OT - SDSU and Hoke
This is not an anti-Rich Rod post. but rather just an observation.
The man that was given a profile in cronyism is in the midst of his second reclamation project, this time at San Diego State (first time at Ball State, which has promptly returned to the gutter). Yep, that's the same San Diego State that Chuck Long ran hard and fast into the ground.
Perhaps we were a bit to hard on him and the AD when he got an interview at Michigan. However, I'm not saying that he should have gotten the Michigan job or that we made a bad hire.
October 17th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^
And it's best if Rich works out for all. But the Hoke bashing here is unnecessary. He's a damn good coach. Just one that wasn't and isn't at a point in his career to take over a program like Michigan.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^
You spelled "damn fine" incorrectly.
October 17th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^
Agreed... I've been following his progress at SDSU as well. With how bad Ball State has become immediately after his departure and how quickly he's having modest success at SDSU, I'm increasingly accepting the fact he's a competent coach. If you look at his overall record, it's not great, but he's coached at two programs that are traditionally weak. Here's hoping he continues to do well out there.
October 17th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
My thought was that the scorn that was thrown on with his interview wasn't anything personal or due to the fact that people were certain that he was a bad coach. He just didn't have the track record at that time to point to why he would be interviewing to be coach of Michigan other than he had Blue in this background. He did a nice job at BSU and is doing a nice job at SDSU. My guess is that if he got another chance down the line, this board would be much kinder to him.
October 17th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
it does help that they have a NFL caliber QB in Nate Davis.
October 17th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
Certainly not looking forward to that game next year. Why is it so hard to schedule shitty teams from non-BCS conferences?
October 17th, 2010 at 7:00 PM ^
This might be difficult, but please forget RichRod for a few seconds.
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From http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com, Ball State the last few years:
2001: 5-6 (Bill Lynch, who would become the IU coach in a few years)
2002: 6-6 (Lynch's last year)
2003: 4-8 (Hoke)
2004: 2-9
2005: 4-7
2006: 5-7
2007: 7-6
2008: 12-2
2009: 2-10 (Stan Parrish, also a former assistant of Lloyd)
San Diego State:
2006: 3-9 (Chuck Long, former overrated Iowa QB)
2007: 4-8
2008: 2-10
2009: 4-8 (Hoke ... 2-4 after six games)
2010: 4-2 (includes a win over #23 Air Force)
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Including Brady Hoke in the conversation in 2007 was insane. Cronyism is the correct word for that. As well, 2008 looks like a lightning-in-a-bottle year to me. Based on limited data, his run at SDSU is more interesting. We'll see ... he always seemed like "Lloyd Lite" to me in interviews and I never thought "This guy will be running his own high D-1 program some day."
Aside: I've always wondered why SDSU isn't a perennial mid-major power. You'd think they could stock their team really well with the 2- and 3-star SoCal run-off.
October 17th, 2010 at 7:07 PM ^
Not to mention SDSU got hosed in their loss to BYU.
October 17th, 2010 at 7:53 PM ^
I've also been puzzled over the years at how the Azecs continue to struggle to field decent teams. They've sent a ton of guys to the NFL over the years but still haven't been any good since the Faulk era.
They should be the prime candidate to be what Boise State is (if you look at the Broncos roster you'll see a ton of kids from Southern California).
October 17th, 2010 at 8:26 PM ^
San Diego State should be cleaning up in Southern California, especially when it comes to guys who are either are flying under the Pac 10 radar or can't get into UCLA or USC academically. San Diego is one of the nicest places around and I can't imagine recruits not wanting to go play there. Really only bad thing they got going for them is that they play in the Chargers stadium which isnt that great.
From my personal experience, Boise has always done a great job of recruiting in Orange County. Not the Matt Barkley's or Leinarts of the world but the guys in the next tier. And alot of times those guys ended up being pretty solid. Maybe Peterson used to coach at Oregon and they have pretty good ties out there as well. Now that Boise has had success it is kind of self sustaining but I can't imagine that anyone from Orange County would ever chose to go to Idaho over a San Diego if SDSU has got things rolling.
I figure if Hoke ever gets SDSU rolling at a TCU or Utah level, he might make a good candidate down the line. I can't imagine that he would ever turn down the Michigan job no matter where he was. Also if Kiffin flames out at USC with these scholarship restrictions, he might be a good candidate for them in a few years.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:13 PM ^
He was not a credible candidate for the job in 2007. The fact that he parlayed a 12-2 season into only SDSU suggests that no other major program was biting, either. Maybe down the road.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:33 PM ^
over Nichols State, New Mexico State and Utah State. One good win over a meh Air Force team.
Yippee
October 17th, 2010 at 10:08 PM ^
Houses
October 17th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^
It's not that he deserves to get the head coaching job in 2007 (though really...would he have been much worse than the Rutgers guy who was offered the job before Rich?), but that a former Michigan guy is doing a good job, and wasn't really deserving all the LOL he's a joke of a coach attitude he's received. He's taken two historically bad programs, and seems to be doing alright. He didn't have the experience to take over a Michigan, but interviews are a helpful part of the process. Just like Rich had no business taking over Michigan before he had the chance to prove himself at West Virginia. The fact that we have to nit-pick and can't enjoy the success of a guy who gave a lot to this University speaks more to our insecurity about Rich than anything, really. Good for him, good luck to Loeffler, Bedford, and anybody else who can succeed. It makes us look good; it doesn't mean ever guy is a threat to take over. If we didn't have coaches who left here and succeeded elsewhere (or we trashed them because "I don't want to hear about them taking over for Bo"), we would never have gotten Rich (who developed under a former Michigan coach, and was probably convinced to leave the school he graduated from because the self-same coach told him Michigan was a special place).