Hoke on whether or not Michigan is back.
I know this will be in the interview when it is posted, but it is just too good to ignore for 10 more minutes.
Hoke was asked if Michigan would be back if they win the Sugar Bowl.
His reply was "Michigan Never Left".
Yeah, coachspeak, but he just keeps hitting them out of the park.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:01 PM ^
He threw that down with a double point!
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^
Not the first time he's been asked that and not the first time he's made that reply.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^
Tremendous.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:18 PM ^
Tremendous....so is D-Rob
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^
Not like the rut nd finds itself mired in.
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^
We haven't won a major bowl game since the 1999 season. If "back" means actually being a relevant national contender, winning this game is a very big deal.
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:47 PM ^
for more to be desired, for the most part. But the Citrus Bowl win, beating Florida in the state of Florida immediately following and immediately preceding national championships for them was a major win.
I get that it was a non-BCS bowl, but that was as good as it possibly coulda been outside the BCS.
After tomorrow evening, hopefully it will be a moot point.
January 2nd, 2012 at 4:10 PM ^
As you say, Florida won national titles the year before and the year after that game. That is the kind of program we should aspire to be like, not one that brags about a second tier bowl win once a decade. Michigan has been a legit national title contender one time in the last decade plus. We haven't won a BCS bowl in that time period either. A return to that doesn't mean much.
The fact is that since 2000, on the national landscape, we have been way behind teams like OSU, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Bama, Florida, USC, Oregon, and even schools like WVU and Boise State who have won multiple BCS games. If being "back" means being an elite national program, we have to start winning games like the one tomorrow night on a consistent basis.
I definitely think that after tomorrow night and the great season I expect us to have next year that we'll really be "back".
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:12 PM ^
season to bury the myth of SEC superiority forever.
I write this in a wash of enthusiasm after Nebraska scores on SC, then return to watch Bilbo run back the PAT for two. Easy come and easy go, I guess.
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:14 PM ^
You don't see that every day.
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:19 PM ^
No, it'll take more than that. There have been years when we've swept the SEC head-to-head and it didn't change a thing.
Besides, with two SEC teams playing for the national title, why would this year end their belief in their superiority?
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^
Michigan is 7 and 4 against the SEC. As long as ESPN is swinging from the SEC's dick, nothing is going to change any perceptions.
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:25 PM ^
in the sec's defense, thats what happens when you win 6 straight national titles as a conference. lsu manhandled oregon, the definition of an offensive powerhouse. 2 sec teams are playing for the title, and deserving or not, if oklahoma state got to play for the title, the game would have been over by halftime in lsu's favor. teams like lsu and alabama are miles ahead of anyone else in the country.
the perception of the sec is pretty well justified.
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:36 PM ^
gotta love coach hoke!
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:54 PM ^
FERGODSAKES!!!