Hoke regrets not fixing chemistry issues last year
Here's an interesting story comparing last year's leadership to the way Hoke is treating it this year. It's suggested that team chemistry and senior leadership were issues last year.
"(The leadership this year) is different," Hoke says. "You've got guys who are leaders that are older, but we've changed the model a bit. Our seniors are always going to be important, but you always worry about entitlement, so what we've done is put together a leadership representative group. It's four guys from each class, and they were all voted on by their classmates.
"That's really been effective. We've already met twice, and we'll meet here in another week. And it's interesting to listen to perspectives at different levels and different maturities."
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/04/brady_hoke_regrets_not_fixing.html
April 21st, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
You alude to something I thought about too. That they had named captains and guys who did the press interviews and said the right stuff but I'm not positive that these were the best leaders in the locker room.
I don't think there was a guy there to step up on the soapbox, so to speak, and push and encourage his teammates. To some those kinds of things may sound corny but I feel it's imperative for successful teams to have vocal leaders who willing and know how to positively push their teammates.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^
I would view Gallon as another guy more comfortable leading by example. In fact, it seemed like all the seniors I can think of, (granted there were not many which was another problem) seemed to be the lead by example types.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
I think DG is the most natural vocal leader (easy to say as he's a QB), but I also don't think he felt comfortable overstepping some of the seniors, so he wasn't going to be the one that stepped up in that role as a non-senior.
My worry is that some of his confidence has been shaken personally, which makes it difficult to then lead others (though some of the worlds greatest leaders did so despite sometimes lacking personal confidence in some areas, typically they were in outside situations, ie: Lincoln and his emotional lack of confidence rather than lack of confidence in his morals and intelligence). He needs to regain that confidence, or someone else will have to step up on offense to be that guy. I do think there is a new fire on the offense, likely brough on by Nuss, but that needs to continue through the offseason and hopefully some of that can be driven out with this new approach.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
Plus, you've got to factor in that he was constantly getting battered due to poor OL play. Tough to be a leader in that situation and come across as genuine. How do you lead and encourage the young guys that are responsible for the offense struggling and your insides getting mauled?
I hope they are building his confidence behind the scenes.
One thing I could never understand last year was people talking about the lack of development of DG. He had his own quarterback guru who worked with him last summer and I'm sure they were in contact troughout the year. I remember hearing glowing reports from everyone about how DG was doing. He had one of the best quarterback coaches in the country if I recall correctly.
Maybe Borges should have been there for him more, but his quarterback probably had far more time with him than Borges due to NCAA time restrictions.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
- I see what you are saying. But young players entering college football, moving away from home need a sense of family. And these young linemen moved into a TEAM/FAMILY with an abusive father (Lewan) with a passive mother (Hoke/Funk). And you wonder why they floundered..
April 21st, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
"And these young linemen moved into a TEAM/FAMILY with an abusive father (Lewan) with a passive mother (Hoke/Funk). And you wonder why they floundered.. "
You're into some good, ol' fashioned hyperbole, aren't you?
Name one instance in which a trained professional pressured anyone or told them that “the inner child in you needs to grow up.”
Hmmmm, ok, forget Greg Harden. Name some other people.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
Wasn't Incognito on the Dolphin's 'Leadership Council' or whatever? (edit: yes, LINK)
Being in a position of authority/recognized by peers obviously isn't all you need to know about someone's character. Actions speak louder than words, and we've seen plenty from Lewan.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:46 AM ^
What have you seen from Lewan? Him yanking on Isaiah Lewis's facemask? I remember when Jonas Mouton punched a guy. He never faced this much hate from Michigan fans.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
April 21st, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
"You have to admit that allegedly threatening a sexual assault victim is reasonably going to change attitudes."
The key word there is "allegedly." There's a certain former member of MGoBlog who went down in flames partly because he so vociferously argued that those alleged threats were never proven in the investigation. And while I have no affiliation with said former member of MGoBlog, he was an intelligent poster who looked for reasons and facts.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
I hear you on "allegedly", but you've got to look at the totality of the circumstances. He's a guy who, time and time again, has proven to be the type of guy described in not-so-good tales. He claimed he had nothing to do with the post-OSU fight, and then he got charged. It's tough to go from "I was the peacemaker" to facing charges. He might be a good football player, but lots of good players are bad people. One of the worst things you can do (if you idolize athletes athletes) is to meet them.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
It's actually not that tough. He hasn't been convicted. And aside from that, all it takes is someone who perceives a 6'7", 315-pounder's "peacemaking" as a little over the edge. I don't know what happened that night, but it's not hard to conceive a scenario where he broke up a fight with an OSU fan, somebody bruised their pinky, and things went too far with the law. This is why there's that whole "innocent until proven guilty thing" (which you acknowledge).
