Hoke and the future
I've seen several articles where people have stated that Coach Hoke and this staff are "building something special". My question to members of the board is what aspect of Coach Hoke and his staff's efforts are do you think is attributing to this? Is it the level of talent, the character of the kids, the staff's being completely honest with recruits, etc....
Real recognize real.
Real recognize real. Coach Hoke and his staff seem to be incredibly real, fun-loving guys. Who wouldn't want to play for a staff that likes to have so much fun, but know when it's time to work? Sprinkle in Coach Mattison (the 25 year-old) who's coached some of the best players the game has ever seen and the fact that This Is Michigan, fergodsakes and it's a no-brainer. This staff has been here long enough now that they're able to start relationships with elite talent much earlier in the process. The sky is the limit for this class. Just as it will be from now on as long as Brady is here.
What is the likelihood that Hand ends up in Ann Arbor now that Peppers is here, and when does he announce?
He has not set a time for when he will make a decision as far as I know. I did read somewhere though that it is being speculated that he won't commit anywhere until NSD.
And like people have been saying on here, the likelihood of him ending up in AA is pretty good. If history repeats itself, a HANDful of the top recruits will follow each other to one school (Michigan) just like last year (Ole Miss).
Hand is already tired of the process and wants to get it over with sooner rather than later. He's narrowing down his schools and telling everyone else to hit the bricks. He might not decide till after his senior season, but I'd be shocked if he waits until NSD.
You should post more just so I have the pleasure of seeing your avatar picture more often.
THIS is revealing to me. That will prob lead to Hand committing before his senior season so he can enjoy it...and to US
you have such a dedicated coach as Hoke and such a special University, who wouldn't want to go there?
are you?
do you title your posts like you do, and...
do you sleep at night?!?!
am I?
the hell are you talking about?
For some reason, I actually pictured your somewhat creepy profile picture asking me those questions. And I find it easy to title my posts the beginning of what I had to say so I can just hit the tab button and resume what I was saying.
Larry Foote is creepy?
You didn't do it this time!
Love me some hoke, lets win some decent road games first...
With a draw called on 3rd and long, how can't we?
/s
Can't we? ?
what aspect of Coach Hoke and his staff's efforts are do you think is attributing to [building something special]?
Hoke: "What we're trying to do here is help make these kids better men, better husbands and better fathers."
It's really that simple. Hoke and staff signal with complete sincerity that Michigan is about hard work, accountability, honesty and integrity.
Every young man craves that. That's how young men are wired.
This society offers precious little of that to young men today. Quite the opposite, actually.
Hoke is building a program quite unlike most in college football. Winning helps, certainly ... but it's more than just the prospect of winning football games that is drawing these young men to Hoke and to Michigan.
To piggyback off of your excellent comment, I'd add that Hoke (and I'm sure his staff as well) is a perfect fit for Michigan in particular. The school's identity is in many ways tied to tradition/values/character from the coaches and teams that have long come before. Hoke embodies the best of what Michigan tries to produce in educating and training our next generation's leaders, and kids see the connection.
It's hard to think, in retrospect, of a better fit for this program and university.
All of this is true, which is why I still find it hard to believe how many people around here (myself included) were against his hiring.
The primary concern has pretty much always been about the offensive system that would be put into place under Hoke, and abou tthe viability of MAN BAWL on a national scale.
That said there were some people concerned that Hoke wasn't a "sexy" enough hire and wouldn't be able to recruit on an elite level, but clearly that wasn't a justified concern.
...but you avatar is even better. Buck Turgidson! "I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed tops. Depending on the breaks."
I remember some people here livid when Hoke was hired saying he can't recruit.
I wonder how they feel today.
This class is gonna be one for the ages. Hell, if what I hear about Peppers knowing Hand is true, Michigan could be the first team ever to land #1 and #2 overall players.
A lot of people weren't happy about the hire (or at least were highly skeptical), at the time. But Hoke has killed it from his introductory press conference. Hindsight is always 20-20.
there was a lot to be skeptical about, at sdsu he ran a 3-3-5 (we all had enough with that) He had a average record coaching. The best thing he did was bring in a great group of assistants.
Don't forget that SDSU was a dumpster fire of a program before Hoke made it into a respectable one. They have also sent a solid amount of guys to the NFL (particulalrly for a mid-major school) over the last few years. That's both a testament to Hoke's coaching ability and eye for talent.
