How long until we hear about possible coaching changes for Michigan?
How long is it before we hear about possible coaching changes within the Michigan football coaching staff? As stated by Mangus in this article: http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/12/kansas-state-31-michigan-14.html#comment-form there have been rumors of Mallory looking for a coaching job at a smaller school, and Jackson possibly retiring. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Mallory and Jackson go. Al Borges, Dan Ferrigno, and Darrell Funk have also got to be on the hot seat. How long do you think it will be before we hear any news about possible coaching changes?
December 30th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^
Sometime between now, and two years from now.
December 30th, 2013 at 7:49 PM ^
Unless, I suppose, the staff survives this offseason and the team experiences much success over the following two seasons.
December 30th, 2013 at 8:19 PM ^
with San Francisco? I believe he is currently signed through 2015, and the Niners are pushing an extension hard, based on his name being associated with the Texas job.
I don't think I can wait that long for a Michigan Man.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
I'd take John Harbaugh in a heartbeat, and he may be the easier of the two to get
December 30th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^
Not sure, I'd expect soon if at all. Put me down for Funk though, something is seriously wrong with the way the OL is run.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^
Though Taylor Lewan might disagree. He said during the season that Coach Funk is the best line coach he's ever worked with.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
I hope he is? If he wasn't a better coach than his high school line coach and pop warner coach we are royally fuc$ed
December 30th, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^
Which means he spent two years with another college level coach and of course we haven't even touched on the coaches he's seen at numorous camps. I know, I know, neg me for not adhering to the meme.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^
yes and if was asked about them while they were still here as his position coach he would say the same. not saying I dont believe him tho
December 30th, 2013 at 9:17 PM ^
Frey's Oline performed better with far less talent.
December 31st, 2013 at 7:26 AM ^
Frey's also doing a pretty nice job at Indiana.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
Taylor was schooled well in coach speak. He's not gonna badmouth his current position coach
December 30th, 2013 at 6:23 PM ^
of his way to elevate his opinion of Funk. I'll take that over a whiner sitting at their computer.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:32 PM ^
over everything else.
December 30th, 2013 at 7:59 PM ^
Here here!
December 30th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
Where?
December 30th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^
Okay he likes Funk, but what about the other 4 non NFL prospects on the line?
Plus, you can't make anything from these quotes. They aren't allowed to say anything even close to negative.
Too bad Lewan, Funk's line did not produce. He should get canned.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:45 PM ^
to say anything close to negative? Evidently Frank Clark didn't get the tweet.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:50 PM ^
Frank Clark said you couldn't blame the coaches for the effort issues.
The players will never blames the coaches.
Hell, the coaches have never blamed the coaches.
December 30th, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^
all of our coaches must be sweet. I'm starting to feel better about the 2013 season.
December 30th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^
The way Michigan prefers to handle business like that I would think we'll likely hear about it at the last minute, or after the fact.
December 30th, 2013 at 5:58 PM ^
There needs to be some changes of some sort. If none are made, it's just a sign that we are complacent with the results this season. If the players see some of their coaches depart, that will be a wake up call for them too IMO. I'm on the fence on Funk, Borges should go but he won't IMO. Jackson needs to retire IMO, move Manning over to RB coach and hire a Qb coach. JMO
December 30th, 2013 at 6:28 PM ^
uuummmm
December 30th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^
Never gave that any thought, but I'm curious. What does it feel like?
December 30th, 2013 at 7:46 PM ^
I disagree. Change indicates panic. Stability indicates not panicking and letting the current lines mature to the point they (and coaches) can be judged appropriately.
December 31st, 2013 at 11:21 AM ^
So you believe that John Beilein was dumb to shake up his staff a couple of years ago, because it meant he was panicking.
OK then.
December 30th, 2013 at 5:58 PM ^
But the sports twitterati are already on Hoke:
RT @TomahawkNation: Brady Hoke might be the Ron Zook of Michigan. Recruiting is great.
— Smart Football (@smartfootball) December 30, 2013
December 30th, 2013 at 6:08 PM ^
Make it not make sense! Make it not make sense!
December 30th, 2013 at 8:43 PM ^
likely to be a long 12 months I think.
December 30th, 2013 at 9:32 PM ^
I saw the Zook tweet and I was like "Ha, stupid." Then I was like "Holy shit that may not be far off."
December 31st, 2013 at 9:01 AM ^
Well, then firing and replacing Hoke is going to workout GREAT for us...
December 30th, 2013 at 5:59 PM ^
As good as any other source at this point.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
Never, because even though the offense was abysmal, there will be no changes.
"The players just need to execute", or some other bullshit reason will be given.
December 30th, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^
Is that really bullshit? If Chip Kelly was our HC and Mike Leach was our OC, but Funchess dropped a ball or Kalis whiffed a block, would execution not be a problem?
Execution is the one 100% non-bullshit coaching platitude. Without execution, you're just drawing up plays on a chalkboard.
Oregon has a great offense. I would autofellate myself to have such an offense here. But they lost to Stanford and Arizona. Did they lose because their offense actually sucked all along? They lost because they did not execute their assignments to a degree that would have allowed them to won the game.
