Member for

9 years 6 months
Points
44.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
Does Mattison's contract have an out if Hoke gets fired?

There might be a handful of guys who are better than Mattison but a lot of guys who are worse. I wonder if Michigan could do what the Lions did last year when they fired Jim Schwartz and Scott Linehan, but retained the other assistants for the next coach to choose if he wanted to keep them. Mattison's contract still has a few years left and he probably wouldn't get more money if he went elsewhere - he's already one of the highest paid assistants in the country and his family is here. He also has a relationship with the Harbaugh family, having worked with Jack and John.

Mattison did a fantastic job turning around the defense in year one, and has been very good most of the past 4 years with a few bad performances. There's a lot more offense in today's game though, and having a great defensive coordinator doesn't mean you never have bad performances - look at Pat Narduzzi and MSU the past few years. Overall great defense, but some teams have moved the ball very effectively against them, including Indiana the previous 2 seasons.

He'll be in the Derrick Alexander tier

He isn't going to be remembered like Anthony Carter or Braylon Edwards. He's probably like a Derrick Alexander. A guy who made a lot of plays in college that went on to a long, productive NFL career but was never truly great.

Another example of Brandon backtracking

I remember in his first season as AD reading an interview where Brandon said (paraphrasing) "watching game film with the coaches is an important aspect of my job" and he talked about how he used it to evaluate coaches. I remember reading in "Three and Out" where he asked Rich Rodriguez himself if he could watch film with him the next day after a loss.

In his post-Morris media blitz, he downplayed the film watching and said "occasionally if I happen to be in the building on a Sunday I might watch game film with graduate assistants because I don't get to see much on gameday." He said it had been blown way out of proportion and he wasn't watching film with the main coaching staff or giving insight.

This is a typical Brandon "miscommunication" excuse, like with seat cushions, the noodle, the mascot idea he floated, the idea that the Ohio game might move to midseason. He always says something or does something and later backtracks, saying "it was just a rumor somebody read on a blog somewhere" or "it was a miscommunication".

Fred Jackson

I don't think that Rawls and Cox just showed up at CMU and UMass and became really good running backs overnignt. The talent was there to begin with, they just never got a chance at Michigan. Cox could only get carries in the 4th quarter of massive blowout wins over Delaware State and Bowling Green after everyone else had gotten a chance. I remember admiring how hard he ran and wondered why he never got carries in real situations. Rawls never had that many carries either and didn't get a chance to develop a rythm in a game.

I don't think it's all on Jackson though. In the Rodriguez years the running game mostly centered around the QB and the running backs were secondary. Brandon Minor was a good back when healthy. Fitzgerald Toussaint had a 1,000 yard season when David Molk was around and the offensive line was competent. Vincent Smith was an excellent blocker and 3rd down back.The past 3 years have seen we've seen really bad play from the offensive line and that definitely has hurt the running game. Darrell Funk probably deserves more blame for the lack of development upfront.

Not Happening

I think his coaching days are done, but if he goes anywhere it will be the NFL. Bill Martin had Dungy as his first choice in 2007 but that won't nowhere. He has said repeatedly in the past that he's not a college head coach.

Not Happening

I think his coaching days are done, but if he goes anywhere it will be the NFL. Bill Martin had Dungy as his first choice in 2007 but that won't nowhere. He has said repeatedly in the past that he's not a college head coach.

I'm Scared, especially if Brandon is still the guy

If David Shaw leaves Stanford it would probably be for the NFL. I also doubt Gundy will go anywhere. Todd Graham is a mercenary with bad defense who wouldn't be a fit here. Al Golden and Gary Andersen don't do anything for me. Paul Chryst has losses to Akron and FCS schools on his resume. Kevin Wilson is an absolute NO. Dan Mullen is known as a spread guy who probably wouldn't fly here.

Butch Jones might be the best most realistic guy, though it probably wouldn't be the most exciting for the fan base. Same for Randy Edsall.

There are some other options Michigan might have to look at, especially if Dave Brandon is still calling the shots and they can't get anyone good. Brandon wanted guys last time who had head coaching experience and recruiting ties in the Midwest.

