Snowflakes: Bowl Game Edition - Coaching
December 29th, 2013 at 1:28 AM ^
I went to the GLI today, rooting for Michigan and Michigan Tech (dad's an alum). Not only did I see no scoring by either team I was rooting for, but we just decided to drive home and pass on watching Michigan/Kansas State downtown.
Turns out, we missed indirectly seeing a UFC fighter horrifically break his leg, in a bar's HD display.
That was a good call to just go home, and it was the best playcall of the night.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:28 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:29 AM ^
Where's the leadership?
Where's the character?
OMG...this team needs some magical effin things to happen or we are in trouble.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:29 AM ^
They regressed massively after ND and played well against OSU because it was OSU. This whole staff better take a long look in the mirror because they were terrible this eason.
Most of the Offensive staff need to go and the defense isn't very good either. Maybe Mattison isn't the answer. There isn't one facet of this team that was good this season. Brandon better have some hard conversations with Hoke about this staff.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:15 AM ^
Gardner was good and I think Morris showed flashed too. Quarterbacks are important but they can't do it alone. If a guy is in your face 90% of the time you're not going to look that good. The OLine needs to be massively better next year.
Also need to figure out if we have the best possible staff.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
I look forward to David Brandon's next blog post explaining the historical reasons why this result is not Hoke and his asst coaches' fault.
I didn't need this game to confirm it, but based on past threads, quite a few people did, so perhaps the game result and the scads of empty seats clarified things -- if Hoke doesn't win at least 9 games next year (at a minimum), that's it.
So no need to worry about 2015 recruiting. It's all in for 2014.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
Big Boy Football™. It's on the way. Pay no attention to the highest paid coaching staff in America behind the curtain.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:30 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:30 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:30 AM ^
Well it is the end of the season and Hoke's 3rd year. Let's review his status based on Dave Brandon's Criteria for Success:
ND (2-1)
MSU (1-2)
Penn State (0-1)
Nebraska (1-2)
OSU (1-2) (0-2 vs. Urban)
Bowl Games (1-2)
Dave Brandon has indicated that Hoke will be back for next year, so what happens next year.
@ND
@MSU
Penn State
@OSU
That would make the red letter records:
ND (2-2)
MSU (1-3)
Penn State (0-2)
OSU (1-3, 0-3 vs. Urban)
I don't care what his overall record is, this would be considered failure. Dave fired RR with a winning overall record his 3rd year, this is year 4. If Hoke delivers that level of performance, it's time to pull the plug. If Dave won't fire him as long as he is the AD, then maybe a change in the entire department is necessary.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:56 AM ^
I am predicting losses in each of those games. They are away and Hoke has a not been able to beat a team with a winning record on the road since coming to Michigan. Maybe we beat PSU if BOB goes to the pros.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
Probably not reasonable to judge a coaching staff based on your predictions.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:52 PM ^
The outcome of the predictions will determine how the coaching staff is judged. Just an educated guess at this point based on the teams inability to win on the road against any team with a winning record under Hoke. With that in mind, I certainly don't anticipate a sudden reversal where they will all of a sudden be able to not only beat a team with a winning record on the road, but will beat the best teams in the Big Ten on the road. Time will tell.
I have hope for a different future, but just not confident in it at this point.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:38 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:54 AM ^
Winning Record in his 3rd year. Overall record trending up,
December 29th, 2013 at 1:54 AM ^
His point is that RR had a winning record in his third year.
Not mentioned is that RR improved every year after inheriting a smoking crater while the current coach has gotten worse every year after inheriting a resurrected team.
December 29th, 2013 at 8:03 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:31 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:32 AM ^
MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, and even PSU with all their troubles are better programs and have a brighter future than Michigan who will start next season unranked.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 2:09 AM ^
Do tell? I didn't see many freshman and sophomores on the field getting burned tonight (Ramon Taylor, Desmond Morgan, etc.).
