Hoke on 97.1: "I tried to buy [Gardner] back into the game with a time out"
Interview ongoing right now.
Says the ref didn't let him call a timeout, until the head ref overruled. Says by then it was too late and Morris was on the fied.
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My commentary:
1. Blatant lie.
2. The refs know that basic rule - there aren't times when you can't grant a timeout.
3. There was no "too late." He could have called a timeout up until the snap. For 20 seconds had the chance to fix it and didn't.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
I'll remove the buffoon line since it's a personal view of how he came across in the interview, but I stand by it
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
He did reference buying a timeout on Saturday in the post-game presser.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
Sure, Bafoon might be a little mean and condescending, but he is whatever nice synonym of that word you can come up with. He has been an incompetant coach in both leading this team to success as well as handling this situation. He has been fibbing this whole time while trying to cover his multiple deficiencies.
So lay off the OP.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
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October 2nd, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
Its entirely appropriate. He's made himself out to be one. There are many things worse he could be called right now.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
I think this is part of the problem. Hoke isn't the type of person equipped to deal with the media under these circumstances. That's why he keeps referring to the statement as the answer to everything. Well, no, Brady it isn't.
I would imagine he's being told by Brandon to just direct questions to the statement so he doesn't have to actually answer but it's just making him look worse.
Also not sure if it's blind loyalty or what but Hoke has had a number of opportunities to disengage from Brandon and has refused to do so. That ship's going down in flames Brady, you may want to consider getting off. It's not like you're getting any kind of reciprocal support from Brandon...
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:55 AM ^
He's probably got so many former players calling in and telling him he's doing a great job right now that he doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.
Hell, once he gets rid of these shitty RR recruits, we'll be competin' for a title!
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^
Its just another small deal that makes him look unintelligent and strikes another blow to his "great guy!" reputations.
I could buy your explanation if he hadn't thought it was such a big deal to get Shane out of the game one play after the cheapshot to the head. But since it was a big deal then, it should have been a big deal on the play Shane ran in on.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
Hoke has consistently claimed that he told a sidejudge that he wanted to use a timeout to put Gardner back in, and the sidejudge said Gardner had to sit regardless. Hoke knew that was wrong, but when he saw Morris on the field, he let it go. He must assumed that Morris wouldn't be out there unless he was ok--after all, the head trainer had just been looking at Morris.
The big problem that this reveals is that Hoke continues to roll over when refs don't do what they should. This is of a piece with his failure to go ballistic when Minnesota's DE wasn't ejected for targeting. It's of a piece with the fact that even our games at home this year have involved an awful lot of calls and non-calls that don't go our way. Hoke just doesn't assert himself with the referees on the sidelines. This is something he needs to learn to do.
But Hoke is not just lying. He's been 100% consistent with this claim throughout. You guys just aren't paying close enough attention if you think otherwise.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
Even if that did happen, why didn't hoke call TO when the head ref fixed it.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:44 AM ^
Shane was already out on the field and Hoke was operating on the assumption that the medical staff had done its job in evaluating him.
I think that reflects a problem that needs to be fixed in terms of how Hoke thinks of his job relative to the medical staff. Of course he can't overrule them, but that doesn't absolve him of the duty to pay attention to what's going on. But I see no good reason to conclude he's lying about this.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
Here is a question: What changed about Shane's ankle injury from any of the plays before his head shot to the one just after it? Why was it that play that he needed to come out on?
October 2nd, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
Much more so than before.
October 2nd, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
between Hoke and the official? Because that couldn't possibly happen.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^
So the Side Judge tells him something wrong, and...what? He believed the SJ? Or he didn't believe the SJ? If he believed the SJ, it's still on Hoke for not knowing the SJ is wrong. If he didn't believe him, call the timeout and let the R, U, HL, LJ, BJ, FJ and AJ tell the SJ the real rule while Red Hat is out on the field.
I don't buy the idea that the Side Judge (John Hayes) doesn't know this rule. It was adopted only 4 years ago, and everybody has been trained on it. It is so unlikely that such a well-known rule would not be familiar to Mr. Hayes. Also, we all saw Umpire Jeff Carr ask Mr. Hoke "Time Out??" during that sequence, and we all saw Mr. Hoke make the wind-the-clock motion.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
1. I don't know why the SJ would've said that. Maybe there was a miscommunication. Maybe the SJ is an idiot. Maybe there was crowd noise. Hoke's story on this has been consistent all along, and the AD looks bad enough on other issues that there's no reason to look for a smoking gun here. We have the smoking gun already in the AD's ridiculous behavior since it happened.
2. The interaction with the umpire is irrelevant, given that Hoke was operating under the assumption that his medical staff had just evaluated Shane and let him come back onto the field. I agree that Hoke should not have been operating under that assumption. Maybe that's on DB for letting Hoke delegate like that, or maybe it's on Hoke for not having enough of a spine to assert himself as being in charge of everything on the sideline. But I don't think the story is incoherent or contrived.
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
You're saying that even if the medical staff releases a player to play, Hoke should use his layman's knowledge to overrule the medical staff? Let's say that's as it should be, why then aren't people calling for Paul Schmidt to be fired? After all he obviously was conducting medical malpractice, was he not?
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
Just...stop. It frankly makes you look worse and honestly, I used to like you...but I can't handle the BS and the lies. A real Michigan Man (tm) would take responsibility and not make excuses even if they are there.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
Maybe he's not smarter than that.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^
How many times--okay every presser--has Hoke purported to take responsibility for "bad things" that have happened by saying "it's on me"? But they're always in that abstract, non-genuine way--where he believes it makes him look like a leader. In contrast to specific situations like this where he refuses to take responsibility for something that he was at least 99% at fault.
