NomadicBlue

December 16th, 2011 at 2:51 PM ^

I thought for sure Snyder would get it and Hoke or the Baylor coach would be the runner-up.  Not sure how Gundy came away with it.  I thought the cowboys were picked to do pretty well pre-season.  I always thought this award went to the coach who did the most with the least or went exceedingly above the teams expectations.  Oh well, next year Hoke will need to do less pointing and more ranting about being a MAN!

Ben from SF

December 16th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^

Did T Boone sponsor the coach of the year award?

Seriously, Hoke will get a coach of the year award at some point.  The voting media is just getting acquainted with him, and coach of the year is very much a popularity contest.

JClay

December 16th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^

I don't understand the Miles or Gundy nominations. Their teams were supposed to be national title contenders going into the season. Their teams did, in fact, turn out to be national title contenders. I guess I give them some credit for not screwing things up, but they clearly had two of the most talented squads out there.

I would have been ok with losing to Snyder. No one thought that was a 10-win team, and he schemed them to ten wins with nothing resembling an offense.

BRCE

December 16th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^

Being a national title contender at Oklahoma State is not that easy, pal. Gundy deserves recognition for bringing that program to that point.

And no one ever said the criteria for COY awards was exceeded expectations even though that's what voters often revert to. Miles did a real nice job this year, especially after the Alabama game. Everyone was saying LSU didn't even need to win before the Arkansas and Georgia games to be in the MNC and they still went out and kicked ass when a letdown would have been understandable.

Magnus

December 16th, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^

Just to play Devil's advocate, though, isn't it a positive for Miles and Gundy that they have been at their respective programs long enough to create the atmosphere that gave them such excellent seasons?  I mean, it's not like Miles and Gundy fell into situations full of talent after being hired in the 2010-2011 offseason.  They recruited every single one of these players, hired the assistants, and installed the systems that the team runs.  While I think Hoke would have been a worthy candidate based simply on the fact that he helped to turn around a team that was horrible defensive for the past couple years, this seems to be kind of a reward for Gundy's efforts over the past several years, too.

JClay

December 16th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^

I would argue the award is for Coach "of the year." It's not a lifetime achievement award. No doubt credit goes to T Boone Picke---er, um Gundy and Miles for building those programs into the teams they are, but I think a coach of the year award should be based around the coaching in that season. And I'm not saying they coached poorly (obviously they coached very well or their teams wouldn't have the records they do) but I do give more credit to someone like Snyder who had a wildly deficent team that he schemed to an unexpected 10 wins.

joeyb

December 16th, 2011 at 4:20 PM ^

So, say that Michigan wins the bowl game, they go into next season ranked in the top 2 or 3, and they win the National Championship. In that scenario, Hoke shouldn't get Coach of the year because he did exactly what he was expected to do that season? I find it very hard to believe that anyone could cast aside the fact that he turned a 7-6 team into a 14-0 team in two years.

Besides, if it is all about exceeding expectations, then you are basically eliminating the possibility of any coach at a powerhouse school because they are too good each and every year. Plus, that gives the benefit of the doubt to coaches like Zook that under perform each and every year except the one year they do well.

At some point you have to say, "Wait, Oklahoma State is ranked #3 and should be in the national championship game? Did Oklahoma and Oklahoma State successfully trade teams? Am I dreaming? Am I dead? Is this Hell?" and realize that he has done an amazing job to even get to this point.

Magnus

December 16th, 2011 at 9:58 PM ^

So why not give it to Hoke, who also took a deficient team (defensively, anyway) and turned it into a 10-2 squad?  

As somebody else said, your definition eliminates anyone who has a perennial powerhouse program.  Basically you're saying that Saban, Miles, and other coaches who have made good runs (Carroll at USC, Mack Brown at Texas, Meyer at Florida) shouldn't even be considered because they already have top 5 programs.

hvsiii

December 16th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^

He had basically all his playmakers from last year.  Last year he was 11-2, this year 11-1.  Not following this choice.

I have my hunches why though.

turtleboy

December 16th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^

?????

Guy has a 28 year old qb (a month older than Aaron Rodgers), team can't play defense, and dropped a steaming turd @ Iowa State in a conference that's rapidly shedding members, but Kudos to him I guess.

Raoul

December 16th, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^

Hoke was also named a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year award, according to an mgoblue.com press release:

Hoke will join nine other finalists in Houston on Jan. 19 for the 26th annual Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards event: Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Art Briles (Baylor), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Les Miles (LSU), Nick Saban (Alabama), David Shaw (Stanford), Bill Snyder (Kansas State), Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M - 2011, Houston) and Dabo Swinney (Clemson). The only Michigan head coach to previously win the award was Lloyd Carr in 1997.

Blue boy johnson

December 16th, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^

It's hard to argue with Hoke not winning. There are those out there humbly submitting they would have won more with the same team, and the kicker is they could have done it without a defense.

Maizenblueball

December 16th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^

Not that Gundy isn't deserving of the award, but it sort of feels like a consolation prize for not being in the BCS Champ game.  Coach Hoke should've won it!  Coach Hoke is also a MAN- he's over 40!

Magnus

December 16th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

Why should Bill Snyder have won it?  He went 6-6, 7-6, and now 10-2 this year.  He's had three years to build his program and arguably had less success than Michigan.  KSU got trounced by Oklahoma, whereas Michigan's biggest deficit was 14.

I think Hoke, Gundy, and Miles are viable candidates...but not Snyder.  He had a good year, but not the best in the country.

Reader71

December 16th, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^

Because this isn't a lifetime achievement award.

The fact that Snyder's teams were bad before lends even more credence to the argument that this season was a great job of coaching by him. And, very obviously, no one expected K-State to win 10 games.

I'd have voted for Hoke, but I think Gundy is also a good choice. 

Magnus

December 16th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^

True, but he's been there for a few years.  It's not like he took a sucky team and immediately made them good.  He went through a couple years of getting his players and installing his systems.  This is now Year 3 of the Snyder regime.  Meanwhile, Hoke took a horrible defense and an offense that couldn't score against good Big Ten teams...and created a 10-2 team that's something like #16 in total defense.

I'm not saying Hoke should win.  I truly think Miles or Gundy should win.  But I'd have a hard time voting for Snyder over Hoke.