Dave Doeren - North Carolina State: Was a good DC at Wisconsin, took over for Jerry Kill at Northern Illinois and got them to a BCS game - not bad for a MAC coach. But he inherited Jordan Lynch and a lot of those players. Just took FSU to the brink and appears to be turning NC State around.

Steve Addazio - Boston College: I don't want him, but he is someone Brandon would probably look at out of desperation. Hasn't been all that impressive, but not terrible. Was Urban Meyer's OC, like Mullen.

Scott Shafer - Syracuse: Had a terrible year as DC in 2008, but was undermined by Rich Rod's cronies. Decent DC, mediocre head coach so far. Recruited Denard Robinson as a CB. Don't want him, but might be a candidate if pickings are slim.

Jim Mora Jr - UCLA: Probably won't leave UCLA as he's a west coast guy. Wouldn't mind him but unlikely.

Kyle Flood - Rutgers: If he has success this season, maybe he'll get a look.

Mark Stoops -Kentucky: Recruiting well. Kentucky seems to be improved but only year 2 as a head coach. Was a good DC.

Greg Schiano - Unemployed: Might be the best guy available. He did well at Rutgers but never won HUGE. Does have Bill Belichick vouching for him. Tampa Bay was a dumpster fire.

 

 

 

 

Disagree with all those guys

Kevin Wilson at this point is a poor man's Rich Rodriguez -  a spread guy who can't coach defense or beat good teams in the Big Ten with his offense. Rich Rodriguez had at least had winning seasons, BCS wins, and top to finishes as head coach at West Virginia, and has had winning seasons at Arizon in his first 2 years. Kevin Wilson hasn't even made it to a lower tier bowl game yet and the current Michigan team isn't made for the spread.

Todd Graham would also be a poor fit. The guy is a mercenary and not someone fans could rally behind. The jury is still out on Paul Chryst. Has done OK at Pitt but nothing to right home about.

Les Miles

Is NEVER going to be the head coach at Michigan. The fact he's been passed over not once but twice is telling, as is the fact that Dave Brandon said he would hire Miles "Over my dead body", and at 60 years old, he's not the best candidate anyway. There's just no way it's ever going to happen, along with Gruden/Dungy/Cowher. The Harbaughs are definitely long-shots, especially if Jim is still chasing the elusive Super Bowl. John Harbaugh hasn't coached in college since 1997. Outside of these names, there really aren't any good, realistic candidates.

Not sure Tyrone Wheatley would come back either. He's RB coach of the Buffalo Bills, and it's unlikely he would move down to college to take the same role (and probably less money) in the event Fred Jackson retires. It'd be a great hire but unlikely. Mike Hart only has 2 years as a position coach in the MAC so not much to go on.

Hoke needs to challenge his team

I've been wanting to see Brady Hoke challenge his team for a while now. He doesn't have to verbally abuse his players, but he does need to call out when their performance is completely unnacceptable, instead of coddling them. Nick Saban is a perfeccionist who voices his displeasure with his players often, yelling at them to be better. You don't really see that from Hoke too often.

Take last year after the Akron game for instance. We almost lost to a horrible MAC school, and Hoke said to the team after the game "It's a win, we've got a lot we need to work on but give Akron credit for fighting hard." He was obviously trying to keep their confidence up after a poor performance, but a more appropriate response would be "That is one of the worst efforts I have ever seen in all my years of coaching, we're lucky to get out of here with win because we sucked and that was unnacceptable!" That's what Bo would have done; That's what Saban would have done. They would have reiterated it to the media afterwards. If you watched the HBO 24/7 series last year with the Red Wings, after a bad loss, Mike Babcock - probably the best coach in hockey today - came storming into the locker room, kicked the HBO cameras out of the room with profanity, and proceeded to rip his team a new asshole. Despite the Red Wings numerous injuries last season, he didn't use those as an excuse for their poor performance and kept challenging them every night that they had to be better.

This team needs an attitude adjustment in order to be tougher on the road. They need to get angry, get pissed off. Brady Hoke should be trying to get his players to play because they have something to prove to him and everyone else.