Yahoo Sports on the hoke / Morris disco
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fireable-offense-brady-hoke-140727469.html
September 28th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
concussion protocol takes more than 2 minutes. For a hit that vicious, they immediately needed to take him out. He could have had delayed onset symptoms, so getting up and playing means nothing. Even before that his leg was bad enough to have been taken out. It really doesn’t matter what happened in the past. Coaches are held to a much higher ethical standard than a decade ago.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
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September 28th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
to make, but if it's that Shane WAS not concussed and was still perfectly able to run the offense, then you're an idiot. Even if he was not concussed, his leg injury was more than enough to warrant taking him out of the game a long time before the play in question ever happened. The obvious choice by the coaches was either to put Bellomy in for one play or use a timeout so they could reinsert Gardner back in. There's no defending the coaches here.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
Marshall QB Byron Leftwich being carried down the field by his O-line. How about last week when Utah's QB almost lost his head and was put back in? The real issue is that people want Hoke gone!!
September 28th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
He laid on the field, was immediately attended to by Utah staff, and then left the field. He did not return to the game until the second half, which obviously gave the Utah physicians ample time to discern whether or not he had suffered a concussion.
So in other words, the Utah staff handled it correctly, but I realize that's not the point you're trying to make.
As for Leftwich, he was a senior, two-time All-American, and three-year starter by the time of that Akron game in 2002. Not to mention that he'd gone to the hospital for x-rays in the first half of that game, so at least the Marshall staff knew what injury he had when he went back onto the field. Not to mention the fact that Marshall had an offensive line that could protect him.
Whereas Shane Morris is a red-shirt junior starting his very first regular season game working behind an absolutely porous offensive line in a game that Michigan showed no signs whatsoever in being competitive.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
Morris is actually a true sophomore.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^
That means precisely fucking squat.
I've had four serious concussions in my life, each of which resulted in significant short-term memory loss, which thankfully resolved in each case (my wife might disagree...). Two happened playing football, once during a JV game in high school and once during HS gym class.
In each instance, I never lost consciousness, and I got to my feet unaided and without difficulty after the blow to the head. Yet I was most definitely concussed.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
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September 28th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^
Back in June of 2012 M-Wolverine posted this http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-cutting-edge-football-concussion-r… that Michigan was at the cutting edge of football concussion research. Unfortunately the link to annarbor.com nolonger works, but I remember something about there being a professional (perhaps a neurologist??) on the sideline to do concussion evaluation. My memory is vague, perhaps someone else can resurrect the info.
Anyway, clearly there exists a specific procedure to evaluate concussion risk during Michigan football games. Remember they took Lewan's helmet away last year when they determined he was at risk?
The implication of this is that, unless the entire process broke down, Shane was not concussed otherwise he would not have been allowed back into the game. On the other hand if he was allowed back into the game in error one or more people on the sidelines made a potentially fatal mistake.
Everyone can say that's on Hoke, and certainly the buck stops with him, but it may provide some insight into his comments at his press conference. I doubt very much that he had time to determine exactly what occurred before he spoke to the press. We can all say that he should have known and there is merit to that view, but the reality of the timeline may have made that impossible. So Hoke is in a tough spot, he can't speak with certainty about Shane's condition or to any consussion evaluation. He doesn't want to make any catagorical statement until he has time to determine what happened and there was an error who made it, how it came to pass that it was made, and how to prevent similar events in the future. So he makes a vague poorly articulated comment, which given the angst surrounding the program sets off a fire storm, the very thing Hoke hoped to avoid.
Maybe we all should take a deep breath and wait to see what we learn in the next few days. If Shane was concussed and sent back into the game we will hear about it. If he was cleared by the medical staff then this becomes a somewhat different conversaion. Needless to say if the medical evaluation didn't happen that is yet another and potentially more far reaching conversation. This is a mare's nest of issues and it is only reasonable to let the appropriate people determine exactly what happened before we light up any more tires.
