Hoke regrets not fixing chemistry issues last year
Here's an interesting story comparing last year's leadership to the way Hoke is treating it this year. It's suggested that team chemistry and senior leadership were issues last year.
"(The leadership this year) is different," Hoke says. "You've got guys who are leaders that are older, but we've changed the model a bit. Our seniors are always going to be important, but you always worry about entitlement, so what we've done is put together a leadership representative group. It's four guys from each class, and they were all voted on by their classmates.
"That's really been effective. We've already met twice, and we'll meet here in another week. And it's interesting to listen to perspectives at different levels and different maturities."
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/04/brady_hoke_regrets_not_fixing.html
Here's a link to a presser on August 9, 2010. Little to nothing negative about Rich Rod here. Rich Rod also decided to have two permanent captains and two elected for each game (a change to tradition). That lead to such hostile comments as:
"I like that they have voted for their two permanent captains at the beginning of the season. While I also like the game captain philosophy as a rotating honor, I think continuity of senior leadership across the season is important, and welcome the return of that tradition."
"The best thing about this to me is just how comfortable everything seems. It's all in the little things: not calling out Woolfolk, listening to the team and allowing them to elect captains, saying "we will worry about the outside stuff, the team needs to worry about football" and knowing that that is absolutely true. There is no sense of tension with the team or the press, it's all just business as usual. Which, really, is what we all want in the end."
"I like the fact that we have two permanent captains named for this season, along with two honorary captains. I like that there seems to be more accountability and ownership amongst the seniors on this team. Do we know why Rodriguez changed his policy on captains for this season and is this going to be the way things are done for the future? Did the team select Schilling and Moundros or was that decision made by the coaches?"
"Senior leadership is the best news to me. And RR listened to them and made two permanent captains.
The Team, The Team, The Team."
Need I continue with this?
This isnt an RR vs Hoke issue.... "irregardless" of what you may think.
However since you brought up 2011... the leaders on that team, other than Denard...were all Lloyd Carr recruits in their last chance to win some games at Michigan. Molk, Hemingway, Martin, RVB etc. the list is full of guys who stepped up in their final year.
Your statement that "Hoke has a much better record than Rod" is simply untrue. RR's college coaching record is 136-94-2 while Hoke's is 76-63.
Your statement is an illustration of the "bias" I see so often from so many bloggers on this board.
I made two typos in my original post, "BC" & "HC", instead of "BH" for Brady Hoke. I have been following Michigan football for 60+ years and would like it to be successful. I'm doubtful Hoke is the guy to get it done, but I would not be disrespectful and call him Brady Choke.
Your statement that "Hoke has a much better record than Rod" is simply untrue. RR's college coaching record is 136-94-2 while Hoke's is 76-63.
Your statement is an illustration of the "bias" I see so often from so many bloggers on this board.
I made two typos in my original post, "BC" & "HC", instead of "BH" for Brady Hoke. I have been following Michigan football for 60+ years and would like it to be successful. I'm doubtful Hoke is the guy to get it done, but I would not be disrespectful and call him Brady Choke.
Admitting it is one thing, doing something about it is another. I like Hoke...he is a good man...but he has not been assertive since he took over as HC at Michigan. He has been supportive and a good "hand clapper" but he delegates far too much to his coordinators and staff...and this recent article here suggests he has been hands-off with the players too.
Its time for Brady Hoke to get Hands On. Hopefully the last 2 years have been a wake up call. Up until now, he seems to be in awe with reverence at being the HC at Michigan. Thats not enough, he needs to step up and put his stamp on that responsibility.
At the end of it all guys, this is a football team for, by, and of students. They are responsible for the chemistry -- the coaching staff can only do so much. Michigan has had extremely small senior classes and it's showed. If the upperclassmen are few in number and the natural leaders within those few are even smaller, what the fuck can you do?
Michigan is still suffering from the effects of all the turnover and changes. Rebuilding takes time.
THIS IS "throwing players under the bus":
"Marcus [Fillyaw] was absolutely awful. That's about as PG rated as I can say it. He was awful. Our guards were awful. Our three starting guards had one assist and seven turnovers. They must think it's a tax credit!" he said. "It's unbelievable how our starting guards played. And lets talk about our big guys. Two for 11. How can you go two for 11? My wife! My wife can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because I know my wife will at least shot fake one time." Hinson also said his players were "uncoachable right now" and called them "mama's boys."
THIS IS NOT "throwing players under the bus":
"I have to be a better leader, I should have taken some of the leadership (opportunities myself) and not anointed some of that (to just senior players)...I could have done a much better job with consistency. Every day.... (I should have stepped in) a little more, yeah. I think that's part of it."
well said Don!
I've always professed that I loved Carr, and I love that he showed a coach can also be a scholar. So leave it to him to use the historical phrase used by people working on the Manhattan project.
NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
...
When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar,
Lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war.
While I personally like the Carr mentality of never speaking to the press except when required to, Hoke is kind of damned either way. When he speaks to the press, even when he accepts responsibility and doesn't blame a single other individual, he is called out for "throwing people under the bus." When he doesn't address issues with the press or provide insight, he is accused of "hating the fans" or refusing to acknowledge the problem.
Personally, I don't think that he said a thing wrong - he accepted a lot of blame and didn't call out a single member of this or last year's team. The fact is that anyone watching could see that the team lacked chemistry, cohesiveness and leadership. Many on this blog noticed it. Hoke is simply conceding that there was a problem and discussing a method that he has employed to fix it.
Re
What you see here,
What you hear here,
Let it stay here,
When you leave here.
I understand the philosophy, and generally agree with it, but I wonder if that type of thinking helped keep the Brendan Gibbons episode under the rug.
Sometimes policies need to be broken.
Leadership is key. From the coaches and from the players. I hope team 135 gets it done. Go Blue!
April 21st, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
I believe there have been multiple quotes from various players since the bowlgame suggesting the leadership paradigm (i.e. since that Senior's provide the primary if not exclusive leadership) needed tweeking...or was that twerking?? Anywho, it seems Brady is actually reacting to his team's suggestions. Now, my concern is WHY NO MENTION OF THE STOLEN JEWELS???
April 21st, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
there was a problem with the chemistry tells me he is a leader and will take responsibility for short comings. This shows he will allow some transparency which might have been one of Carrs short comings. I don't know whether this is a good or a bad thing but I feel he is being real and I do like that. When you say something like this it can be high risk high reward, meaning I assume it could come back to haunt him or it could be a turning point for this team to really give coach their best effort. I just hope its the latter.
The 5 best OL are selected to play after summer camp and no changes are made to the line unless there are injuries. Stop rotating lineman and let the line develop together.