Hoke-Speak - Can we put this to bed once and for all?
Every week now countless fans rant about Brady Hoke's responses after games and in pressers, but lost in those threads are the responses correcting them, and thus the message never seems to get through. So I thought I'd make a post to emphasize the following point:
We as fans have a long list of reasons to be frustrated with the state of the program and coaching staff, but Brady Hoke's comments to the media should not be on that list.
Most of you have read this before, but for some reason it doesn't seem to get through.
Hoke simply cannot throw Borges, Funk or his players under the bus.
Borges, Funk and some of his players have underperformed, but for the head coach to acknowledge this in any specific form beyond his bland "We need to execute better" retorts, would be tossing said coaches and/or players under the bus to some degree. Doing so would be counterproductive for Hoke's aspirations on three fronts:
(a) Drawing what little inspiration or drive remains from Borges and Funk and the players, given they'd likely mail it in themselves if alienated, thus further sabotaging what little hope there is on offense for the remainder of this season.
(b) Attracting decent replacement coordinators (assuming that is an option he is considering) because what coordinator would come work for a coach that didn't protect him.
(c) Recruiting because many players wouldn't appreciate a coach that didn't protect them to the media.
We're all frustrated and searching for answers to the debacle we've witnessed this season, and saw signs of last season (second half Nebraska/Ohio). But expecting those answers to come from Brady Hoke's pressers in the middle of the season is shortsighted.
Hoke's performance and that of his staff are fair game. But the answers we seek won't materialize until probably some time in early January when we can judge Hoke by his actions rather than words. He will either replace Borges and Funk which will answer many of our questions as to where his mind has actually been, or he will keep them on another year and live, but more likely die by the feint hope that a year's worth of recruits, weight training, practice reps and advancement in the program will right the offense's ship.
November 12th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
Same here. My boss and I had a discussion about whether or not Hoke could actually take over offensive play-calling should Borges get hit by a bus or something. After the "where is that bus and what time does it leave?" hilarity ensued, we agreed that at least based on what we see from week to week, we just have no idea if he could. I would certainly hope so, but I've just never seen any evidence to boost my confidence in that regard.
November 12th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
November 12th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
so, what you're saying is party like it's 2010 all over again?
November 12th, 2013 at 3:55 PM ^
None of those guys would leave.
Al Golden has an easy gig with an easy fan base to appease at Miami. Their 'sanctions' were a slap on the wrist.
Chris Peterson has turned down numerous better offers.
Fitzgerald is not leaving NW for Michigan -- it's his alma mater and he's doing well there. I don't think he wants to ruin his credit with his alma mater.
I would love BOB but I don't think he's leaving for another B1G team. I think he's going to either jump back to the NFL or be their savior for guidng them through the sanctions and back to a respectable program after.
Pinkell is doing well in the SEC with Mizzou and again is a low pressure gig with high upside.
JMJR -- why leave UCLA? He has them doing well, USC is down, and he has a fertile recruiting base in his backyard. I see no reason why he would leave.
Sark is either going to go back to USC or stay at UW.
November 12th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^
"Attracting decent replacement coordinators (assuming that is an option he is considering) because what coordinator would come work for a coach that didn't protect him."
I would agree with this. I know that people would rather Hoke be more direct about things, but even if he is unhappy with the playcalling (which he may actually be - we don't really know as he is pretty good at maintaining The Fort), you'll not hear one word about it in the pressers. However, some of Hoke's non-verbal cues would tell you that he isn't exactly pleased with the state of affairs, in my opinion.
If he has criticisms of Borges and the offensive staff, they would be lodged out of earshot of the media, and this as it should be in this instance. If Hoke hinted at any disdain for the quality of play to the press, your chances of replacing Borges with someone of better quality and/or consistency (if this is the aim) are reduced significantly. You are right, I would think, that not many would want to come here if their boss set a precedent for scrutinizing their performance in public.
What is interesting about this situation is that current management wisdom actually says to steer away from the belief in the adage "praise publicly, criticize privately" and the manager in me cringes when Hoke says "it starts with me" because team interdepency and accountability is actually more effective for enhancing performance in the long-term rather than shifting accountability to the leader. That being said, football is not a corporate environment necessarily, and I believe that I understand why they approach this as they do.
November 12th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
Totally agree. Hoke is nothing if not media-savvy, and he has maintained 'The Fort' atmosphere even more than Bo himself did. He may also have learned from the mistakes of his predecessor, whose media gaffes probably hastened his downfall. I put very little stock in anything Hoke says during a press conference. He could hail Al Borges as the second coming of Vince Lombardi for all I care. What matters to me are the moves he makes in the offseason. If Borges quietly resigns and Hoke issues a generic statement praising him and thanking him for his service without mentioning whether the parting was mutual or not, then we'll know that he sees what we all see. But don't expect him to tip his cap on anything. With Hoke, 'close to the vest' is an understatement.
November 12th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^
based on what has been reported in the media, Brandon is paying close attention to the football program and spends time with both coordinators and Hoke every week.
