Wojo: "poor coaching drags Michigan into first real crisis"
I think most of us like Wojo and rcognize that he is one of the few good sportwriters around in the Detroit MSM. He also is evenhanded and seldom calls out anyone. So to me it's significant that his column today calls out the offensive coaches and Hoke.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131109/SPORTS0201/311090075/Poor-c…
November 10th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
This article is spot on. Agree 100% with everything he said.
November 10th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
Linked for anybody on the app
November 10th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
How dare he question Hoke, HIS PLAYERS ARE YOUNG!!!
Plenty of youth I have no doubt Hoke will win multiple Championships while hes here once his recruits get older, after all he has proven he can win at any and every level
THIS IS MICHIGAN!!!
"ohio" blah blah blah
November 10th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
You write like someone who is having a psychotic break.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
I stole all of his ludes. It was a pretty wild weekend.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 1:42 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 1:14 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
I read this earlier today and it reads like everything you read on here in a much more tempered manner. When articles like this start coming out in the MSM then it speaks to how bad things really are. We as fans are knee jerk but journalists usually wait a while before they come in. Blood is most certainly in the water and everyone sees it now, not just us.
November 10th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
Borges = Gerg
Funk = Gipson
There were no changes in the previous regime - why would we expect any now? For those who point to Ball State as proof Brady isnt afraid to "shake things up" take a look at who he got rid of and how long they had been with him. None could really by tabbed as "his guys" like the current staff is.
My guess is that Hoke, like Rich, values his personal relationships with his long-held friends more than the results they produce. So when Borges tells Brady nothing can be done because we're too young Brady belives it.
Did anybody catch Hokes presser yesterday? He sees absolutely nothing wrong with Borges's playcalling. And I truly believe he meant that when he said it.
We are fucked.
Hoke = RichRod
November 10th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
This isn't a Kill-Clayes relationship. I'm certain that Hoke will relieve Borges and Funk of their duties if his own job is on the line.This is Hoke's states dream job. I doubt that he will jeopardize that.
Not even Lloyd was that stubborn.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^
But I think you're missing a key point. Hoke doesnt think they're is a problem! Look - I know absolutely nothing about a lot of things. So if an "expert" (like Borges) tells me that the reason for failure have nothing to do with him I think Brady believes it.
There will be no changes because there is no problem that increased experience won't solve.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
Since when is the simple acknowldegement of a problem equate to "throwing someone under the bus?" Saying there are clear issues with the playcalling (cause.....like they dont work) is different than saying "And it's all Al Borges fault".
Hoke refuses to acknowledge there are even problems. And that is a problem.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^
If you read the last paragraph, Brady practically mentions everything going wrong with this offense.If that isn't a round about way of saying something about the offensive coordinator then I don't know what is. But you are wrong in the way you want this issue handled. There is no good reason why Brady Hoke should publically criticize Al Borges. What potential coach would want to be hired by Hoke if he is going to turn around and criticize that coach to the media?
At Michigan there is a reason why we attract some of the best talent in the country and its because we don't do stupid stuff. The athletic department will fix this problem with time but it will work in a way that will help the program long term and not damage it.
November 10th, 2013 at 3:07 PM ^
Last Paragraph:
"That’s something we're trying to get fixed, to be honest with you," Hoke said. "Is it a concern? Yeah, it always is. Not tackling, not blocking, not covering, not throwing the ball, not running good routes, all that stuff's concerning."
Where do you see ANYTHING in that indicting the coaching? I read nothing but criticism of the players, not his coaching staff or anyting they are doing.
Just so I'm clear. It's ok to throw your players "under the bus" publicly by being critial of their performance but you cant throw your OC "under the bus" by saying anything about his play calling?
Gotcha.
November 10th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
It just means he isn't going to talk about it to the media. I am sure he realizes there is something drastically wrong.
