1464

September 29th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^

Is it, though?  I mean -12 degrees is pretty damned cold.  Even breathing that air can cause issues.  At that temperature, it is colder than possibly any NCAA game ever  And what time of year is that temperature even possible in Ohio?

MGlobules

September 29th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^

he was made to drag sandbags around. This is common garden variety coach sadism. Either you approve or you don't. 

This is one more very strong reason why Brady should not have been hired in the first place. I personally will stop feeling sorry for his 12 million dollar behind now. 

EDIT: Michigan is a public insitution. We have a right to know the sequence of events on the Gibbons decisions, too. Let the chips fall where they may. If RR screwed up, let's find out. 

Asgardian

September 29th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^

Actually relevant:

 

And this is the perfect place to mention that, after Michigan's loss to Ohio State last season in which Gardner played the entire game despite breaking his foot midway through the third quarter, Hoke said this in his press conference [emphasis mine]:

You know, [Gardner is] beat up like everybody is, and that's when he was limping a little bit, and I said I don't want to see you limp. I said every guy out here could limp. We've got to go play, and he did that. I'm proud of him.

An early sign of what was to come that we all missed.

h/t: Maize n Brew:

http://www.maizenbrew.com/2014/9/28/6855989/2014-michigan-wolverines-fo…

MGlobules

September 29th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^

poor got dismissed by a lot of people, too. But a lot of this is a matter of how such events are constructed. We all painted him as a hero for hanging on through thick and thin, but it is worth reviewing the record. I remember that statement of Hoke's catching in my craw at the time. 

CalifExile

September 29th, 2014 at 4:08 PM ^

There were indications that Morris might have suffered a concussion. Prudence, not to mention NCAA guidelines, dictates that you check the player to see if he had a concussion. Apparently, Morris was never checked for that. In any case, I still disagree with your failure to distinguish between a leg/foot injury and a head injury. The difference in attitude isn't a result of situational ethics.

Wolverine Devotee

September 29th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^

This era will be known as the Hoke Joke. 

We were all fooled into thinking he was a coach that first year and not a millionaire clapper.

BernardC

September 29th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^

I swear with all honesty that when Brady was hired I felt physically ill and left work.  I drove around for a bit and then walked around the mall (not sure why) despondant for hours.  Pretty sure that I looked like one of those mall creepers that kiosk workers talk about.

Not one of my better days!

JHendo

September 29th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^

He also has 600+ points over that same short timeframe.  Methinks we have a veteran MGoBlogger here who's simply just under a different name.  Maybe one of the unfortunate folks who initially used "Hoke" when they first choose their name...

SalvatoreQuattro

September 29th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^

 RR was a 360 degree disaster. His incompetence as a head coach(Tony Gibson, GERG) combined with the backstabbing that went on was a perfect storm. Rich Rodriguez is Dana Holgerson with better hair.

Yes, he has an innovative offensive mind, but there is far more to winning football games than schematic advantages. Charlie Weis also had a keen offensive mind.

 

Brady Hoke lacks even the keen mind. He is Rod Marinelli, but with 100 lbs heavier and lacking the toughness of the former Marine-cum-position coach.

jblaze

September 29th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^

1 player with frostbite in how many years of coaching for Hoke? Did Hoke know the kid had frostbite and knowingly make him finish his punishment practice?

Also, I don't understand how everybody can say that Shane had a consussion with such certainty.

I hope Hoke's fired ASAP and his comments after the game make him look like an idiot (e.g. we pulled Shane because he had a leg injury, but put him back in 30 seconds later for one play).

APBlue

September 29th, 2014 at 11:44 AM ^

People who are saying that Morris had a concussion - with certainty - are one thing.  

The point is that Hoke should have been aware that Morris MAY HAVE BEEN concussed and treated him as such.  

That's what has a lot of people pissed.  

saveferris

September 29th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^

I don't think most of the fans think that Brady Hoke knowingly put a potentially concussed player in harms way, but ignorance of that fact doesn't excuse you from responsibility.

Here's where wearing a headset might have come in handy for you.  Relaying the message, "Hey coach, Shane took a helmet to the head on that play, we should get Devin and Russell up and ready while the trainers check him out" becomes a lot easier.

