Was Bo Wrong or Right?
Pulled from Bo's Lasting Lessons:
Bo Schembechler
John U. Bacon
"I remember one time we were scouting a high school player here in Michigan, but I couldn't take my eyes off of his head coach. The guy was just standing there on the sidelines , his arms folded, with no clipboard, no headset. Nothing! And he'd always stand twenty yards away from everyone else. If their opponents had the ball down by his 10-yard line -which seemed to happen a lot-he'd be standing out by the 50. His poor assistants-and why they worked for this guy is a mystery to me-had to keep running back and forth to him just to let him know what they were doing.
I couldn't believe it! Honestly, what the hell is that? Why are they paying that guy? Why does he even show up for the games? Needless to say, his team was awful-undisciplined, unfocused, uninspired. But what would you expect,with no leader?"
______
I say he was right and this is why our current Michigan team is what they are and what they will continue to be until a leader is brought to give direction to a seemingly lost program.
October 18th, 2014 at 7:27 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
Isn't that your issue with him in the first place?
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October 18th, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
The real problem isn't that he doesn't wear a headset. The REAL problem is that even if he did, he has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO ADD TO THE CONVERSATION.
October 18th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
IIRC, after Michigan lost thier opener in 1981 at Wisconsin 21-14 (yes we opened the season with a B1G road game) Woody Hayes called Bo. This was a couple years after Woody was fired so he had plenty of time to watch other games. Michigan was the pre-season #1. Woody told Bo after that game was that his team was soft. That was all.
The next week Michigan beat the new #1, Notre Dame, 25-7. I'm going to guess Bo took Woody's message to heart, and that practice that week took the softness out of the Wolverines!
I most likely read about the call in the Daily or the Freep, but I was not able to find a story about it. If anyone else from that era remembers or finds a link that would be great.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
At the end of the day, Hoke has never been a coordinator. He's never called plays. He's a position coach turned head coach. Sure, it would be nice if he wore a headset so he could be a little more plugged in (and it seems to me he's gotten to the point of not wearing one sheerly out of spite, also see "we don't talk about injuries"), but at the end of the day... He is what he is, regardless of what he's wearing on his head: a guy coaching beyond his skill set. It's not going to change with a little more information plugged in his head.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 5:16 PM ^
How many major head coaches have never been coordinators? Isn't that pretty much unheard of?
Hoke was massively unqualified for this job.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
Headset issue is a canard. No one was complaining about the headset thing when they went 11-2.
Honestly I've no idea why people focus in on this as an issue. OL and QB play have been th problem all year, headset or not.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^
Uh... People were complaining about the headset thing pretty much from the start. It was a common question in 2011, and became a glaring issue once his lack of player development became an issue and the talent on the field couldn't overcompensate for his shortcomings.
See: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/09/08/brady-hoke-explains-why-he-doesn…
Brady was explaining/defending himself about the headset thing from the first freaking game.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
please condescend to explain how wearing a headset is related to player developement.
October 18th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
Plenty of coaches who aren't successful at the college level do or did wear headsets. The headset thing is borderline irrelevant and is only an issue because the team isn't doing well, people are latching onto it because it's the most obvious thing he does differently than other coaches.
Please do explain how wearing a headset on gameday has anything to do with player development.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
People were complaining about it from the beginning because there have been situations where we were disorganized throughout his tenure.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
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October 18th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
the players view and treat Hoke as a leader and someone for whom they want to play. They see him as someone they want to win for. They are fully invested in the team which includes the coaching staff. Hoke may be a poor coach from a won loss perspective, but his players see him as a leader.
As far as I know, no one here is in that locker room. No one here plays on Michigan's 2014 football team. No one here is in the position to judge Hoke's leadership. It may be popular right now to discount opposing opinions from those people who are in a position to judge Hoke's leadership as either naive or in a position that demands they support him for political reasons, but that is what they tell us. Their opinion carries far more weight than an anonymous poster on a blog.