That means that either, the coaches are receiving Brandon's feedback on various aspects of team and coaching performance and acting on that feedback, or Brandon is at some level satisfied with the staff's corrective steps to fix the issues that they all see. The actual truth is probably more collaborative and somewhere in between.
The meme that Brandon will "step in" or hint his deisre on staff changes to Hoke, simply does not fit what we know about the situation. I ASSume that actual staff changes are up to Hoke, but I doubt very much that he'd release an assistant coach without first discussing it with Brandon. Any action to release a coordinator would be throughly reviewed between them, and one key consideration would be replacements before the actual decision to fire was made.
So the short of it is that, based on all external evidence, Hoke and his coordinators enjoy Brandon's highly informed confidence and support. Expect no high level coaching changes between now and 2014, not because they are Hoke's buddies, but because it appears that Hoke's boss wants them retained.
November 12th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
Brandon did the same during the 2010 season, so it may not tell us anything.
November 12th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
The boards are so different now then during the RR era and I can't really understand it. During the RR years, the vast majority of posters attacked anyone questioning RR and sought patience, blamed a bare cupboard, etc. Now, some of those same folks are screaming about Hoke being (pick your negative) and expecting firings. The same folk who predicted huge recruiting gains under RR (and ignored the massive attrition) are now saying they wouldn't blame Hand for going to Bama. Huh???
I'm not at all happy about the team's performance this year; I'm not happy with Hoke's (clearly ridiculous) statements about being happy with play calling; and I'm not happy to receive my PSD renewal after two weeks of shameful performance. That said, what has Hoke done (in comparison to the past coaching staff) that caused so many to jump ship so fast? If RR deserved patience, doesn't Hoke?
I think all would agree that our D isn't great but shows promise (and has stud recruits/youth). It's the offense that's so shockingly bad. Maybe folks believe it can never improve under Hoke? Maybe we'd all feel better if some "insider" reported that Hoke is privately screaming at Borges/Funk? If the staff is privately acting the same way as in public, I'd agree with the general consensus of "heads in the sand"/"we're doomed", but that just can't be the case..right?
November 12th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
The other thing I don't understand is why people want him to go into detail about what changes he's going to make in his preparations for upcoming coming. There is zero strategic upside to revealing what changes he's going to make, but there is a whole lot of strategic downside.
November 12th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^
with Hoke, Borges and Mattison, one would witness such a massive performance breakdown by the offense. Everyone on offense just seems utterly lost.
I greatly respect Hoke's decision "to delegate with confidence" the offensive and defensive coordination duties and schemes to the experts (Borges and Mattison) each week. I would not want a manager of Hoke's limited coaching breadth and depth stepping in an trying to micro-managing things for the offense. And he will never do that, which is a damn good thing.
I agree that nobody needs to know what's going on behind closed doors with Hoke and his staff. That'd be the case anyway - whether Michigan is 6-3 staring down the barrel of 6-6, or already 9-0 with reservations for the BIG10 title game.
November 12th, 2013 at 2:05 PM ^
I could not care less about what comments Hoke gives to the media after games or during the week as long as it does not provide bulletin board material to a future opponent, and I doubt Hoke will ever be doing that.
What I do care about would be his comments to his OC or DC regarding adjustments during an actual UM football game, and there is no way to know what these are.
But given the results, and progression of strategies that is happening in various games, and his disconnection to the coordinators, especially the OC, if he does have comments, they are not getting communicated effectively, or if they are, they are just plain lousy.
Who cares what he says to the media in comparison to that?
November 12th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
Whether Hoke believes what he's saying or not is irrelevant. Hoke HAS to talk in coach-speak.
Having said that, I REALLY hope Hoke doesn't think everything is fine with the O. Fingers crossed that Hoke is smarter than people give him credit for, and that behind the scenes things are being worked on.
November 12th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
You are right, but I still reserve the right to respond to responses I think are inaccurate and sometimes downright ignorant, even if that ignorance serves a purpose. On top of that, the game plan seems to support the responses as opposed to the coaches actually adjusting to a more competent game plan.
November 12th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
Situation is just festering now. It will be a completly different story after losing the next 3 games or ever 2 of the 3. And it will be ever worse if the suckeyes roll up 70 or 80.
November 12th, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^
Bottom line, we ALL should respect the fact that Brady Hoke is the head coach of our Michigan Wolverines. He isn't perfect, and it's impossible to satisfy every single fan with his comments. But he's not stupid. Protecting the current members of his coaching staff and the players is a quality we want in our head coach.
The problem lies in his basic denial that things are progressing as planned. He knows they're not, we know they're not. But the fans actually want to hear him say "We're stinking it up out there!"
This guy is about 'the team'. Sure, the fans pays the bills but I'd rather he show his loyalty to Michigan by being a stand-up coach for his players.
As far as producing results on the football field, he's gotta be as surprised as we all are! But I bet he's using all of this turmoil to build a stronger team.
He hasn't dropped the ball...he's gonna make the most of the hand he's been delt.
November 12th, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^
It was more than obvious last year that the O-line was horrible and he did nothing about it.