situation is completely unique within the memory of virtually every living Michigan football fan and alumni player, and treating it with a business-as-usual approach would be a mistake. Hoke is taking a proactive approach, and most people respond very favorably to that kind of initiative.
Nobody should worry for one second that Brady Hoke regards PR as a solution for on-the-field troubles, though. He knows that wins have to start coming in bunches, and right away, or we'll be right back where we were in 2008. Whether he and his staff are up to the task is unproven right now, but I'm optimistic about our prospects, and optimism does not come naturally to me.
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
It's the fuctional equivalent of a political candidate doing a whistle-stop tour or series of town hall meetings in the week leading up to an election. When these are announced does anyone think "wow, this guy gets it!" No, the campaign manager conceived the idea, staffers organized the tour and the candidate puts in the time/effort. He is trying to win the hearts and minds of voters and no one thinks its his idea and they understand the self-interested nature of the tour.
This is no different. DB/his staff came up with this idea and is doing this for purely self-interested reasons. Not that there's anything wrong with it - it's a good idea and will probably generate some more interest in the program. Anyone that looks at this as an opportunity to pump up Hoke or say "wow, he gets it!" is rather delusional. Do you really think it was his idea and he organized it? Do you really think if this idea was conceived for RR or any other coach in America they would turn it down or refuse to participate? Hoke is simply getting more "brand management coaching" than RR ever got.
I think it is a matter of learning from the mistakes of the past of letting the "family" get divided. Going out and getting the former players involved is important. Every successful program has the support of their former players. Look at ohio, Texas, Florida, ect. All these programs have a massive amount of support from their former players
Rich Rod needed, and did not get this type of reach out advice and PR early. If anything, because he was a distant cousin once removed (via Don Nehlen) from the Bo coaching tree, Rich needed this more than Hoke does. This is a failing on Bill Martin's part. He should have realized the amount of culture change he was inducing, and worked to connect with the base (and coach Rodriguez on connecting with the base. This is also where David Brandon is clearly better at managing transition.
If we learned one thing the past three years, there is a fan base and media base to whom this is very important. So I guess the "special subset of open minded M fans" on this site will have to whistle and look the other way, or take deep breaths and hold our tongues while all this sophomoric hokey smarmy lovefest PR stuff is going on in the interim before real football happens.
The "meeting with former players" angle is clearly a weak attempt to veil the real purpose of this trip- Hoke has signed on with the Food Network to do a 15-episode series called "Sausages Across America" in which he will tour the country in a bus, sampling sausages from the top sausage joints around the country.
Hoke is soooo on my team.
More looking in the rear view mirror.
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I'm having trouble understanding how MANBALL and the need for hand holding fit together.