Predictions re: Hoke firing?
October 5th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^
but I really wonder if not doing so is akin to not removing a gangrenous limb soon enough.
October 5th, 2014 at 9:19 AM ^
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October 5th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
January!, January!, January?! :) If a miracle happens and they play in a bowel, it will be one of those early December bowls which were televised on the MizLou television network and shown on UHF on Channel 20 back in the old pre-cable days.
October 5th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
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October 5th, 2014 at 11:40 AM ^
Brandon has saId on a news show we sav money by not going to bowls due to band travel $$. So this makes up for the 2 cokes deal! WHOOOO HOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 5th, 2014 at 9:29 AM ^
He failed here, but he's a great guy who loves his players and loves Michigan. It's not working out, but I hope we can get to 6-6 and win the Pizza Bowl before letting him go
October 5th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
Firing might happen depending on the next "test" game turns out.
Test game 1 - Notre Dame - result: we aren't close to a "national level' team
Test game 2 - Utah - result: with Utah's victory over UCLA, it may be that they are simply a strong team but they lost to Washington State, - so basically we can't beat the middle of the pack teams in another conference.
Test game 3 - Minnesota - result: lost to a team which on paper has nowhere near our talent potential.
Test game 4 - Rutgers - result: team played better but again just could pull together - gave up big plays and so it might be on the verge of saying "F it" for the rest of the season.
Test game 5 - Penn State - A bad loss would suggest epic beat downs by MSU and OSU and loses to Indiana, Northwestern and even Maryland are all possible. If it looks like the team is just quitting on Coach Hoke, it might be necessary to relieve him so a new person could try to salvage the recruits and prevent transfers. A turn around win probably won't save his job but could get him to December.
Miracle finish - win 6 games and play in any bowl - I'd take the WeedEater Made For Late Night Cable TV Bowl Broadcast on the Oxygen Network at this point.
October 5th, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
once we get to 6 loses fire Hoke and let someone be the interim coach. Let the current coaching staff continue to recruit while we hire a new staff and let them recruit too while all the other teams are doing bowl games. OSU had 2 coaching staffs recruiting at the same time while everyone was in bowl games ...If we make the right hire there's no reason why we can't have a great season next year.
October 5th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
If the team makes a bowl - Hoke probably stays through at least 2015. Brandon isn't going anywhere this year and probably not next year either.
Much as I want the team to get it together and start winning, four more seems a stretch. Yeah they did look better last night but it seems unlikely they can make enough progress to win four more. I hope they do, hell I hope they win the rest, an admitedly forlorn hope, but I've never given up on a Michigan football team and I'm not about to start now.
Barring some future unimaginably horrific mistake, Brandon's job is safe. He's exceeding the goals on which he is measured. He hasn't lost the regents, or the major donors, or his department, or the athletes which it serves. The president is not going to fire someone under these circumstances. Regardless of the truth, fan and student hostility to Brandon can and probably will be passed off as the result of a losing football team. Like it or not he simply isn't getting fired.
Which brings us to a statment he made in one of the video interviews. When he flatly stated that barring a breach of rules or his contract Hoke would not be evaluated until afer the season, Brandon also said that evaluation would be based on many more factors than just wins and losses (paraphrasing here). So Brandon may decide to keep Hoke despite a losing season if in Brandon's judgement some additional unstated set of metrics justifies that decision.
I've said elsewhere that when they hired Nussmeier there was a presumption that he'd get at least two seasons to install his offense and turn that side of the ball around. I assumed that required at least a winning season in 2014 Brandon's statement throws quite a bit of doubt on my assumption.
October 5th, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
However - I am skeptical about any comment Bacon makes regarding Brandon. There is bad blood and hot blood between them that runs deep and wide. I have no doubt that, given the chance, Bacon would dance on Brandon's grave. I'd treat any comment Brandon might make about Bacon with the same caution. Those guys despise each other and it's hard for me to believe that doesn't color either's view.
Maybe Brandon has "lost" some or most of the regents, but were that true I suspect you'd be hearing that from more sources than just Bacon. I'm sure that Bacon has heard things that lead him to believe Brandon's in trouble with the regents, but can we trust his judgement about something he clearly so deeply wants to be the case?
Historically the regents don't act precipitously. Even in crisis they generally don't make a big move quickly. Firing Brandon is a big move, more so because in 2012 he was given an massive raise and an extention along with flowery kudos for an exceptional job. He has continued to exceed goals on pretty much all the things for which he was praised at that time.
There are a few facts that need consideration. Folks here like to complain about Michigan's disasterous decade of football. Yes it feels like that to us, but in terms of actual measurables it's really only been a season and a half under the current HC, and despite how awful 2013 felt to all of us, it was still a winning season. ADs don't get fired because a coach has a losing season. Top ADs don't come to Universities that fire an AD who is otherwise exceeding expectations because a coach has a losing season. I realize that there many of us, myself included, have other issues with some of the things that Brandon has done, but, without good cause, the perception will be he was fired because the football team lost and the students got upset.
Brandon enjoys all the support I described in my earlier comment. Even if the regents are annoyed with him, even if they dislike him, they don't fire someone in his position when he enjoys that kind of support. As I've said I see him as a mixed bag. I'm sure the regents and president see him as someone who brings both positives and negatives to his job and the U. Are they willing to fire him? I think that is doubtful, because firing him in the current cricumstances is going to make it very tough to get a top notch replacement. Yes you can open the checkbook and get someone, but will they be up to the job?
Running the Michigan athletic department is a tough enough job in the best ot times. Ask yourself this question if you are a top AD candidate would you come to work in this shit storm where you can be fired despite exceeding all the measurables in your contract because of the emotions of a bunch of 18-22 year olds? Top notch people don't step into failure no matter how big the check. They can make enough without that kind of headache.
Regents are highly risk averse. Typically so are University presidents (although I know nothing about our current one in this regard). It would be very different kind of decision to fire Brandon if the athletic department was a tire fire and or the big donors were screaming and or the athletes were up in arms, but none of those things is the case.
Unless there is some very very ugly problem that is under wraps driving the decision, I just don't see Brandon getting fired.
October 5th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
According to these guys the end is near....
The good news is Brady has managed to make #1 in something.
October 5th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
October 5th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
Notre Dame, Utah, and Minnesota are good teams but Hoke should be winning those games in year 4. I just want to see improvement and players not quitting and I saw that last night and I still don't see why they can't hang with anyone else on the schedule. Firing somebody puts a lot of pressure on the asssistants and interim coach. It shows weakness and panic, which is probably about the mood of the fans right now but not necessarily the best move unless you truly believe Mattison or Nussmeier is capable of doing better.
October 5th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
We should fire Hoke and promote Nuss just to see if he can do anything with this bunch. At the end of the day if we somehow make a bowl game i will be extremely pissed if we keep Hoke around for that game.
October 5th, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
I don't know much about him being a fan out here on the mid Atlantic coast, but from what I've read, he doesn't admit to mistakes at all. Are you sure Hoke is even going to be fired? Last year they fired the OC and brought in Nuss. Should have fired him then. I can see them firing Mattison and bringing in another DC just to stick it to the fans that are complaining and to avoid admitting a mistake.
It's not a scenario I like to think about, but based on the personality, a possibility.