Hoke says there's no gentlemen's agreement in the Big Ten
Hoke was interviewed by 10TV Columbus while at the OHFCA Football Clinic today. At first he refuses to get involved in Bielema vs. Meyer but then when asked if there's a gentlemen's agreement, he says "It's always been fair game until they sign."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuF6aD26LW8
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
I feel like Hoke always wants to be so neutral that whenever down the road he calls someone out, he really really means it.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:03 PM ^
He's so neutral, the only thing he drinks is Dr. Pepper.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:14 PM ^
Haha, maybe I'm off my mark but I'm pretty sure you got a good South Park reference in there. Either way I laughed.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:04 AM ^
"I have no strong feelings one way or the other."
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:03 AM ^
Most certainly a South Park reference. From the most recent season's finale, which parodied the Penn State scandal.
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
Bingo! I know it was wrong, but I couldn't stop laughing during that episode. That episode was written days after the announcement.
Edit: Before people get all upset I was laughing at a cartoon. I wasn't laughing at the horrible situation at Penn State. Get over it.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:24 PM ^
LET'S HAVE A TREMENDOUS TIME LET'S HAVE A TREMENDOUS TIME LET'S HAVE A TREMENDOUS TIME LET'S HAVE A TREMENDOUS TIME
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:45 PM ^
Hoke must be agnostic
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
Someone should tell him that Diet Dr Pepper tastes more like Regular Dr Pepper.
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:55 AM ^
This is Hoke's way of saying, "I'll feel free to take all of your recruits if I choose and you'll thank me for it."
I like his attitude.
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^
Dantonio and Bielema just belong in the same category as Danny Hope. Grow up, its a competition.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:29 PM ^
I'll take "Coaches with better teams than Michigan" for 200, Alex.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:44 PM ^
I wish that wasn't a good one. :-(
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:52 PM ^
You'll probably take another penis in your tush.
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:19 AM ^
Novack coming for you Sunday.....
<br>
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:43 PM ^
The whole concept of this "Gentleman's Agreement" is so phony. Dantonio and Bielema are just being hipocritical and butt-hurt over losing the gems of their classes.
The Spartan propaganda that MSU won't recruit another schools commitment unless they "reach out" to them first is such a load. In the last week of recruiting, they either hosting or attempting to host Johnson-Iowa, Winston-Ark, Coleman-Ind, Washington-OSU, Dodson-Wis, and a kid from Rutgers I believe.
Under the assumption that each of these kids "reached out" to MSU to say that they wanted to be recruited again, don't you think that at least a single one of them would have flipped?
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:58 AM ^
since that kid was considered to be a solid commit. It surprised a lot of these Iowa guys, didn't amount to anything in the end. It just makes both of those coaches look like idiots. Urban is smiling all the way to his top 10 class ranking and will gladly add insult to injury by curb stomping both of those guys for multiple years.
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^
Complaining about a gentleman's agreement is the same as complaining about a team running up the score in a championship game. It's the last refuge of a loser.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:45 PM ^
Or complaining about not going to a BCS bowl because you lost in your conference championship game and finished with a worse record and lower rank than your in-state rival.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:51 PM ^
And you weren't even solicited to bring up Michigan State. That was like one of those terrible talk show radio plugs.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:56 AM ^
And complaining about officiating. That's another loser's habit.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^
no doubt...and the only time I recall hearing about a 'gentleman's agreement' is when we would steal a top recruit from the sweater or wilfred brimley a few years ago...whatever...that is exactly why they have LOI day...
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
Bielema has no problem running up 70+ points on Indiana, but when you don't show class towards him, he turns into diva.
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:56 PM ^
Neither is football recruiting. Get over it BB.
That said, getting kids to play on your team by offering tattoos, cars and <whatever Urban Meyer offers (most likely girls)> is cheating.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:11 PM ^
If I was a recruit, I think I would visit Columbus to see if Urban was still arranging "sandwiches."