I'll reply here to you and the two responses below you, all of which hit on the same "in America we're innocent until proven guilty" theme. To begin, I'm an attorney whose tendencies lean heavily toward the rights of criminal defendants. I'm also a realist who has dealt with a number of minor police/bar fight incidents (not from the attorney position, but in a different professional life). Cops, in post-bar incidents don't press charges unless something is very clear. Very clear.
Police don't charge to let someone "prove their innocence" (as BlueCube said). It works the opposite way, especially for bar-shift police who generally just want to clear the street and don't want to lay the foundation for liquor license violations of friendly bar/restaurant operators. Prosecutors also don't want a time-wasting trial where they can't figure out what happened. That just isn't how these things work (and the experience of being on one jury doesn't make one a legal expert).
The bottom line is that we don't have to put the kid in jail to use some common sense and take an educated guess. Lewan's threats in the Gibbons mess appear witnessed by multiple parties and weren't disavowed at the time. He stuck up for a kid who probably raped a girl; a kid who told the police (seriously), "I didn't bust in her". Lewan gets in this "fight" and rather than coming forth with a viable "some pushing/shoving" excuse, he goes full Eddie Haskell with "I was just breaking up a fight". He probably was provoked. And he probably isn't a great person. No need to pretend he's a saint just because he went to Michigan. This isn't a court of law and common sense is usually right.
Aboslutely, he was charged with a crime therefore he must be guilty of the crime. If you've never heard of a guy named Richard Jewell I urge you to google his name.
to let them "prove their innocence". This has been asked of police frequently recently. You also have a police department knowing there has been a lot of media exposure to Lewan. It's not hard to believe they would cave to polititcal pressure to avoid the appearance of favoring a football player in the aftermath of the Gibbons case much less with Lewan.
I hope you never serve on a jury. It's a scary thought. I served on a jury once and almost everyone wanted to get it over with quickly. The first vote only had two people voting not guilty. I was one of them. I insisted on listening to a tape that no one else wanted to listen to because it would take too long. They finally got the tape and took another vote. He was found not guilty. The man never knew how close he came to spending a few years in jail because the jury wanted to hurry up and get it over with. There was even one lady who said they were all guilty so she would vote which ever way would get it over with.
My point is the legal system is far from perfect. It may be the best in the world, but it's not perfect. It was a scary thing to be sitting on that jury.
You should be greatly commended for the integrity you showed on that jury -- it is scary to think how expediency gets in the way of "beyond a reasonable doubt." However, not everything is or should be processed through the legal system. For instance, there are times when a man's reputation is bound to take a beating even if he is found not guilty by a court. O. J. Simpson comes to mind. The upshot is that if one cares about his reputation -- and Lewan may not care -- then he should do more than avoid a guilty verdict in a courtroom.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
The helmet twist is pretty egregious. People were ready to crucify Gholston when he did that to His Holiness Denard, and rightfully so.
I've been trying and failing to find a count of unsportsmanlikes called on Lewan. He was no stranger to the personal foul.
Hoke here suggesting the leadership last year was suspect, specfically saying this year they aren't just going to 'annoint certain players'. That's not Lewan-specific, but he'd be in the group.
He's facing assault charges (LINK).
He was accused of intimidating Gibbons' alleged rape victim.
The immediate reaction to most of these has been to defend our guy against perceived witch hunts. "The damn buckeye was smirking when he talked to the cops! That Watchdog guy is insane, he's got a grudge!"
April 21st, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
I don't think you would find many personal fouls. You might find a lot of false starts, some holdings, an ineligible man downfield...but not many personal fouls.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
False starts, yes, but more personal fouls than any Michigan player that I could recall. Here's a story from very early in his career.
http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/taylor-lewan-story/
April 21st, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
My memory could be faulty but I sure remember him picking up at least a couple of bad personal fouls every year. At least more than most Michigan players--Michigan doesn't tend to get very many personal fouls in general.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
Like the other commenters here, all I have is my own memory of 'Lewan has gotten a number of personals', or articles mentioning a single foul in a random game.
It would be interesting to see the actual count - it would be cool to see comprehensive NCAA penalty stats for their own sake, too.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
April 21st, 2014 at 10:33 AM ^
perceived power go to their head. I'm not saying that's the case here but it happens.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^
And no one has ever chosen poorly when it comes to voting? Sometimes the person you think will be the best leader often turns out to be the worst.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
My point there is not necessarily that Lewan was voted captain and therefore must have been a great human being.
It's more that Lewan was voted captain and that was the type of leadership "his people" chose. I doubt that Lewan completely changed from his redshirt junior to his redshirt senior year, so his teammates obviously saw something in him that they wanted to follow. And if he turned out to be a poor leader, then maybe that indicates some dimness amongst the voters. Or it's a flaw in the process. (Perhaps the coaches should choose the captains?) Either way, I'm not going to absolve the rest of the team for having leadership issues just because one guy is alleged to have been a poor leader.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
Sure... but how did the rest of the O-lineman vote?
April 21st, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
And, to Magnus's credit, he says maybe the method of picking captains is flawed (though in that situation, there were few other good options).
