In honor of Steve Spurrier and facts...
Today I'm going to buy a Michigan t-shirt and a Dominos pizza.
Steve Spurrier's coaching record at South Carolina:
2005 7-5 and lost bowl game
2006 8-5 and won a bowl game
2007 6-6 no bowl game listed
2008 7-6 and lost a bowl game
2009 7-6 and lost a bowl game
2010 9-5 and lost a bowl game....again
2011 11-2 and won a bowl game
2012 11-2 and won a bowl game
2013 11-2 and won a bowl game
I know, some detractors will say he has credentials, history, winning pedigree....blah-blah-blah. My reply is it still took him 6 years before he started winning at the other USC. Does this mean Hoke is the right coach? Who knows. What it does offer is some perspective, which I find much more relevant than panic.
As far as other prospective coaches go, there is a pattern with Les Miles. At some point we need to quit blaming everyone else. He knew the job was available. Why couldn't he drive his damn Lamborghini up here and take it....if he really wanted it that bad.
Harbuagh had his chance too. He chose to pull his khakis up to his nipples and go to San Francisco.
Hoke said he would walk here for the job.
Yeah, lets fire the guy over some adversity that seems historically normal.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
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September 23rd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
To be fair, we were pretty terrible when Hoke got here
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
What you are complaining about goes both ways. The previous 3 years before he was at SC, they went 16-21 (edit: 16-19, adding is hard). Similarly, in the 3 years before Hoke, we went 15-21.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
This post is silly.
if Hoke were coaching Indiana or Illinois, sure.
If Hoke previously had a wildly successful track record before coming to Mich, sure.
But he's not, and he doesn't.
He's running out of time.
September 23rd, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
^This. I don't get the continued blind faith in Hoke. He has zero track record to speak of.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
As others have said, you can't just gloss over the fact that Spurrier had a track record as one of the best coaches in all of college football just to fit your narrative. If Brady Hoke had a national championship and 7 conference championships on his resume I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I guess Hoke does have 1 MAC western division title to this name, so that puts him on almost the same level as Spurrier.
As for Miles, he has won a national championship and has a consistently winning program going at LSU. He may or may not take the Michigan job if formally offered but do you really expect him to leave behind the good gig he has to come up and beg for the Michigan job when it seems pretty clear various people involved don't want him? Harbaugh and Miles are well-paid, quality coaches, they don't need to offer to walk to Michigan to get a quality job.
Keep making all the excuses you want for Hoke, I am sure you can come up with numerous more examples and numbers to fit your narrative. I don't know what you and the other Hoke supporters are trying to prove. You may really believe he is a good football coach, but after 3+ years, most of us are tired of seeing a sub-par product on the field.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
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September 23rd, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:55 AM ^
Because Michigan is a better football program than South Carolina. Because most of Spurriers losses aren't embarrasing blowouts to teams like Utah. Because Spurriers offense managed to get in the red zone in one of their first two games against competent competition. Because Spurriers team's didn't regress in each year he was coaching South Carolina. Do you want more?
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
As opposed to 2014, in which the losses are not close, hard-fought, and against good teams.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
Hey man, who cares about 2014, he won a BCS bowl after the 2011 season and was an assistant coach here when Michigan was really good, lets give him an extension.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
While not huge on the Hoke hire I was fully behind Hoke after 2012 because the losses made sense. We had no right to be on the same football field as Alabama, while some can argue we should have had a backup QB ready (and did not) for Nebraska, I understand why we lost that one. We lost to #2 ND and #3 OSU - ok thats fine. And we gave SC a competitive game that we lost at the end. We looked competent. Our losses were not pathetic save for Bama. Our wins were not generally pathetic - the kind where you look around and say "we won?" (I did that after we won the Sugar Bowl)
So if we had this discussion on Jan 15 2013 its a different commentary. We are now having a lot of WTF wins (Akron UConn) and WTF losses piling up on each other the ensuing 1.25 years. Our team looks lost a lot. We dont do the basics right. We cant field the right number of players.
Dude its called a smell test. An eye test. Whatever you want to call it. This team doesnt pass it.
I am telling you its going to get way more ugly than it is now. Every team save for Indiana Northwestern and Minnesota - yes even Rutgers has a defense that is going to cause this OL and DG big trouble. We have 2-3 games that have the potential for 2-3TD margin of losses even with a decent defense if things fall wrong. MSU could be the inverse of the Bobby Williams 49-3 loss. And this is playing generally bad teams in a bad conference. I cannot imagine what this team would be facing if it was Tennessee and had to play in he SEC.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
that Hoke should get his recruits to the senior level before passing final judgement. I am not making that argument. Hoke seems to have a fundamental weakness in that he can only coach football his way, regardless of whether he has the players for it or whether it makes sense. I agree with Brian that the punting situation provides a pretty clear view of Hoke's inner workings. A coach that does things a certain way "just because" when all evidence points the other way is never going to be a great coach.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
The 2011 Michigan football offense is the best example that anyone could possibly come up with to refute your claim. Hoke showed a tremendous willingness and ability to coach in a way that is not "his", and he enjoyed success because of it.
