BBrown: Statement From Jabrill Peppers
I am still 100% committed to the University of Michigan and that is the place where I want to go to college. With the rumors about Coach Hoke possibly not being there I need to make sure that I have options and have seen other places in case the University of Michigan decides to go in a different direction. For the sake of my future I need to make sure I have other options. No need to look into it any further! Go Blue and beat TDS
November 26th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
He'll stay committed until he isn't.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
For some reason reading this made me chuckle and not feel so bad.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^
"2013 Michigan Football: Life Goes On."
November 26th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
There are some really obvious Corky jokes to make right there, but I'm not going to be the one to do it.
#allclass
November 26th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^
yea sounds like one of those cases.....But interesting that he thinks Hoke will not be here, while most beleive hoke will be here for at least couple more years.
November 26th, 2013 at 7:23 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^
...or he reads the comments here. This is Michigan--we don't wait around for other people to do our negative recruiting for us.
November 27th, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
There's been a few, maybe not a lot, but what I'm really talking about is this sort of thing:
http://mgoblog.com/content/hello-distant-future-erik-swenson#comment-22…
That's on the kid's hello post, where we welcome him to the program and thank him for his commitment. It's probably the first and maybe the last time he visits the blog, and what does he see? A poster--and not a new troll but somebody that's been here since RR days--says it'll be a waste of his talent if he actually has to play for the coaches he just committed to.
One post like that is too many. Wrong time, wrong place.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
As an FYI - Hoke's contract is through 2017 and he is currently getting paid $4.15 million this year.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:47 PM ^
It's a standard duty to extend coach's contract before it expires for recruiting purposes. Coaches get fired before their contract runs out or they take a different job before it runs out.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^
Except that wasn't an extension... his original contract had a term of 6 years and the kicker is that he has an expensive buy-out provision ($4 million this year and $3 million next year).
Therefore, my point is that Michigan will not pay $4 million to cut him loose.
As an aside, if Coach Hoke were to terminate (which is governed by Section 4.04 - Termination by Head Coach) that would be totally different than Coach Hoke being fired by the school (which is governed by Section 4.01 - Termination without cause).
November 26th, 2013 at 4:46 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 5:03 PM ^
...for poor performance not be considered termination "for Cause". I've never seen the contract but it seems weird that firing a coach who might be bad at their job a question of the employer's convenience.
November 26th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^
Failure to perform is not the same as performing poorly. For cause would be he just doesn't show up, gets in legal trouble, gets in NCAA trouble or fraud.
Here is the contract if you want tor read it.
http://www.annarbor.com/2011/03/30/Hoke%20contract%202011.pdf
November 26th, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^
you bet your ass, Hoke will be fired by then. Money is not an issue considering they're in the black with their profits/revenues.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^
there all ready word out there that michigan is talking to jh agent
November 26th, 2013 at 3:52 PM ^
Contracts don't mean dick, as they're only good for exit clauses. Just because it is through 2017, doesn't mean he can't be fired or leave earlier than that.
November 26th, 2013 at 7:38 PM ^
Peppers now says though still committed to Michigan he will visit other schools after graduating. Does this mean that Hoke (his rule is visit another school after committing means the offer is off the table) will withdraw his offer to him?
November 26th, 2013 at 8:07 PM ^
This is a 5 star. I think he still has a spot if he wants it.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^
He doesn't "withdraw the offer" He considers someone still taking visits to be uncommitted, and the spot is formally open until he recommits.
You can be damn sure the spot will stay open, too.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
Yeah and you know where these rumors about Hoke not being there come from? Morons on this blog and others in this god-awful fanbase.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^
Disagree completely. Almost no one on this blog is calling for Hoke to be gone. Nearly everyone is calling for Borges' head because its the logical move.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
It may not be a majority, but I could easily find 40-50 posters suggesting Hoke should be or will be fired after this year.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:35 PM ^
Al, what is your plan for saturday?
November 26th, 2013 at 3:38 PM ^
Ah the humorous implication here being that because I believe fans spread baseless rumors about coaching changes, I am Al Borges, who is himself facing a great deal of speculation regarding his job?
November 26th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
No, the fact you are going above and beyond today in order to defend Borges. Carry on though, it is hilarious.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^
I have never once defended Al Borges in terms of his playcalling or his control of this offense, and I have stated repeatedly that I think he should be fired after the end of the year.