Lewan came back to take on a leadership role. He was trying to be a leader. He was being outspoken and pushing players in practice. At the time, it's a good possibility that is what the others even on the OL perceived as "leadership", because that is something we often associate with leadership though it's only a part.
Schofield was never a very vocal guy, the other guys on the OL weren't up to the talent level, were young, or also weren't very vocal. Lewan likely appeared as the most natural leader due to these circumstances. That's an issue and one hopefully this new approach fixes, as it gives younger guys a better view of what leadership is as a whole, rather than what it is often simplified to be.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
April 21st, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
And as someone that is actually a pretty big fan of Bobby Knight (though not everything he did) and some more relaxed coaches, I'd be a hypocrit if I said otherwise. When I first went into coaching, Kirk Ferentz gave me the all important advice: "always be yourself and never anything different".
I think Lewan is a guy that gets angry and shows his emotions on his sleeve. I also think he's a guy that is goofy at times. I don't think (partially because of what you said, partially for how he carries himself) that he's the type that sit and work with a player patiently or work in other ways to always get the best out of someone. In other words, I don't think he's the natural leader of an entire team. He doesn't have to be a manifestation of all great leaders, but to some degree he probabbly should have been a more natural leader as his true self, and I think in other ways he was acting as what he thought a leader should be, and that backfired.
That is in no way to say he didn't try to be. He didn't go out there and just be a dick to everyone because he thought losing and underperforming was fun. He wanted to win just as bad as anyone else, and he was likely doing what he thought was best for the team.
This whole thing is only part of the problem. Leadership on a young team is very important, but Lewan isn't the only person here, he's just a part of it. Other leaders didn't step up if he didn't perform in that role. It wasn't identified early enough. And then there are all the other issues. I don't want to place all the blame on Lewan either, I just don't think his role was a natural role for him, and on a team that was so young and didn't have others to step up, it manifested.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
Coyote - are you getting a Culvers?
Though, if I was at my current position, and someone offered me $200k to run one, I'm not sure I'd pass that up either.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
That's obviously a question that none of us can answer.
However, I find it highly questionable that the 15 or so linemen on the team would all vote for someone else because Big Bad Taylor Lewan was picking on them while the other 95 players on the team were completely clueless. If he were a total prick, the other guys would know. That's a pretty lame suggestion, if you ask me. The guys on the team interact with each other, are in the same locker room, room together, practice together, eat together, etc. I'm a football coach, but I know the reputations of our baseball coach, our basketball coach, and so forth. You might work in the Customer Relations Department, but that doesn't mean you're not aware of the people in Sales or Marketing or Personnel.
April 21st, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^
Richie Incognito. Voted to Dolphins "Leadership Council" .
April 21st, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
Yes. I read that the first time. Thanks again.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
I think he was part of the problem. There has been a lot of discussion of him not helping younger problems as well as his press conference comments about the play being embarrassing. While it may have been true, it may not have been appreciated by a young line working their asses off. Also the comments about his bar nighs. I know he isn't alone but you wonder if it did affect the players.
It's possible this also may be a sign the players felt they had no were to go with frustrations about the offense. The offensive play calling may have led to chemistry issues for the team as it did here.
It was a youger team than Hoke had to deal with previously. I think he didn't realize the extent of the leadership vacumn until it was too late. I think this leadership council is a step in the right direction to make everyone feel they have a voice and can only be beneficial.
I do disagree with labeling him Incognito. There is no proof it approached that level.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
evidence?
April 21st, 2014 at 10:34 AM ^
April 21st, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
"I have to be a better leader, I should have taken some of the leadership (opportunities myself) and not anointed some of that (to just senior players)," Hoke said. "I could have done a much better job with consistency. Every day.
As someone in a leadership role, I don't mind hearing Hoke admitting to this because sometimes you do delegate tasks incorrectly or delegate too much and results suffer. He seems to be doing exactly what people in that role should do though - reassess and redistrubute the authority, or indeed, take some of it back. I believe he said something in passing a few days ago about how he has not delegated as much to upperclassmen this year (that sounds more like a structural item - they'll have a role, but perhaps a revised one), and perhaps Hoke becoming a little more hands-on is part of the broader solution in addition to the schematic changes.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
about this and who doesn't need more chemistry.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
April 21st, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
Everyone gets on Hoke for never saying anything interesting to the media and covering all his mistakes in coach-speak. So now we are going to bash him for saying something interesting to the media and admitting a mistake? Let's pick a side and stay on it.
April 21st, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
We should probably come to a consensus here so that our complaints don't contridict one another so that, as a fan base, we don't sound completely bias in making every move/decision/thing a negative move.
Oh, that's been happening since PSU last year you say? Why yes, yes it has.
Wait, do we like the Fort or not?
I'm relatively indifferent.
What I don't like are actions by the team that make using "the Fort" an option.
April 21st, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^