Memes are fun, but not as fun as thinking.
December 30th, 2013 at 9:35 PM ^
Yeah, Oregon had two bad performances. We had about 10.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:21 AM ^
I'm not comparing Michigan to Oregon or even the respective coaching staffs. I just use Oregon as they have a hell of an offense (we can agree on that), but even they don't execute occasionally. And they lose. We do it much more often and, thus, we lose more frequently. This does not mean that "execution" is bullshit.
December 31st, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
And Oregon executed a hell of a lot more than Michigan. If they were consistently missing assignments like Michigan did, they would be terrible, and the fans would be rightfully questioning if the coaching staff was any good.
December 30th, 2013 at 9:47 PM ^
Yes it is a bullshit reason as they are doing terrible jobs.
The oline is getting worse. The offense is getting worse. We aren't winning as many games. We're going the wrong way. Coaches make their players better. Our players are not getting better.
Where do you put the blame for that? The coaches for not doing their jobs? Or the players for not executing? I blame the coaches.
December 30th, 2013 at 11:24 PM ^
Well then, case closed.
December 31st, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
Yes, on a blog where people come and write their opinions on Michigan athletics, I blame the coaches. I'm sure I'm the first one to do so.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:29 AM ^
Like most things in life, it is more complicated than the either/or you posit. I blame both. Frankly, execution is more important than scheme. We weren't outschemed by Iowa. We weren't outachemed by Nebraska. We weren't outschemed by Ohio. We were outplayed (read: they executed better).
But, and this is something that is very controversial for some reason, the coaches also share some responsibility for the execution of the players. Heck can't actually catch the ball for Funchess, so in my estimation the split would be something like 95-5 favoring the player.
Otherwise all players of a certain position group would be similarly capable of playing football. But that's not how it goes. Players and their abilities are what make football plays
December 31st, 2013 at 1:56 AM ^
That's obviously true. However, every year at every level of organized football, a team or program that had formerly been a sad sack of ineptitude gets a new coach, and within a short period of time starts playing noticeably better, and not long after that becomes truly competitive with good teams it used to routinely lose to, and not long after that wins championships.
And it's not infrequent that many of the same players on the formerly sad sack team are playing for the newly competitive team. The reason is superior coaching, and it's the superior coaching that gets its players to execute better, among other things.
In many ways coaching a sports team at the amateur level is fundamentally all about teaching, and all of us know from personal experience how important having a good teacher is.
December 31st, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
Absolutely. I guess my 95-5 number was player ability vs scheme. Good players will be able to make good plays in any scheme, so long as he has the athletic ability as well as a good understanding of what the scheme asks of him. And this is where coaching is huge: getting that player to understand technique and instilling it into him so that it becomes second nature.
Here's an example of what I mean. Who is a better QB, Denard or Henne? The answer is probably that they are roughly equal in their respective schemes. Is either scheme better? I'd argue that they are roughly equal with each of the respective QB at the helm. So, scheme matters less than having the good players.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^
Good players + right scheme + knowledge = execution?
I think that is your stated path of performance.
December 31st, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
Thank you for making my point better than I could.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
So who is responsible for our 2011 11-win season? In 2010 Michigan wins just 7 games and in the next year Hoke and company come in, Michigan goes 11-2. Did Hoke and his staff show that they are great coaches by taking that "sad sack" team to 11 wins including a Sugar Bowl victory? If so, what do the past 2 seasons tell us? I think we are trying too hard to simplify something that is more complex than we want to admit. It IS the coaching, it IS the players, it IS Rich Rod's recruiting, it IS THE PROCESS, etc. This all is of course just my opinion but I think there are way too many factors still in play just to boil it down to one of these. I am frustrated with the last two seasons and I am frustrated with some of the playcalling(not that I'm ever 100% satisfied) but I think it would cause more harm than good to oust the coaches right now and I think it's too soon to point the finger in their direction.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
What's interesting is that Hoke's 2011 squad did exactly what you're describing.
Remember Gene Chizik? And now it's Gus Malzahn?
Year one doesn't mean much. Sustained success is the hallmark of great coaching, and, I believe, year four is the first year you can start to fully judge a coach's performance (good or bad).
Dantonio was 6-7 in '09 and vaulted to 11 regular season wins in '10. He is currently 63-29 at MSU, but only won 22 games in his first three seasons. Hoke has won 26.
Because of our late-season collapse, year four has become make-or-break for Hoke. If he had one another game and competed in the bowl, he'd probably have another year to develop his team. But because of the complete failure at the end of '13, he must win, and win big, to keep his job after 2014.
The 2014 schedule is no cakewalk. We'll see how good Hoke is very soon.
December 30th, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
If someone knew, chances are it would be on the board. What is the point of speculating regarding a timeline? It's an even more pointless endeavor than speculating about the actual changes themselves.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
I think the point is that we are all starving for answers to way too many questions right now and we're willing to try and satisfy our hunger by listening to the opinions every tom, dick, and harry until the real meal is handed to us by people who actually know what they're talking about...or at least that's why I'm here.