When did Hoke lose you?
Simple question. I know, timing is weird with us having one last shot at salvaging a bowl game but the situation only embigens the question.
For me, the first dent in the armor was Penn State last year where it seemed like the coaching staff lost us the game. That was the first time I wondered if we had the right guys in charge.
The final nail in the coffin was Utah, which in hindsight doesn't look quite as bad but in context was unbearable.
But I think he lost me during the bowl game last year. Again, another loss that looks a little better in hindsight. But the team that showed up at that bowl game looked uninspired and unprepared. Sort of set the tone for all of 2014. Also, was the impetus for my username (and also explanation for the spelling--alcohol).
November 19th, 2014 at 1:35 AM ^
MSU 2013 my god we were completley played in all aspects of the game
November 19th, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^
I know, I know....Sugar Bowl and all. But we had a legitimate chance to beat Iowa. Hoke decided that, after a successful run of actually putting Denard in the shotgun and letting him do his thing, they would scrap that game plan altogether to have Denard under center 90% of the game. It was the equivalent of the 2008 Purdue/3-3-5 game.
November 19th, 2014 at 6:32 AM ^
I'm no longer a UM fan (dropped the team after 2012), so Hoke didn't lose me this season (I hated the hire from day one, btw) but I present my comment I made in the discussion about Morris starting over Gardner for the Minnesota game which I feel turned out to be pretty prescient:
If Morris starts and plays the majority of the game againt Minnesota, UM will very likely lose the game and almost certainly seal Hoke's fate.
November 19th, 2014 at 7:44 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
You can think whatever you would like but you would be wrong. And I am thrilled that I have a new team, thank you very much.
You are the sort of fan that inspired me to drop Michigan two years ago.
November 19th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 7:21 AM ^
But I was ready for him to be fired after Penn State 2013. Christian Hackenberg hasn't looked as good before or since, but we made him look like Joe F***ing Montana that night. Pathetic.
November 19th, 2014 at 7:22 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 7:43 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 7:40 AM ^
Hoke lost me at his presser after the Notre Dame game when he said that he thought the team was as prepared as possible for the game to paraphrase. I was already pretty pissed about the butt kicking and the obvious complete lack of progress.
November 19th, 2014 at 8:02 AM ^
decline in faith, much like his record. When you reach a record of 4-8 in your last and those wins are Indiana, miracle NW win, App State and Miami and you look terrible against everyone else its past time to believe anything will change.
November 19th, 2014 at 8:10 AM ^
I, unfortunately, have lost faith that Michigan can pull together a coaching staff and AD who will bring this team along into the 21st century in the kind of successful way that we all expect. I haven't lost my love for the team, but in the pit of my stomach, I have grave doubts about our future. I'm especially upset about the few who think Hoke staying on is ok. Sure, he's a decent guy who treats his players well, but 1) He can't coach in game, and 2) He's made us look inept across the board with the Shane Morris incident and the stake incident (mostly the apology - that was about as embarrassing as it gets). I don't mind losing a few games, but the air (and the soul) has been completely sucked from the program. All we have right now are memories of how it used to be, and wishful thinking of how it should be, with no concrete plan as to how to get there. Please, Mr. Hackett, prove me dead wrong.
November 19th, 2014 at 8:31 AM ^
Hoke lost me when his staff began to put Denard into pro style, and the resultant decline of his productivity and the offense as a whole. That was over two years ago. So yeah, I haven't been a fan of Hoke's coaching style for quite some time.
November 19th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
Miami this year.
I felt it was possible that Notre Dame was a fluky game that just ended up that way. But when we came out and actually let Miami hang around by playing the same stupid, sloppy football for a half, I realized that we were in serious trouble.
Utah sealed it.
November 19th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 9:29 AM ^
Is when I really started to question his judgement. We should have won that game easily, and it would have completely changed the attitude of the program riding back to back wins in The Game with it coming back to Ann Arbor the following year. Instead Urban Meyer is 2-0 and about to be 3-0.
The whole Denard run/Devin pass thing realllly pissed me off. Then hearing the Ohio State players reference it specifically afterwards was a giant red flag.
November 19th, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^
I was extremely cynical after last year ended and was for most of the offseason all the way up to spring practice.
My family and friends told me I was being too harsh and this year Michigan would put it all together: the offensive line would be improved, Gardner in his senior season would live up to his potential that we had all seen glimpses of, the defense was returning a veteran squad, and, of course, all world freshman Jabrill Peppers was to bring defensive playmaking ability that we hadn't seen in years. So..I got sucked in, I predicted a 10-2 record before the regular season and after the Applachian state game, seeing how we ran the ball and played aggresive defense, I was feeling pretty good that this season would be different.
I settled in with my dad to watch the Notre Dame game and after suffereing through that beatdown, I completely turned on Hoke and haven't gone back. Year freaking 4 and you can't prepare a team to play on the road against a rival!?!? That game and how the team performed was completely inexcusable. And the fact that afterwards he played it off saying he wouldn't change a thing and thought the team was prepared. After that, I was all aboard the fire Hoke express. I laughed as people kept saying it was only one game. That game foreshadowed how the rest of the season would go.
Let me say though that I blame Dave Brandon much more than Hoke. What the hell was Brandon thinking bringing in this guy? It's my sincere belief that Brandon just wanted a low key guy he could control.
November 19th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^
That's easy - ND this year. Hoke's road woes were concerning before this game but the extent to which he could field an utterly unprepared team in a major rivalry game blew my mind.
My concerns about Hoke started in the 2012 with the Nebraska QB debacle and the OSU game, when we came out and laid an egg in the second half of a winnable game, though at the time I placed blame on Borges as much as anyone.
However, last years PSU game, getting demolished by MSU, historically bad OL play, and the pattern of decline in Hoke's record had me on yellow alert until Borges got canned. Then optimism took over, with a hope that things would improve -- until the ND shellacking.
November 19th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
My tipping point was the Utah game, though everything up to and including the ND 31-0 debacle certainly didn't help.
It's pretty damning though that there are 6-7 candidates in this thread that have been nominated and you can look at any one of them and think "yeah, I can't really disagree with that"
November 19th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^
November 19th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
10 men on the field. Twice.
November 19th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
The fix was in.. He knew he was coming already.
November 19th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^