RobGoBlue1

July 12th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^

I would say that Coach Hoke seems to be a good hire the way recruiting is going. And if thr great recruiting turns into wins on the field, this will become a great hire.

redhousewolverine

July 12th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^

True, but others could say Hoke never coached on a Superbowl winning team and didn't mentor the Best player in the NFL currently (according to other players and such). One could say Weis did it at the highest level, so why wouldn't he be able to do it at the college level. Just saying.

I think your critique of the poster is true, but to critical. He just wanted to point out recruiting is only part of the battle. That being said, I am extremely optimistic (based on interviews and what people say about Hoke also).

redhousewolverine

July 12th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^

Absolutely true. But someone might (and probably are somewhat correct) in stating there is a big difference between being an offensive coordinator who is part of a superbowl winning team versus being the head coach of Ball State. I am sure someone could make the case for wanting one of the coordinators from a superbowl winning team over a head coach from a MAC program. My point was that the poster who was criticized for bringing up Charlie Weis seemed to be making a statement that recruiting top ranked classes isn't the only requirement for being a good football coach (winning on field, developing young men's character, and representing university are others). Thus, his jury still out response.

Mr Miggle

July 12th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^

There are Super Bowl winning coordinaters and then there are Super Bowl winning coordinators. Weis may have been the only one with zero college football experience. Add to that no administrative experience, no experience putting together a staff and an imaginary schematic advantage. It's hard to make a case that hiring Weis was anything but a huge, reckless gamble. Maybe it could be justified if he was given a strong, experienced staff.

Hoke has a lot of relevant experience. In conjuction with his staff he was a much safer hire. Schools like UM and ND shouldn't really want or need to gamble on their hires.

BigBlue02

July 12th, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^

The whole point of the post I was replying to was to point out the large difference between being a coordinator and a head coach. So unless hoke was the head coach at Michigan, your point does very little to refute the fact that being a head coach at a MAC school is completely different than being a head coach at UofM. I would even argue that there is a bigger difference between head coach MAC/head coach Michigan than there is between superbowl winning NFL coordinator/head coach Michigan.

jmblue

July 12th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^

They are different positions, but if you want to argue which will likely prepare a coach more for a major head-coaching job, it has to be the small-college HC job. 

NFL coordinators are anonymous guys living in the shadow of the head coach.  Most people can't name more than a handful around the league.  They don't operate under much pressure, don't have much say as far as personnel decisions go and generally get to play the "good cop" role while the HC is the bad cop.  To go from that to being a college HC, you have to learn to deal with being the face of a program, learn to recruit and manage a roster, learn to deal with much younger players, learn the NCAA rulebook and institute a million precautionary measures, learn to hire a staff effectively, and oversee all phases of the game, not just offense or defense.  It's a major leap.  

The small-college HC is doing all the same things the major-college HC is doing, just under less pressure.

As for West Virginia, I don't disagree, and I certainly did not expect RR's tenure to be as bad as it was.  It goes to show that track record isn't everything.  RR's experience at WVU did not give any indication that he'd field three of the worst defenses in school history here, for instance.  But in general, I always want Michigan to hire a coach with experience in the HC role.  This isn't a place for on-the-job training.

BigBlue02

July 12th, 2011 at 11:56 PM ^

I agree to a point. Hiring a superbowl winning coordinator is very risky.  But you also have to look at what type of head football coach you are hiring to determine whether it is risky also.  I would argue that hiring a head coach of a small school with a losing record is just as risky.

MichiganMan24

July 12th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^

with the statement "Neither Carr nor Rodriguez coached a game at Michigan with inferior talent". We had inferior talent for nearly every big 10 game that we played in 2008. We were clearly outmatched quite often that year, IIRC

Edit: Still an interesting read though, thanks for posting OP

Mitch Cumstein

July 12th, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^

I actually think that statement is false for both Carr and Rod.  I mean at least one of those USC teams had more talent than Michigan.  Also, I think you could make a case that some of Cooper's teams had more talent.  2008 for RR also speaks for itself.  Overall I think that was just a bad statement. 

BlueBadger

July 12th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^

They didn't seem to defined "talent level" in the article, but I think their statement makes more sense if they defined talent level either a)based on recruiting class (we've had high recruiting classes consistantly, right?) and b) discreet talent levels. Discreet levels would mean 2 similar teams would be grouped, and that could be why they say we always had at least equal talent. All that said, it seems wrong that any number of teams in 2008 weren't at a higher talent level.