APBlue

September 29th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^

Good point about the headset.  I've thought about that too.  However, Nussmeier is on the sideline.  It shouldn't be hard to look over to Hoke and say - "Hey coach, I think our QB got his bell rung".  

Not to mention Hoke should have seen the fucking hit.  After seeing a hit like that, you'd think he'd watch his QB for a minute...just in case.  

The more I think about this, the more pissed I get.  

saveferris

September 29th, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^

Either one of two things are true:

  1. Hoke saw Morris get hit and dismissed the possiblity that he was seriously hurt based on his player telling him he was OK, in which case he is too reckless with player well-being and is unworthy of being the head coach at Michigan
  2. Hoke was ignorant of the entire situation regarding Morris, in which case his competency is in question and he is unworthy of being the head coach at Michigan.

GoWings2008

September 29th, 2014 at 11:46 AM ^

Shane's last play, I watched that sequence very carefully and it seemed like they were going to make a run at closing the gap in the score, so a timeout was a precious thing.  Other than burning one, they wanted to get Bellomy in there for that one play.  He had helmet issues, and Shane was right there.  In retrospect, it was the wrong decision, but in the heat of the moment I can see how that situation happened the way it did.  Honestly, there's other egregious things to be mad at with regards to Saturday's game.

go16blue

September 29th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^

My thought exactly. People don't seem to realize that Shane was only put in for one play, on which everybody knew he was only going to go in, hand the ball off, and come back to the sideline. There was no risk of reinjury.

APBlue

September 29th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^

Look, I'm not up in arms about this.  My frustration is with the state of the program as a whole.  

However, anytime a QB is in the game, there is a risk of injury.  The RB may have gotten the play wrong and ran to the wrong side of the play, leaving the QB with a busted play.  Anything is possible.

I just keep teetering between the "Hoke should have known Morris may have been concussed and had him tested" and the "Morris was already being treated by the medical staff for a leg injury.  If he had shown any signs of a concussion, they probably would have noticed" camps.    

Overall, recruiting and buy-outs and everything else be damned.  We need to get a person who is capable of leading this team in a manner befitting Leaders and Best.  

 

CR7

September 29th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^

This. A million times this. To me, this is a unbelievable overreaction to something relatively minor. We don't know if he was concussed and he went in for one play to hand it off. I understand it's merely the principal of putting him back in and I know concussions are all the rave these days, but FFS calm down. It's not like Morris took another shot to the head and was severely injured; he was swiftly pulled from the game and not put back in. For me, it was case closed at that moment. This holier than thou attitude is quite frankly annoying. It's one thing to care deeply and it's another thing entirely to sit so high on your moral high horse that you've forgotten what color the grass is.

bluesalt

September 29th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

Why didn't Bellomy have a helmet nearby? Someone on the sideline needs to be on top of things, and with the number of times we've had not the right number of people on the field, it seems no one is. That's on the head coach. This is the same type of thing. People should know if they're next in line in case of injury. Yes, it was just two plays later, but there was more than enough time with the stoppage after Gardner lost his helmet for that message to be delivered. I'm very willing to believe that Hoke didn't know Shane had been hit in the head like he had. But it's the disorganization on the sideline that prevented him from getting this information, and organization is a critical component of being a head coach.



I still like Hoke, but he's not head coach material for a major program. He's DL coach material. He should go back to that.

GoWings2008

September 29th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^

and for some reason, he tried on several helmets and none of them were the right ones.  I don't know exactly what happened or why, but it seemed like he was very unprepared to go on if needed.  As soon as Gardner went on, he should have made himself ready.  It was obvious that he wasn't.  THAT, to me, is not on the coach. 

bluesalt

September 29th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^

Who's job is it to prepare the kids? If an assignment gets blown on the field, whatever. That happens, especially since the other side is actively trying to make you blow assignments, and they will sometimes succeed. But on the sideline, someone should have told Bellomy to

bluesalt

September 29th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^

Someone should have told Bellomy to find a helmet just in case. But he was sitting there, with the headset on no less, completely unprepared to make even a handoff if need be. That no one was ready to communicate this to him, or able to help him find a helmet while the clock was stopped, is just another testament to the lack of organization of the team.