Yes many many of you are disgusted with Hoke and that disgust breeds ever greater charicatures of whatever behavior annoys you. Bo respected Hoke. Helped him in his career, and followed his successes and set backs. Bo stood by the man he knew and, were he alive, would do so today. Your post does a disservice to both men.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
Leadership is about getting everyone all working together to accomplish a common goal. I have seen very little leadership with this team over the last four years. Talking about being a leader is not about saying it, it is about motivation, discipline, and results.
If the definition of leadership is:
Not being aware of injured players status during a game and the days following.
Coming out totally unprepared to play against opponents.
Making the same mistakes over and over (see 10 men on the field multiple times and games this year).
Having no ability to adjust during the game to what your opponent is doing.
Not being able to string together coherent sentences about what has gone wrong with the team other than repeating the same phrases over and over.
...Then he is one hell of a leader!!!!
October 18th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
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October 18th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
I think you are mixing up "leader" and "nice guy".
I bet the players think of Hoke as a "nice guy" and like him. However, if they think he is a leader, they don't know what leadership is.
October 18th, 2014 at 7:34 PM ^
quoted here from the father of an anonymous offensive lineman is that if they block poorly on Saturday Hoke workes them much harder on Sunday. Not exactly the technique of a "nice guy" sucking up to his players. I think you view Hoke through a lens that suits your narrative.
Mattison has told us twice that Hoke is "a very tough son of a gun", and we all know what he would have substituted for "gun" had he not been in a press conference. Of course the narrative here is that he is Hoke's "friend" and therefore is blind to the "truth". I have a number of close friendships I have made over the course of 40+ years in my profession. Some are fools, and some are well worth every bit of the respect I hold for them. I don't confuse my freindship with a fair assessment of their skills, especially since my business depends on separating the two. Yet we're supposed to believe that Mattison came to coach at Michigan with his "friend" despite the fact that Hoke is an incompetent buffoon. Sorry that fails the smell test from forty miles away.
Hoke's staff thinks he's a leader, his players think he is a leader, you have no insight into the internals of what that team is enduring. I suspect that you either fail to understand leadership or have gifted yourself with divine insight.
Until you walk on water, or change it to wine, I'll bet on the coaches and players.
October 19th, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
hey Uncle Fred,
You take yourself a little too seriously.
But you keep betting on those players and coaches - they all seem to know that Hoke is just plain amazing.
As for the water to wine thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou0Jy9jmq5k
October 18th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
I prefer Hoke not use a headset. The less involvement he has in the game, the better the kids opportunity to win. I was simply amazed, watching a variety of todays games, how far we are from being even an average football team.
The sooner the pin is pulled on Hoke, the better. He has been a wonderful fan with a great vantage point for every game and has earned 4 mil a year for doing so. Go home and pay to watch the games like the rest of us Brady.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
why did brandon ban john bacon from pressroom? also no bo qoutes are allowed!
October 18th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
They quietly tolerated JUB after Three and Out, but after Fourth and Long, they decided to finally enforce (for Bacs alone, apparently) a little-known and seldom-enforced rule that to get a press pass, you must be covering Michigan Football on a daily basis or some such thing. The whole thing was completely transparent, but Bacs was surprisingly OK with it, apparently. After being banished to the Drew Sharp corner, at least they were finally being honest about not wanting him there.
October 18th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^
"Bacs"? Really?
October 18th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
Really. It's his actual nickname.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
But, who really knows. Who's he talking about? Was the observation general or specific to the situation? What was the situation? Without knowing more it's hard to say.
Why do you bring this up anyway? Uh, you know that Michigan is second in fewest penalties per game and tied for fourth in fewest penalty yardage per game?
October 18th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
The only similarity between this little story and Hoke is the headset, that's it. Whatever you think of Hoke you can't say he isn't engaged with the players during the game.
This is pretty weak.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
You mean the way he was engaged during the situation with Shane Morris? He didn't even know days later that Morris had a concussion when the entire US knew all weekend long by looking at the video.
If he was damn engaged at all he would have sought the medical staff for an assessment in the days leading up to his press conference on Monday, so that he at least appeared informed.
This guy is totally clueless before, during and after the game! For crying out loud, wake up!!!!!!