What drives me insane are the people who take one phrase out of context and use it as a springboard to send flying their personal dislike of the man, or people like Brian who take an fairly harmless statement from Hoke and use it for some grand diatribe about how the administration and coaches are ruining the lives of fans or whatever that hell that adolescent rant was about.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^
Do you want an award or something?
Who cares what "40-50" or so crazy fans think? You're being a little hypersensitive lashing out at anyone that criticizes the job Hoke's done considering his ridiculously high salary.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^
No, I lash out at people who rip into Hoke for stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with his job performance. I criticize Hoke plenty for his coaching.
November 26th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
That . . . is a bouillon spoon!
November 26th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
I think it's hilarious that people are arguing on a Michigan sports blog with Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey.
November 26th, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 4:08 PM ^
What I think is that people vastly underestimate the power of internet media to contribute to the narrative that a coaching change may occur, especially on a site with as much traffic as this one. I'm not saying other coaches aren't feeding the fire.
November 26th, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^
Exactly what I was thinking the entire time. If a highly touted recruit with a vast support base is openly stating he's keeping his options open because there is now a slight possibility Hoke will be gone after this, it means one of two things: Rival coaches are trying to drop hints at him that Hoke will be gone, or legitimate sources are telling him there's an actual chance this may happen.
MGoBloggers have not started this rumor, nor are they the ones perpetuating it. It's pretty much an accepted fact that the temperature on Hoke's seat is about to get a little bit toasty depending on the outcome of Saturday's game. You'd be a fool to think otherwise.
November 26th, 2013 at 4:29 PM ^
There is a 0% chance Hoke is fired after this season.
November 26th, 2013 at 4:38 PM ^
So there's still a chance!!!
OMG PANIC!
/s
November 26th, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^
That is ridiculous. There absolutely is a chance he gets fired this year. Now I'd honestly be utterly shocked if he was let go and think the odds are quite minute at best, but I'm not going to pretend that his job is completely safe at this point. A loss to Ohio puts him on a piping hot seat with a one year countdown until termination unless he turns it around (with a small wildcard chance we break it off with him after this season).
November 26th, 2013 at 6:33 PM ^
I think the comments on ESPN about Hoke being on the Hot Seat hold more sway, than fans upset about the coaches performance.
November 26th, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
What drives me insane are the people who take one phrase out of context and use it
So you admit that you're insane.
November 26th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
How many would be one time posters? How many have already banned? How many established members are calling for Hoke's head? Literally no one on the staff is. I cannot think of one person who consistently posts here who has been asking for Hoke to be fired on a regular basis.
Again: The only thing the vast majority of people are asking for is the worst OC for the past month of college football to be gone.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
Several established posters, but that's irrelevant. Who cares how many one time posters? All it takes is one post for that particular rumor to be out there. Recruits read blogs. When one of them sees dozens posts speculating about a head coach being fired, it's pretty natural to believe it might impact them.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^
I think you are wrong. 2010, when there were hundreds of posts daily about RR being fired? Yeah, I'm with you. But its not even close to the same atmosphere. There's the occasional comment about Hoke being gone, but even then, it usually goes hand in hand with something like: I think Hoke deserves at least two more years so long as he gets rid of Borges.
There are articles being ran in MSM about Hoke potentially not being the guy, but I think its a real stretch to blame MGoBlog or its members this time around.
November 26th, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^
He needs to do a better job from here through next season. There's only so much blaming the other guy that you can do. And there's only so much blaming the youth that you can do. The players have to show improvement and another 4-5 loss season is not good enough in this dumpster fire of a conference.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:50 PM ^
I'd have to think that recruits are smart enough to realize that seeing these "dozens of posts" (which I seem to have missed, especially if they come from reputable mgoblog people) are just a natural byproduct of being on the internet and no real indication of the fate of a certain coach. These recruits are probably more informed than 95 percent of commentors with these situations.
November 26th, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^
Well Peppers has obviously heard rumors and believes that there is some validity to them. Where do you think that comes from if not internet media?
November 26th, 2013 at 4:06 PM ^
I'm sure he didn't hear that from other schools recruiting him. Nope, he got it from an internet message board.