Hoke with no headset?

Submitted by Sean Connery on
What's the deal here? I saw that Hoke wasn't wearing a headset at all and I was wondering why. For the record this doesn't really bother me, especially when we win, but it doesn't make any sense.

PurpleStuff

September 4th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^

He is a motivator and the face of the program and sets a tone for practice and what not.  But yeah, on gameday he will be a big, wet, sexy cheerleader for the most part.  That is also totally okay.  He hired good guys to do the other parts (and he probably wouldn't be good at it anyway).  It is also the one part of the job that his predecessor actually wasn't any good at.

Darth Wolverine

September 4th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

I watched college game day final last night and they showed a tweet from someone who said Brian Kelly is the new Rich Rodriguez. Both should have never left their former programs."

Regarding Kelly, I'm SO glad Michigan did not hire him. That guy's temper is unbelieveable and I just think he makes a lot of questionable coaching decisions.

WichitanWolverine

September 4th, 2011 at 1:25 AM ^

PurpleStuff, you're definitely one of my favorite posters, but you calling Hoke a "Figurehead" is erroneous and a slap in the face to him.  There are nomerous videos of him physically engaging with his players--shoving and getting shoved--showing that he cares about the nuances of the defensive line.  Unbalance...maybe...but a figurehead...not in the least.

WFBlue

September 4th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^

but the shirt I wore yesterday had the iconic photo with "Bo with headset" on it.  Every coach has their own method and style and we can appreciate all of them, assuming they are successful with it.

Blue in Seattle

September 4th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

I understood what you meant, or was hoping I did, but using the word Figurehead means that the person is just there for appearance.  The word comes from the figure that was carved out of wood on the head of a ship.  And from a nautical perspective it was a very important and distinctive symbol of the ship, very important to the crew, but still was not considered anything human or part of the crew.

Hoke doesn't have a headset on because isn't directly calling the plays.  Also headsets are heavy, and it would be very easy to grab one of the grad assistants with a headset if he wanted to get a message to Al about the offense.  Greg is on the field, so talking to him about defense, if needed, would be pretty direct.

Now with that said, I do think Hoke is very aware that he is on TV and is trying to provide a specific image of who he is as a head coach.  Exactly like Patton's "warface" which Patton practiced in the mirror every morning.  The liveblog noticed right away that he also wasn't wearing a hat.  So I defnitely understand if you were trying to make this statement with your use of Figurehead, but that word still has the wrong definition and connotation to be the best choice.

Of course your other metaphor of a big wet sexy cheerleader just made me think, "ewwwww" and I wished you had just stuck with Figurehead.

 

 

STW P. Brabbs

September 4th, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^

That over-simplifies things a bit.  In terms of the offense, you're totally on point - Hoke doesn't really know what's going on, and to his credit he admits as much.

I think he's probably fairly on top of things on the defensive side of the ball, but he doesn't really need a headset to walk over and talk to Mattison.

Also, per newspaper reports he occasionally did put a headset on to chat with Gorgeous Al. 

djmagic

September 4th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^

Lloyd didn't call the Offense or the Defense either.  his headset kept him in touch with his staff in the booth. 

I realize hoke doesn't call the O or the D.  and Mattison is on the field...but it seems odd that hoke and borges wouldn't have a constant and direct line of communication during a game...

Desmonlon Edwoodson

September 4th, 2011 at 1:01 AM ^

I went to a local high school football game yesterday, and this town is kind of Dylan East(football field is in the middle of a cornfield) and the head coach was rocking a headset...And I had the sneaky suspicion that the coach had the tigers game patched in...

jmblue

September 4th, 2011 at 1:05 AM ^

Not all coaches wear them.  Those who don't call the plays on offense often don't, though they'll have a headset available to chat with the coordinators before a key decision, like a 4th-down call.