I was most impressed with the speed at which he turned SDSU around. He took them from 2-10 before he got there to 4-8 in his first season and 9-4 in his second. True his overall record was around .500 but that is a really fasy turnaround at a mid-major. They have sustained success after he left, so he really did bring in some talent.
But you didn't look close enough... Hoke killed it at Ball St and SDSU...
Don't you remember seeing both programs in the top 20, especially Ball Fricking sT.... and saying to yourself.... wtf???? Well I did... that was acheivement in itself....
on the surface, you'd be right... but looking closer, and...sorry...
had this Hoke guy do the Top Ten after he turned Ball State around (I think it was after they won their first conference championship). Nos. 6 and 3 are worth noting.
In his sixth year at Ball State, he took a 12th ranked (nationally) Ball State team to the MAC championship against a Turner Gil-coached 7-5 Buffalo team, and Ball State lost by 18. Ball State's last conference championship was in 1996 under Bill Lynch (later of Indiana).
They didn't have the full intro in the video, and all that you hear Letterman say is "the nationally ranked" Ball State team. Hence my doubting myself and saying "I think..." Was it the first time they were nationally ranked?
Yep Hoke was great in hindsight, but Brandon's decision to finally pay good salaries for coordinators tipped us over the edge. No way the past two years (on the field and recruiting) shine so bright without Mattison.
After Carr's last few years (minus 06) and Rich Rod, it seemed like an underwhelming hire. The first press conference sold me though. My God, that was a brilliant press conference! Everything since has kept me sold.
Hoke loves Michigan. He loves the kids. He wants to win. He doesn't make excuses. He doesn't punt every time he has a 4th and inches with the lead. He isn't flashy, but I bet he commands a living room when he recruits. AND, he seems to do all of this while remaining humble. Hoke is the threat, Coach Dantonio...Hoke is the threat!
Finally, he's a defensive-minded coach. I only like high scoring games when it's Michigan winning 56-7. I am part of a possibly dying breed that loves a 9-7 game, as long as it's because of great defenses and not incompetent offenses.
Super psyched about Hoke's recruiting. Go Blue!
I'm with you on the affinity for low scoring games. In baseball, I'd much rather watch a 3-2 game than a 9-8 game. 3R HRs should win a game for you, right? 85 yard TD drives should be significant!
... and turned around when he hired Greg Mattison as his defense coach.
That told me three things:
1. He was confident in himself. You don't hire one of the great D-coaches of your era if you're insecure about what might happen.
2. He recognized talent and could build relationships with that talent. You don't get that guy to leave the NFL without knowing exactly what he wants that you can give him, and the NFL can't.
3. Most important, he knew how to delegate. You don't hire Mattison to second-guess him - you hire him and turn him loose, and Mattison doesn't come here if he thinks he's getting micro-managed.
Those are three important criteria for any manager or coach, and having it demonstrated so convincingly helped alleviate my doubts.
Not to mention Hoke worked under Mattison before, but yet Mattison was willing to work under Hoke now. That says a lot about how Mattison feels about and respects Hoke from the time they spent working together in the past.
MgoMaizeNBlue must be from GoBlueMichiganWolverine website. All they do over there is still bash RR and say "we knew Hoke was the right guy, all those people on Mgoblog look stupid now".
Yeah I'm not trying to be that guy, but let's just win some games first and worry about everything else later. Last years 8-5 season reminded a lot of that old Carr I used to have.
We lost to the #1,2,3,7, and Nebraska. Put things in perspective.
Denard was injured for a good part of the season (although Nebraska might have been a win if Devin was ready).
Football is still a game that is won and lost in the trenches, and Hoke's D-line and O-line recruiting has been amazing.
And Alabama was the only game where we didn't keep it close
I'm not sure what Hoke is doing or saying but I think once the recruits compare him to other coaches they can tell the other coaches are full of shit.
By "the other coaches", do you mean Urbie of Columbus CC?
Honestly if hoke can coach as well as he is recruiting wr gonna be awesome. Remember his best recruiting classes wr '12 n '13. That means they'll be freshman and sophomore this season. be patient the way the '14 recruiting class is shapin up 2014 n beyond r gonna b fun seasons!
He simply said that 1) he is a great guy 2) he's genuine 3) loves his players and (I'm quoting the trainer) 4) "He's the funniest motherfucker you ever met"
He's honest, relatively old-school, and aggressive when it comes to in-game strategy (goes for it on 4th and manageable, defensive calls to end the '12 NW game). He's obviously recruiting well. He understands how important it is to win rivalry games.