The eventual outcome of this may cause me to change my mind about it being best for the program to give Hoke another year. But I want to know the facts before I go there.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
It's easy for me to say this sitting at a computer, but if I were in Hoke's position, as soon as the game ended the first thing I would have done is go to the medical staff to discuss Morris. He can hold the damn press conference whenever he wants.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
was seen by or talked to on the sidelines by looking at the video. If it was Paul Schmidt and no one else other than coaches/players, then I'd say the procedure was not followed. Although Paul Schmidt is very experienced, he is not a doctor. The only way to be sure if Morris was concussed would be a medical evaluation by someone qualified to perform it.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
I am beginning to fear for the continuous employment of Paul Schmidt, a loyal Michigan-man who has been one of the most respected member of the trainer community for decades. Schmidt has worked with Gittleson, Barwis, and now Wellman, and seems to be respected by all of them. I hope Brandon and Hoke don't pin this whole episode on Schmidt, but the tone is certainly trending toward that direction.
Paul, if you are reading this message, please make sure you have documented footage with the team neurologist, otherwise, the resume will need to be updated quickly.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
You can't do any concussion testing when the guy's 30 yards away from you in the middle of the field. He was clearly hurt, whether or not due to a head injury, and his teammates tried to help him to the sideline. You don't leave him in for another play. If he checks out okay after the concussion testing, that's fine and all, but he should have been out of the game immediately, and he should not have been sent in the game two plays later. His safety was put in jeopardy by the lack of composure and communication on the sideline, and that is the responsibility of the head coach.
As I said below, I was a Hoke supporter until that very moment, but Morris should have been out after that hit. Frankly, he should have been out before that hit, but certainly immediately afterwards. Doing otherwise was not looking out for the health of a 19-20 year-old kid, and if he can't do that, he's not deserving of being a head football coach in college. Maybe a defensive line coach, but not a head coach.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
I would have been okay with an 8-4 record this season. Even yeterday during half-time, I was telling my wife I was disappointed for Hoke, because I didn't see how he could turn around the season, and I liked him because I thought he was good for the kids. But I don't think that way any more. Shane was clearly injured for most of the third-quarter, and then he got hit directly to the chin. I'm actually willing to believe that Hoke didn't see the hit, because I assume if he had he would have been yelling at the official to eject the kid who made that hit. But it doesn't matter -- someone on that sideline or in the booth should have seen that hit -- it was clear as day. And the excuse of "Shane wanted to stay in he loves football" is pathetic. You don't rely on someone who just got hit in the head to make the correct decision. That's what the adults who are paid all this money are supposed to do.
And putting him back in there after Gardner lost his helmet... If Bellomy doesn't have his helmet nearby (and why doesn't he now that Shane's out), call a timeout. You have two, and you're down by 23 in the fourth quarter.
That was the last straw for me. I could handle a couple years of a mediocre record given the lack of 4th and 5th year players and the good recruiting, as well as the cost of transition, because I believed that Hoke was good for the players. I don't anymore. It makes me sad, but he should not be on the sidelines next week.
Mind you, I really don't think Nuss should be either, unless Hoke actually made the call to keep Morris in there as long as he did over Nuss' objections. With all we know of concussions, you don't leave someone in the game who's just taken a hit like that, regardless of position, especially when he's slow to get up and his teammates on the field are calling to the sideline for his replacement. That's Nuss' job too as OC and QB coach.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
If the rumored argument between Nussmeier and Hoke is true, I wonder if the Morris situation had something to do with it.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
"Never assume malice when stupidity will suffice."
This quote sums up how I subtly disagree with this article. I understand Hallett's rage at the situation. I also agree with his conclusion that Hoke needs to go because of this. But I disagree that Hoke's actions are best described by the adjectives Hallett chooses:
"Disgusting. Reprehensible. Despicable. Atrocious. Disturbing."
Instead, I think these should be substituted:
Careless. Feckless. Negliglent. Inappropriate. Unacceptable.
I think Hoke is over his head. I think the pressure has gotten to him. It's hard to blame him for that, but pressure is part of coaching at the University of Michigan. In that pressure, I think he made a mistake. I think he was panicking about a million separate things and when he looked up, he saw his concussed quarterback taking a snap.
"A mistake" is not an excuse, but it is an explanation. It's just that in making that mistake, he has proven to me that he is not the right man for the job. His oversight placed a kid's brain in danger. That's all I need to see.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
Hoke isn't evil. He's just a total moron.
He still needs to be fired ASAP.