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:06 PM ^
Love Brady Hoke. That is all.
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:00 AM ^
Hoke has been on the job for a year now, and not once has he misspoken. He doesn't get caught in trash, he doesn't babble, and he doesn't get upset. He's not going to say anything to the media, and we most likely won't get to know him unless he is still around in his sixties. I wanted Harbaugh bad, but Harbaugh would have gone off and lost his cool if he were the coach and the same question was posed. Hoke is cool, and knows exactly what he is doing. The more you watch him you realize that every move he makes is calculated, much in the same way that Howard Stern conducts his interviews (buy surius radio, he'll be gone within the next five years and you will have missed one of the greatest, most dedicated entertainers of all time).
The opinion I have of Hoke is the same I hold of Carolyn Hax. When I am bored I will read her advice page, and EVERY TIME I finish I have the same reaction: "whoh, I think I agree with everything she just said." Same thing with Hoke, not once has he made a questionable move. He is rapidly approaching Carolyn Hax status.
February 3rd, 2012 at 6:23 AM ^
I'd say his batting average in that area is well north of .950. I can recall only one instance (Tressel something) where I thought he missed the mark. (Sorry -- can't recall the exact quote. It was something that, IMO, was a bit too lukewarm and supportive of Tressel's actions.)
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:09 PM ^
I'm not entirely sure Bielema is upset about Meyer violating the non-existant "Gentleman's Agreement". Considering Bielema used the words "illegal tactics", it might be something more sinister.
It's still bad form to air the conferences dirty laundry in public. Just take the complaint directly to Delany and STFU.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:21 PM ^
"There's a few things that happened early on I made people be aware of that I didn't want to see in this league that I had seen take place at other leagues," Bielema said. "Other recruiting tactics, other recruiting practices that are illegal. I was very up front. I actually reached out to Coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concerns with him and the situation got rectified."
He said Meyer asked him: "You know what the difference between the Big Ten and our conference is? I said, 'No', and he said, 'In the Big Ten, everybody tells on everybody. In our conference nobody tells on anybody.' "
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/meyer-whips-up-a-strong-class-irritates-bielema/1213547
Something else is going on other than a gentleman's agreement, at least according to Bielema.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:18 AM ^
Ok, BB's interview and quote never says Meyer said that "difference between B1G and SEC" comment. Bret says that he was offered a coaching job several years ago in the SEC and was told that as a reason why he should come down the SEC from the B1G and it turned him off. He says it in an ambiguous way that it was some, possibly even former, SEC coach who offered him a job.
EDIT: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/01/wisconsins-bielema-questions-urban-meyers-recruiting/
In the midst of answering the question about Meyer Wednesday, Bielema went off on a tangent about a job offer he received in a different conference when he was an assistant at Wisconsin under Barry Alvarez. He didn’t name the school or the head coach that was trying to hire him, but he said while that coach was trying to recruit him, he told Bielema: “You know what the difference between the Big Ten and this conference is? In the Big Ten everybody tells on everybody, in our conference nobody tells on anybody.”
Bielema didn’t take the job.
“That (was) a huge comment to me,” he said about the unnamed coach. “I’ve been very cognizant of that. I encourage our coaches to play by the books, to do things in a certain way. If you have to lie, cheat and steal to get someone here, it doesn’t make a great point once you get them here about how you need to handle them.
Emphasis added
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
That Tampa paper needs to retract this. It's borderline libel.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^
...publicly humiliate OSU and hopefully force the NCAA into starting up a new investigation.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:48 PM ^
That's how I interpreted it as well.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^
Nsd is like another game.. God i love this dude!
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:33 PM ^
I just go whatever old Brady says.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:41 PM ^
"Meyer, Bielema and Dantonio can all go F themselves."
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:49 PM ^
This is the correct translation.
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:31 AM ^
all's fair in love and recruiting!
February 3rd, 2012 at 6:31 AM ^
How friggin' lucky are we to have Hoke as our coach, class act and confident like a motha!
