Something to be proud of; the reaction of the students and fans.

As you acknowledged in your last sentence, I think the point that national media and others miss when they assert that Hoke's record is the main reason for the uproar is...  A football coach with a 5-0 record wouldn't miss the likely probability that his QB sustained a concussion on any play.  Also, a coach with a 5-0 record, if a similar situation did occur, probably wouldn't be so desperate as to carry on the charade that has been going on over the last few days.

My view is that if the football team was 5-0 and Hoke felt no pressure, the Monday press conference would have been handled much differently on his end--with a simple admission and apology instead of further obfuscation.  Brady Hoke may be a good man, and I don't question all the people who have vouched for his character based on their intercations with the man during his tenure at UM.  However, desperation seems to have driven Hoke into a course of action that is less than honorable in this situation.  

I would say a part of me feels bad for the guy, but when you accept the position of HBC at UM, and the $3M+ annual salary that goes with it, you also must accept every valid criticism that has been directed at him over the past 48-72 hours.

Bo did wear a glorious headset.

Indeed.  Had Hoke brought us multiple B1G title game appearances and bowl wins, plus at least splitting the MSU and OSU series, then I highly doubt that the entire M fanbase and student body would be on him like this.  Most likely, more people would be rationalizing his actions.

This is so dumb. Why do people keep saying "Well If we were 5 - 0 fans wouldnt be asking for him to be fired".  Uh...we're not 5-0. When should fans ask for a coaching change?  During an inconvenient moment?  Are you  trying to prove that Michigan fans ONLY care about our record and nothing else? Thats obviously false. Its not that black and white. All of what has happened are SYMPTOMS of an inept/unsucessful coach and athletic director.  A successful coach with a great record wouldn't display poor game management like Hoke in the first place.  1. Being a successful coach and 2. being unable to manage a game and have a general awareness of your players and what is going on are mutually exclusive so your hypothetical scenario of all else equal except for Hoke being successful doesn't make sense.  In fact, If this was the only negative situation surrounding Hoke then people would still be mad, but they would give him another chance or two. However, Its a pattern now. This is one of 100 things that have already gone wrong.  They are adding up and now people are pissed.  I guraentee, whether sarcastic or serious, at least 12 more people are going to say "well if he had been an above .500 MAC coach we wouldn't be asking for a fire" or "well if we were at least more competitive in games" or "Well If he wore a headset and did more than clapped and lost weight and was a more dynamic speaker or" etc. etc.  What argument or point are you even trying to make?  Coaches shouldnt be judged on their record? Things don't happen in isolation and  previous incidents inflence current opinion? 

This is true, and it goes along with the post on Deadspin the other day pointing out that the problem with Michigan's attendance woes hasn't been Dave Brandon's commercialism and anything-for-a-buck attitude, it's been that the team is painful to watch, even (sometimes) when we win. 

Speaking only for myself because maybe I'm alone in this: I dislike Brandon as much as the next fan, I hope he's fired and I hope never to see ads on the scoreboard or be forced to buy another $5 bottle of water for sale when I can't bring in my own because terrorism. I hope never to hear Rihanna in the Big House again. All that stuff would gross me out if we were winning, too. But if we were challenging for the B1G title I would be a much happier camper in general, and more willing to let the crass stuff slide. 

Similarly, I think a big reason Hoke and Brandon have played everything so incredibly poorly since Saturday is that they're both afraid for their jobs -- they know the pitchforks and torches are coming out and Brandon in particular is in full-on CYA mode. If we'd been winning, my guess is Hoke would have felt a lot more comfortable saying, "We made a terrible mistake, we're going to look at the tape to see exactly what went wrong and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. We apologize to Shane for putting him in such a dangerous situation, it's our responsibility to keep him as safe as we can and we didn't do that." And I'd think, "Yep, you done fucked up but it's good to hear you taking responsibility, Coach." 

Without the program struggles, there's also no way this would be getting as much national media attention as it has. Again, less pressure on Brandon and Hoke --> less fear --> more appropriate response to a terrible decision.

As it is, my torch is lit. Clean 'em out.

Welcome to the internet.

This being the internet, we might as well add an addendum to the Goodwin law that says in the context of sports discussions, every cock up by an administration will inevitably come to be compared to Penn State and kids being sexually assaulted on school grounds for a decade+.

That the root of both scandals/reactions is the same; an irrational devotion to the idea of what a football program should be outside of winning games.

That being said I agree that the magnitude and sheer horror of the Sandusky trial and fallout is much worse, and has some key factual differences compared to our current scandal.

Live football is never the wrong decision.