November 10th, 2013 at 10:01 PM ^
It's classic coach-speak and exactly what you would want and expect at this point. He didn't criticize individual players - you can say what he said without blaming it on individual players. If he specifically criticized the coaching there would be no doubt of the individual he was criticizing and that would be wrong. He said as much as he could without creating more problems.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^
What is accomplished by Hoke saying that Borges is doing a bad job? It doesn't magically fix the problems, but does undermine the credibility of Hoke's OC with the players. It's just a poor thing for a leader to do.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
But it's ok to say the players are doing a poor job? Help me understand the distinction here.
And nowhere at no time did I say Hoke had to say Borges sucked. It would be nice, though unlikely, for him to simply acknowledge we have a problem that needs to be fixed. Read his comments again - it's the PLAYERS that are failing.....not his coaches.
Sheesh.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^
Saying the players are failing falls on the coaches. Did you see his last interview? He must have said "we need to coach them better" about 100 times.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^
he admits there is a problem. The problem is the offense failing to move the ball and score points. You don't solve that problem in a press conference. Now if, as you seem to desire, Hoke says in a press conference "Yeah, the play calling is a problem," that IS throwing Borges under the bus, since Borges calls the plays. We won't know from a press conference whether Hoke agrees the play calling is a problem. Hopefully we will see either changes in the playcalling the rest of this year or changes in the identity of the playcaller next year, either of which would show recognition that there's a problem with the playcalling.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^
If 2014 goes like this year Hokw wont have a job in 2015
November 10th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
we are just a 180 of RR's team.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^
RR's offense was a hell of a lot better than this defense. At least we were improving then. We're getting worse every year with fewer wins and playing less competitive.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
that Hoke knows enough about offensive football to really secong guess too much about Borges--that is why he doesn't get involved at all with play calling, and delegates everything to Al. In a way, it's a good thing that he recognizes his limitations and therefore delegates. But in these situations he, and this team, are handicapped in trying to fix things on the offensive side.
And secondly, since there is in fact many execution problems on every play, Hoke sees that and therefore assumes that if only Fitz would block better (or name other examples) then a certain play would have worked.That is why we constantly hear "execution" from him, and nothing about strategy or scheme on the offensive side. He doesn't recognize that we are sometimes causing poor execution by a poor scheme. Spielman, like Blackedge last week, had questions not for the execution, but for the scheme itself.
November 10th, 2013 at 3:29 PM ^
Hoke, and that everyone here knows more than Borges, who has worked at a pile of U's, makes huge bucks, and overachieved--by most knowledgeable people's reckoning--the first few years.
Borges MAY be not up to the job, and Hoke may not--managerially, etc. But I think it's safe to assume that Hoke knows enough about the offensive side of the game to run rings around all but a small handfull of people here.
I also think that it's extremely hard to judge anything, including game plans, given how awfully the O line has played.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
Blackedge et. al. who do know more than me or most here, not really mgoblog. They not so subtly the last couple weeks have criticized the offensive scheme. Granted I'm making assumptions, but I think my main assumption has good evidence behind it--Hoke himself says he has little input into play calls or game plans. I think if he had more offensive knowledge that would not be the case. He quite rightly delegates that which he knows little about--does he delegate the defensive line coaching? Nope, because he knows a lot about that.
November 10th, 2013 at 7:00 PM ^
Check the rushing numbers for the last 2 weeks. It really does not require much more than a monkeys intellect to understand the problem with Borges. South Dakota State ran for 8.2 yards a carry against that sorry Nebraska defense, do you think they have better offensive line talent than Michigan? This is not a poor rushing game, it is unprecedented how pathetic and embarrasing it is. There are no excuses for this, NONE!
November 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
"His guys" have done a great job for him up until this year so he has had no need to not be loyal to these coaches.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
If a coach cares more about his personal relationships with his long-held friends than the success of his players and team, then he is a shit coach who doesn't actually care about the team or his players and doesn't deserve to coach them.
Personally, I don't believe Hoke is that guy. But we'll see.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^
"He sees absolutely nothing wrong with Borges' playcalling."
The fact that Hoke was wearing a headset after going down 10-0 and not moving the ball has him wanting to know WTF is going on.