February 3rd, 2012 at 7:41 AM ^
Absurd phrase to begin with, note that it is always used as justification for complaining about something someone else did. If you had an actual agreement, then the other party would not have done something else to begin with.
Bunch of whining candy as$$s! Just means that I can do whatever I want but you, why, you have no morals or scruples anytime you do something that I do all the time!
Note who is whining, Hope, Bielema, Dantonio....people not at long term football powerhouses like Michigan, Ohio, et al.......
February 3rd, 2012 at 7:54 AM ^
in recruiting and is looking for someone to blame. But I do agree that Meyer is the slime of humanity and probably is doing some illegal or unethical stuff. He should air his gripes to the Big Ten or NCAA if he has actual proof. Otherwise, keep his mouth shut.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^
If there was a "gentelmen's agreement", it would mean the coaches were essentially conspiring to put their interests ahead of the kids'. More important than coaches getting their way is for kids to end up at the school that is the best fit for them.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:34 AM ^
There is no reason for either U-M or OSU to abide by any "Gentleman's agreement" with the other Big Ten teams. It creates an artificial level of equality between the Big 2 and the other teams. If Dantonio, Bielema, etc. could convice a U-M or OSU commit to flip, they would do it, but since they can't they need to rely on this agreement to protect their commits.
Similarly, I believe I should request a gentleman's agreement with Brad Pitt and George Clooney that we will never seduce each others' wife/girlfriend.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^
We've dealt with this, such a long time ago. JoeTiller'sRoundtreeRodriguezSnakeOil. Brian Cook did it for us; demolishing the myth about no Big Ten recruits being recruited after previous verbal commits.
Now, it is all a lot of testosterone-laced head coach chest puffery.
This is the head-coaching equivalent of Dantonio's outburst at Jeff Hecklinski. Dantonio is pissed. He's pissed, because a couple of years ago, he could cling to his own branch of the storied Jim Tressel coaching tree. Dantonio could pretend that he and Tressel somehow represented the elite of the Conference. And that the two of them could cooperatively rule the league.
And that is all over. It's all over now, baby Green. You're out, Dantonio. Pack your things and get off the island.
Some people theorized that Dantonio would not have tried to intimidate Hoke if he had been there himself in Kalamazoo for the Michigan high school coaching meeting. This makes me wonder about that theory.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^
How could there be a "gentlemans agreement" amoung coaches????
Name me one you could trust.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^
I am curious to hear what Alvarez has to say. He has requested a meeting with Delaney about Meyer's recruiting tactics. If it was about this supposed "Gentlemen's Agreement" that would be quite hypocritcal of them. They have poached plenty of players from Iowa in the past.
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^
First, State had a "gentlemen's agreement" with Ohio (and no one else) because Dantonio was sucking from Tressel's teet and Saint Jim was pumping the hind milk (yes, I too have a January baby, but she's a girl so she won't be playing football at Michigan...she might be a swimmer though). Now that Tress is gone (and Hoke is in A2), Dantonio is seeing his run is over. So, he comes out with Narduzzi bitches like Izzo about someone running up the score by 6. it's absurd that they're complaining as if they didn't realize a new staff in Columbus wouldn't have the same affection/pity for Dantonio.
UW might have something about Urban, but none of us know what "illegal recruiting" means. Flipping recruits (like State tried to do with Dodson) will happen. It sucks, but that wouldn't be illegal and UW doesn't seem to be claiming that it is. So, we wait on that.
The big issue is the NCAA. All of the B1G coaches should vent in that direction. Ohio is escaping nearly all of their forward-looking penalties by oversigning. Might they be under the limit by the spring? Sure, but why should a scholarship-docked team be allowed to oversign at any point? Why should such a team be allowed to have a separate recruiting staff? The NCAA created the monster and won't do anything about it.
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
Rittenberg for espn tweeted that he thinks a lot of ppl are missing the point on bielema-urban. Don't think accusations are about poaching. There is something more to it.