O.J. The Bouvier

July 12th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^

We all know that a careful statistical analysis of Hoke's offensive yardages per game at Ball State and San Diego State beg the conclusion that Hoke only has a 5% chance of success at Michigan.

Offensive yardage means everything in football - Just look at Texas Tech's Mike Leach for proof. No one racked up more yardage than TTU during his tenure. Notice how dominant that program was.

wildbackdunesman

July 12th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^

I am a little surprised that the article claims that Carr never coached a game against superior talent.  He always had some pretty good talent, but sometimes, it seemed like we went up against some more talented teams like USC.

Additionally, I would certainly argue that Rich Rod faced teams with more talent.  Sheridan against Ohio State.....to mention one of many.  No offense to Sheridan, I love the guy's heart and personality, but he isn't really that talented in the BigTen.

justingoblue

July 12th, 2011 at 5:01 PM ^

I agree; I'm not sure what number they're using to determine talent level, but if you took a look at the 22 starters (and even throw in Zoltan and the rest of special teams if you want) that 2008 team did not stack up overall.

Seems like it should be something like <8 is inferior, 9<->13 is equivalent and >13 is superior.

joeysos33

July 12th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^

Your going to win. Add that to Hoke and staff's motivational skills and they seem like they get their guys prepared. Mix that all together and were gonna win a lot of ball games.

redhousewolverine

July 12th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^

Depends on how you define recruit. If you define recruiting as bringing in top ranked recruiting classes, then it doesn't guarantee success (but makes it much more likely). Example: Weis (noted above). If you define recruiting as bringing in talented guys who fit your scheme and develop into meaningful contributors, then this definition of recruiting would significantly increase chances of having success on field.

justingoblue

July 12th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^

Recruiting and developing are two completely different skills. Nobody can doubt that Weis can recruit- he targeted top prospects and brought them in. He just couldn't develop players. OTOH take a look at Fitzgerald- I'd say he's only a decent recruiter (obviously with some institutional handicapping) but he seems very good with developing the talent he does get.

redhousewolverine

July 12th, 2011 at 5:17 PM ^

Having high ranked classes is great (I would always prefer to be there), but developing is just as important, if not more important than recruiting. Also, parts of recruiting are recognizing which kids have the potential to make it and which are overrated. Lots of kids with high rankings don't make it for one reason or another, and good coaches/recruiters are able to identify and develop then ones who have the best chance (whether it's a Stephen Schilling or a Patrick Omameh). Recruiting should not be fully analyzed until a couple years down the road.

I think one could even argue that developing and recruiting are the same thing.

MGoReader04

July 12th, 2011 at 4:57 PM ^

This article was interesting.  Nothing that makes too strong an argument, but certainly at least a better comparison than just the straight up win/loss record.

WolvinLA2

July 12th, 2011 at 9:47 PM ^

Obviously it's not a bullet-proof argument, but a lot of people didn't realize how bad Ball State and SDSU were before Hoke got there.  He didn't show up at an average mid-major school and win games, he showed up at piss poor mid majors and turned them into winners. 

I have a good buddy out here who went to SDSU and he though Hoke was a God, moreso than we do.  SDSU hadn't done anything before Hoke got there.  In 2008, they won 2 games, and lost to teams like SJSU and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.   In the 6 years prior to that they had one 6-6 season, one 5-7 season, and all the rest were 3 or 4 win seasons. 

The best thing about the SDSU stop is that it shows nothing about his recruiting, because he never got a chance to play with any of his recruits who werent freshmen.  But he was able to win 9 games in his second year with talent that was attracted by a 2-10 team.  Now we know Hoke can recruit, so if he can do with our talent what he did with SDSU's talent, plus Mattison, we could be in for a real treat.

MGoVillain

July 12th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^

Brady Hoke is the only undefeated coach in the history of Michigan football. GREAT HIRE!!!

Really interesting read. I wonder what criteria was used to categorize talent level but the point is clear and I hope it plays out that way. I'm also curious about how RR pre-Michigan would've graded by this system. Perhaps higher than Hoke?

dearbornpeds

July 12th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^

he lost me when he said rr never coached a game with inferior talent.  there was very little offensive talent in 2008 and little defensive talent in 2009 or 2010. how else do you account for sheridan at qb in 2007 and six freshmen starting on defense last year.