Hoke will stick up for his staff and players in the public eye but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him getting after people behind closed doors, not bashing them to the public. I'm fine with this. Simiar to, "So and so has a boo boo." You're not going to get much more than that, especially the media. Hoke isn't going to give anyone anything to run with even if he is unhappy about things.
The players have been taking the same lead as Hoke. Gardner putting it all on himself the same way Hoke does. Lewan trying to be positive and build confidence to his team during press conferences though he'll rip into them if there's a problem like you saw on the sidelines yesterday. He just so happned to be doing it on camera and not in front of one. Big difference.
Hoke knows what's up. Just because he doesn't verify it with the media doesn't mean he doesn't know what's up. Some coaches do verify it. Hoke isn't one of those guys.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^
But if Hoke knows what's up and was getting after people behind closed doors, wouldn't we start seeing some change in play-calling? Like some actual attempts to rectify the problems?
November 10th, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^
Simplified blocking schemes, slide protections, rollouts, max protection, etc. I have no idea if Hoke was responsble for it but the playcalling changed pretty noticeably as the game progressed.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:32 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^
One of Bear Bryant's cardinal coaching rules for success was that the head coach takes the blame for a loss, and never calls out the players or staff publicly. Issues were handled inside the confines of the staff and team.
Lots of successful head coaches handle things that way.
I'm not saying Hoke's a great head coach, but at least he understands the principle that you don't throw your players and coaches under the bus.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^
I don't think Hoke = RR. Despite horrendous defenses, despite young players, RR's teams were actually improving in the win column from year to year.
We are seeing the opposite under Hoke.
It's clear that he isn't the answer for Michigan football, but at the same time, I'm not confident that Dave Brandon is capable of finding "the guy."
You know, we've had young O-lines before. And the program has its ups and downs over the years. They all do to some degree.
What is troubling isn't that they've dropped 3 games; it's the way they've dropped them that has many of us wondering about the future.
Whatever Dave Brandon is thinking about creating special atmospheres at the Big House, seeing the team play like this, and hearing the fans boo the team isn't one of them.
November 10th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
You are not seeing the opposite under Hoke at all. Look at the recruiting classes. Oh and many of us really means the vocal minority who because they scream and say the most outragious things think they are actually the majority.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
I was at the game and the majority of the crowd was moved to boo at one point. Does that count in your assessment?
November 10th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^
Booing and ranting insanely that the coach needs to be fired are two entirely different things.
November 10th, 2013 at 4:43 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
As for the RR and hoke issues, I think that during the season you keep from getting divisive. While not well played, Michigan had their shots yesterday and I think they can win 2 more games, maybe a bowl. The thing is, hoke has given Borges enough rope to hang himself. There is no one on staff to replace him as either Oc of qb coach, so you just have to stick with him. Same with funk.
Additionally just because the excuses are played out does not mean they are not true. If it all starts in the trenches as we screamed during the rr years and that is where the majority of this teams flaws are, it follows to think that this team is bound to have a rough go of it.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
So when is it OK Trip after we lose to Northwestern? Afer Iowa? How about afer we get destroyed by Ohio State?
Why do I have to wait until the disaster is over to say what is happening is horrible?
I wish we had a way of making on-line bets on things cause I'd wager you a beer that our offense staff at next year's spring game is exactly the same as it is today. Because Hoke sees no problem that firing anyone will fix.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
And exactly how am I "tripping out"? What's funny (no...actually sad) is that the reason people told me to back it down a notch is because I've been probably the most vocal anti-Borges poster here outside of Brian himself. And it would seem that the vast majority of posters now agree with my assessment of Borges's abilities as our OC.
November 10th, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^
November 10th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^
My point was not about whether or not we have the right to freak out over Michigan Football. Rather I was trying to say that, to me, it seems silly to do so. We can yell at the players, but they're just kids. We can yell at the coaches, but we don't know what is going on in practice and behind closed doors. I think the most important thing to remember is that NOTHING you or I can do will effect what happens in the field. Nothing. Not writing letters to Dave or canceling your season tickets or posting on this blog. It took me a long time to figure this out, but my Falls are much less stressful these days. Try to enjoy the good times and let the bad times roll off your back. That's my advice.