And if he couldn't find one, you call a timeout. You don't put Morris back in there. Yes, it's a wasted timeout, but it's the same thing as wasting a timeout because you don't have enough players on the field. Burning a timeout is the penalty for your disorganization. Putting a very visibly injured player in should never be a solution.

GoWings2008

September 29th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^

AT MICHIGAN, no less.  If the "usual" second stringer who is now out and DG went on...so, the third stringer needs to be ready.  I haven't played organized football since 9th grade, but this is something that even my coach would have wanted us to be ready for.  Yes, there are coaches who should have said something, but if he couldn't have his helmet nearby in order to go in just in case, I don't know how else to prepare a kid if I was a coach.  That is football 101.  HAVE YOUR DAMN HELMET NEAR YOU. 

EDIT: But, I'm not disagreeing with your last point.  Yes, in retrospect it was a bad decision.  However in the heat of the moment, I see how that situation quickly escalated out of control.  It happened very quickly and I do think it was the wrong thing to do.

LJ

September 29th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^

To those calling for the immediate firing of Brady Hoke because of the Shane Morris situation, can you honestly say that you would be calling for the same thing if he had gone 11-2 in all three of his prior years here?  Or if we were undefeated and had looked great this year, to this point?

I think the staff made a mistake with Morris on Saturday, but it seems blindingly obvious that we're willing to immediately assume it was an egregious, fireable error for one reason: we already wanted to fire Hoke, because what we REALLY care about is wins & losses.

sdogg1m

September 29th, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^

Its not our son playing football for Michigan. We are fans of a football program. I think this poster is dead on! A lot of this outrage is trumped up mainly because fans were already upset about the season. If we are 5-0, I bet fans are defending Hoke and at worse calling it a mistake.

Fine, you want the guy gone, I get that. I think he needs to be fired but let's stop pretending its because of keeping Shane Morris in the game. If you want Hoke gone because of the failed results then say so. We shouldn't be using a football player to rally sympathy to a cause.

LJ

September 29th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^

Exactly.  It very well could be a fireable offense.  But 99.99% of the people calling for a firing would not be doing so if Hoke were winning games.  So we shouldn't get all high-and-mighty about how we draw the line at player safety--if the coach were winning, most of the fanbase probably wouldn't draw the line at player safety, the same way Alabama fans have no problem justifying oversigning in their minds.

Heteroskedastic

September 29th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^

I have been a Hoke apologist since his hire, albeit not on the record.  Hoke has made many decisions that one could question, but so many outcomes in life and football are dependent on factors that simply cannot be accounted for, much less predicted.  Arm chair quarterbacking is easy because we only see one outcome and can assess the cause of the outcome to be whatever fits our model.  It is unproductive for the same reasons.  However, I also believe that given enough time and freedom of movement, the incompetent ones will make a decision that is so clearly wrong, malicious or inappropriate their ability and the quality of their character becomes obvious.  It is the proverbial Wizard of Oz moment.  At that point, the ones with the ability to hold that person accountable are obligated to do so. 

The Shane Morris incident was that moment.  I watched the game with no volume so I was not influenced by the announcers comments.  My immediate reaction was that this was one of the most disturbing sequences I had ever seen in sports.  Hoke lost my support immediately.  One can argue how much Hoke knew or saw immediately after the hit.  Ignorance explains leaving him in for the next play.  It does not explain substituting him back in after Gardner lost his helmet.  One can argue that Shane may not have had a concussion.  As stated earlier, no doctor could accurately determine his state in the few minutes he was on the sideline.  One can argue that Hoke is not malicious.  It should not matter if he was malicious or incompetent.  The result was the same.  Both are equally dangerous.  One can argue that the reaction from fans, media et al would be different if the team were 5-0.  Unfortuntely, this team is not 5-0.  We will never know what the reaction would be.  I have watched many football games (not nearly as many as the more prolific posters here or professional media types), however I have never seen this type of disregard for player safety in football or sports in general.  I don't know what my response would be if the team were 5-0, but my gut instinct is to believe that coaches that lead 5-0 teams do not act in this manner. 

4godkingandwol…

September 29th, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^

... for his ineptitude in each facet of being a coach (except recruiting).  His most recent ineptitude actually put an athlete's health at risk.  The other stuff you can live with, wait it out for the season, then fire him.  If his ineptitude extends to player safety, I think firing him now is a completely reasonable decision.