He has also gone from a 4-3 under to a 4-3 over, has gone from a primarily base defense to a 50-50 base-nickel split, has changed his preferred coverage many times.
He has shown a (wrong) stubbornness with respect to the punt, but he has been very flexible everywhere else. You seem to be confusing talking points and general program principles (run the ball, play physical, etch) with scheme. And you are wrong.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
Sorry, Robo, but the reason Harbaugh wouldn't take the job is becasue of David Brandon. No coach with real options is going to take the job while Brandon is AD.
Also, do you really want Les Miles to be the coach here? He has more talent on his team than anyone except Alabama and USC pretty much every year, but almost always has that one "inexplicible loss" like the one to Mississippi State Saturday.
As for Spurrier, he went to a school that was used to sucking for most of its existence. What he has done is the equivalent of turning Indiana University into a National Championship contender. Plus, he gets bonus points for the entertainment factor.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
If the narrative is true that Brandon never reached out to Miles then I'm glad. If half the rumors about Les are true - I don't want him here.
Re: Jim H, dude through Bo under the bus after Bo had died and wasn't around to defend the academics of his Michigan tenure as coach and AD. Now he's ruining his shot in the NFL by arguing with the owner. Screw him, he's as bad as his brother-in-law down at IU.
John H, I'd be open to hearing about if we don't see improvement over the course of this season. There's a chance he could retain Mattison and I wonder if he'd try to keep Nussmeier. Then both guys would be free to hire their position staff if the lower rung guys left with Hoke.
I still think we're underselling the transition time of installing a new offense, especially with a still young (and improving) Oline and a 5th year QB in his 3rd offensive system (4th if you double count Borges) with bad habits in his throwing motion. Let's talk coaching transitions between OSU and the bowl game.
And if we don't qualify for one of the 700 bowl games available, we can discuss a coaching transition before the OSU game.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
Talking with a TN friend at work, our programs are VERY similiar so far. We win. It's what we do. Between 1969 and 2007 we've had one 7 win season and one 8 win season. That's 21 seasons of 8 or more wins. The bar has been set and it is set VERY high.
I'm not sure we'd ever give any coach no matter what his history 6 relatively mediocre seasons to get the program back on track.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:33 AM ^
Every rule has and exception. Congrats - you have found the exception.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
Steve Spurrier walked into a situation with, in all likelihood, ZERO expectations. South Carolina had never amounted to anything as a program, and was competing in the toughest conference in football. Quite a far cry from Michigan, a traditional powerhouse where the expectation is to win conference titles and compete for national titles almost every year. Spurrier could set up shop quietly, amongst a fanbase that likely had (at the start) very low expectations. Lou Holtz couldn't accomplish anything at South Carolina, so I doubt the bar was set really high for Spurrier when he came in.
Steve Spurrier also had the benefit of being a proven winner. I know 5-6 seasons is quite a while to wait for success, but I think fans are willing to be a little more patient with a guy who's won national titles than a guy who comes in with a sub .500 record in the MAC and MWC.
Comparing apples to oranges, my friend.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
You guys do realize that Robocrofts is just ingeniously trolling everyone, right?
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
South Carolina would be the equivalent of winning big at Wake Forest. In a much tougher conference. How would friggin Hoke do with crossover games vs LSU Auburn Texas A&M and Alabama? How would it do with Georgia and Florida (which until 2 years ago was a very tough team)
This is a ridiculous comparison - Spurrier started at DUke and made them competitive in the SEC in his 3 or so years there, went to the USFL and had one of the better teams, went to Florida which until he got there was a major underachiever ala Illinois is and made them champions then went to a sodden program like SC and made them competitive. In a very tough conference.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
Hoke is below average at much of the small stuff. It is the small stuff that makes or breaks you. He was 47-50 prior to coming to Michigan. Michigan is an elite caliber football school, which should require an elite coach.
I love Brady as a man and what he stand for, but he is not half the coach The old ball coach is. Spurrier won a freaking ACC title with DUKE!! really good coaches win everywhere they coach and are seldom average.
I have noticed that most coaches that have been to a National championship in the last 10 years has either been an offensive guru or a defensive guru. Guys like Saban- Defense, Urbz-Offense, Chip Kelly- Offense, Pete Carroll- Defense, and Gus Malzahn- Offense are just some of the coaches that have been able to play in the national title game. Other elite coaches around the country like Art Briles- Offense, Kevin Sumlin- Offense, and Mark Dantonio- Defense are getting very close.
I really think it gives you an advantage if your HC has a true specialty on one side of the ball or the other. I really hope the next guy that coaches at UM is a true guru in every since of the word like the guys I listed above. I'm sorry but Hoke just doesn't do it for me and his continued special teams errors and stubbornness to change is just too much for me. Adapt or die is the way college football is.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
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September 23rd, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
didn't have the winningest program in college football history.
They were grateful to get Spurrier, so they were going to give him as long as he wanted. Expectations were completely different.
September 23rd, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
Let's see, Spurrier turned around a traditional doormat in the toughest conference in football. Hoke inherited a traditional power and the resources that come with it on top of having the support the previous coach never got in probably the weakest power conference. And the results have gotten worse each year. Spurrier also had a way better resume going into SC. But when you demand a "Michigan Man," you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.......