December 29th, 2013 at 2:24 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 2:25 AM ^
Every coaching staff has to deal with underclassmen at critical positions.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:32 AM ^
I'm looking at my PSD right now and I will hand over the money and continue to cheer the team. I expect the coaches and players to keep working and improving (like I do of myself and the people who work for me in real life). I don't know what the record will be next year but I know I will be at/watch every game (and be happy about it).
December 29th, 2013 at 1:36 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:46 AM ^
It would help if you can explain how unconditional love for a school and team has the program on the brink of mediocrity. I was doing the exact same thing in 1997 so do I get some credit for the undefeated season?
December 29th, 2013 at 2:20 AM ^
On the brink? I'd say we are firmly entrenched at this point.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:39 AM ^
David Brandon, loves people like you.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:43 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:54 AM ^
It would be great if the team was more successful but my happiness is not directly affected by the team's record.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:44 AM ^
Since I have been living out of state. I'm looking forward to purchasing season tickets around 2028 when I retire. I hope we have a good team by then or I could just enjoy the atmosphere of a college game, where I went to school at, even if the team is not the best. I have a friend who just retired last summer and got season tickets to his alma mater is Purdue. But he's use to not having a good football team.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:35 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:34 AM ^
Honest question, do you guys believe Jackson will retire sometime before next season?
December 29th, 2013 at 1:35 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:38 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:44 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:46 AM ^
And the week after, they lost by 37 to ASU. Sample sizes and all.
December 29th, 2013 at 2:10 AM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 1:46 AM ^
Sorry, but the records just don't bear that out:
2008: 3-9
2009: 5-7
2010: 7-5 (with an ugly bowl loss, admittedly)
That's a four-game swing in two years. You can say it's damning with faint praise given how awful the '08 squad was, but I don't see how you can say that the team wasn't getting better.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:48 AM ^
You can say the team wasn't getting better because it finished the Rich Rod era with losses of 20, 30 and 38 points.
Basically, RichRod's teams showed improvement in September, and then nosedived after that. This year's team was a lot like a Rich Rod team, which is certainly worrisome.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:43 AM ^
They were only getting better in that they were so historically bad to begin with. No one who saw the last three Rodriguez games (Wisconsin, OSU, Miss St) could have honestly believed that it was going to work out.
Philisophically, going with someone innovative and outside of the UM family is fine and probably a good idea, but it wasn't happening with Rodriguez.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:38 AM ^
I know of a coach who got fired after getting killed in their bowl game, finishing the year with 7 wins...
December 29th, 2013 at 8:23 AM ^
Me too. The guy was 15-22 over three seasons.
Another guy was 26-13.
December 29th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
I look more at how things are trending rather than a compilation of data. Much the same way you look for trends in SPC data to indicate there is a problem that needs to be fixed before it is out of control. The record was improving under RR and that was with a total change in the style of play. He was never allowed to see it through because he ended his seasons with blowouts, much like the bowl game last night. The fact of the matter is that Hoke continued the upward trend his first year with mostly RR players.
Since his first year, it is starting to trend the opposite direction. We all keep waiting for a sign that things can be corrected and I would even argue getting a middle of the pack Big12 team was a great opportunity to end on a positive note. My fear getting KSU was that it had a no win type of appeal, with a loss doing even more damage by losing to a low profile Big12 team. The team had 15 extra practices to prepare for one opponent and the effort last night was beyond disappointing.
This is a critical juncture for the people in charge in Ann Arbor. If they do not recognize the trend and take countermeasures, then this thing will get out of control causing a tailspin that will be difficult to correct. Next year is the critical year.
Gardiner coming back is a big plus. He is a playmaker and another year should help to reduce some of the mistakes. He accounted for 75% of Michigans offense this year, had 2900+ yards passing, 21 throwing TDs and 11 rushing TDs. The one thing I will say is that you have to let Devin be Devin. Don't try to dial him back too much. Even though he was frustrating, when he was allowed to do his thing the team typically won. When he reduced turnovers against MSU, Iowa, and Nebraska they wound up losing those games because his individual playmaking ability was tempered. Just take the good with the bad and go with it. He beat ND, Indiana, and damn near OSU based on his playmaking ability.