Jeezus, can we get some straight talk out of this guy--just once?
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^
Hoke continuously takes responsibility for things that fail on this team. Now it doesn't seem he's fixing any of them, but I digress. Do you listen to his press conferences when they lose? He ALWAYS lays the blame on himself. So, maybe this one time it wasn't his fault. As much as everyone would like to armchair this one, a situation is always different when you're in it.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
When you play with tempo, it's sometimes difficult to call TO's. Everyone is moving too fast.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^
Honestly, I keep waiting for him to say, I'm sorry and I screwed up. But every time he opens his mouth, he says something just slightly different from the time before, which gets everyone going again.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
Shit like this is why I'm struggling with the "Brady Hoke is a great guy! Really!" people. Really? A great guy would just admit his mistake and move on. Instead he just keeps burying his foot as deep down his own throat as it will go.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^
I promise you.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
I thought Gardner had to sit-out the play since he lost his helmet the down before, how could he be subbed-in for Morris?
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
any number of posts on this thread
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^
(1) Hoke thinks he should call a timeout. Hoke has said this all along.
(2) Hoke has said he didn't know that Morris was injured (other than leg for purpose of this post).
What happens according to him:
Hoke tries to call a timeout but is told no. Then Hoke is told yes. At the point of yes, Morris is on the field. Hoke now changes his mind about whether to call a timeout. He does this because a healthy Morris is on the field. Why would he try for a TO initially if he knew he had the option of trotting a healthy Morris out there?
I see two possible conclusions:
(a) Hoke's decision here is erratic. He changes his mind within a few seconds, and it's not a good decision from any angle. Morris' leg is too hurt to pass the ball, so it's a telegraphed run.
(b) He's lying.
What we should think:
Whether it's (a) or (b), Hoke is a buffoon for what happened.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
Why it is taking people so many struggles to understand what happened is beyond me. He's not lying, he's stuck to the same story and the video does nothing to disagree with what he's saying, despite people wanting to claim that it does.
But Morris took the field for a called run play, checked to the correct side for the run, and Michigan gained three yards on the play. 2nd and 7 and DG comes back in. Minnesota doesn't know how hurt Morris is either, Morris had been passing the ball up until his previous play. To them, there is nothing that states a telegraphed run. It was 1st and 10, the play book was open.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^
The reason why I didn't explore the alternative that Morris was a legitimate option to come in and run a play is because Hoke didn't. Why, if what you say is true, does Hoke think a TO is a good idea? I think it makes more sense to suppose that he erratically changed his mind, though I admit that what you say cannot be ruled out
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
When Morris goes back into the game, that means he isn't still being evaluated and is cleared to play. He didn't think it was a good idea to run a play with whoever Bellomy's backup was sense he couldn't find a helmet. Once Shane took the field, he thought he was ok for one play.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^
It may take long enough for an evaluation (did I heard eight minutes somewhere?) that we can rule this out. Further, Hoke's comments indicate he didn't see any reason why Morris would be concussed --> he probably doesn't think Morris is/was being evaluated. Perhaps he can be evaluated for the leg.
I think this is really quite tricky and would require a more extensive diagram that my original and an exploration into the timeframes involved
October 2nd, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
The head trainer was evaluating Morris's ankle, as he had been each time he came to the sideline since he was injured in the third quarter. He evaluated Morris ankle, determined he was cleared to play, and Morris was sitting on the bench, no longer being evaluated. That's it. No one, by way of a complete mistake by many involved, thought he needed to be evaluated for a head injury (besides the neurologist who didn't get there or something), and so he never was evaluated for a head injury. He was evaluated for his high ankle sprain.
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
After Morris came back off the field for the last time the neurologist had the time (obligation) to examine him and he didn't, nor did he have him moved to the locker room until after the game.
If there is an inexplicable failure it is this one.
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
I think he was trying to "trick" the side judge into giving him a free (injury) timeout. Side judge said "no." Then, the head ref asks Hoke, do you want a (charged) timeout? Hoke says no.
October 2nd, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
The part of the video that makes me wonder about all this is the part where the official looks at the Michigan sideline and barks "Do you want a timeout?". That doesn't seem to jibe with "they said I couldn't" and "there wasn't time because Shane was already on the field".
Regardless, I think competent coaching requires you to take the timeout anyway since the QB with no helmet was moving the team better than the injured QB had all game long. Why save a timeout in that situation?
October 2nd, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
That was the man Hoke went to to confirm that he could in fact call a TO and get DG back in the game. By that time Morris was in the game. Hoke said something "by then it was too late because Morris was back in the game", he doesn't mean it was too late and he no longer could call a TO, he meant that a QB was able to get out on the field and he no longer felt the need to call a TO.
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
but just because Morris was now on the field doesn't make it "too late". Rather Brady either changed his mind consciously or simply defaulted because Morris was already on the field. I suspect it was the latter, which, if so, doesn't speak well for a leader.
October 2nd, 2014 at 3:42 PM ^
And if he gave up his desire to requrest a TO because Morris ran onto the field even though the coaches didn't want him to run out onto the field, then, ummmm.... what the hell and who is in charge on that sideline.
If I'm a coach and a player subs himself in without my permission and I'm all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ then I have major problems.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
This is a really great point. I only question why Hoke thinks Morris is unavailable. It can't, according to the facts, be concussion related. Under (c), Hoke must think (or have some substantial suspicion) that Morris' leg somehow prevents him from playing, but that wasn't the case previously.
October 2nd, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^
just a few feet away Paul Schmidt was attending to Morris? Just a guess.
October 2nd, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
I distinctly remember Morris sitting on the bench when he was told to go in. Perhaps you're right still