October 18th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
That sounds just as catchy as the OP but also just as misguided. Any knowledgeable professional that's commented on this has stressed that recognizing concussion symptoms is not the coach's responsibility. You can't rely on someone who's focus should be entirely on the game to stop and make a diagnosis. Whatever you think of Hoke he's engaged with the players and does not in any way resemble what the OP is comparing him to. Be critical but keep it real.
October 18th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
You're misconstruing what those experts have said. In terms of medical diagnosis, that's correct, the head coach should not make the medical decision. He should however have the wherewithal to know his player is visibly injured.
October 18th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
mis-post
October 18th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
Is it reasonable to expect the headcoach to know about a head injury two days after the game? Or is that too much to ask? Our meathead coach said he would have had Morris practice on Sunday after the game had it not been for his ankle. That's how plugged in he is with the health of his players. He didn't care enough to find out 2 days later!
October 18th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
The discussion (please see the OP) had to do with his actions on the sideline during the game. I made no comment regarding his actions in the days after that game. It's fine to disagree, just try to stay on point, or make a separate point.
I'm not defending anyone or excusing anything.
October 18th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
If he is not dialed in to an incident that happened during the game two days later, what makes you think he is dialed in during games.
There are only two logical conclusions in my mind:
a) He is not dialed in, to a level that is inconceivable, or
b) He was flat out lying
Either scenario is not good!
October 18th, 2014 at 7:44 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
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October 18th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
You could tell watching the film what the situation was, but I will bite. Let's say he didn't know during the game. Why the hell did he not seek out his medical staff prior to the Monday presser, which was two days after the incident. Instead he went out there and looked like an ass, while the national press was talking about it for almost 48 hours.
October 18th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
that he didn't seek out the medical staff prior to the presser? You have no better idea of what was transpiring during that time frame than Joe Schmuck. It is entirely possible that he sought answers and wasn't given anything of substance. Since the training / medical staff totally botched this up from start to finish, it is quite possible they were willing to allow Hoke to show his ass. After all it is Hoke that is contractually obligated to participate in pressers, not the trainers and doctors. Notice too that Brandon, without equivocation, publicly held the medical staff to blame.
October 18th, 2014 at 7:12 PM ^
How about the fact that it was deemed he was diagnosed on Sunday with a concussion and Hoke went out there on Monday and had no idea? Seriously, are you intentionally being a contrarian at this point?
October 18th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 9:54 PM ^
October 19th, 2014 at 12:49 AM ^
October 19th, 2014 at 12:55 AM ^
What the hell have you added to this discussion? Or any, for that matter.
October 18th, 2014 at 7:40 PM ^
October 18th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
The man knew how to use media and rhetoric to make every single thing he said seem like the word of God.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
It doesn't matter anymore. Hoke will obviously be gone at the end of this season. A new AD will clean house. If Brandon does the unthinkable and figures out a way to save his job, firing Hoke will be how he does it. I still would like to see how he could have done without all of the meddling by DB.
Sadly, while David Brandon should have been making sure there was a system in place to prevent medical errors, he was busy watching film and telling the coaches how to do their jobs.
He should have done his own job first.
October 18th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
There was a system in place when Shane got hit. The system failed because of edge conditions that were not allowed for. The lack of an "eye in the sky" meant that when several other sets of eyes missed the contact and Shane stood up immediately, the potential for a head trauma went unnoticed. During the analysis of the event I read that only two or three (unnamed) college programs had an "eye in the sky" in place. One can legitimately argue that Michigan probably should have had one, but it along with 110+ other programs did not. Now of course it does as will many other programs which have a case study that demonstrates the need.
Is the current system able to "prevent medical errors" 100% of the time. Of course not, it will catch more of them and specifically prevent a repeat of what happened with Shane.
Given Michigan's efforts to lead in developing concussion related injury data and guidelines, it is safe to assume that the original system was carefully thought through and designed. People, highly knowledgeable people, paid close attention, they simply didn't consider a particular set of events that could involve a player who was attempting to play through an earlier injury.
You can dump on how Michigan, and Brandon, handled communications post injury, but, unless you have an email where Brandon, over the objections of medical staff, declined a request for an "eye in the sky", dumping that system failure at his feet is basicly absurd.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
I don't want to comment about Hoke because I am not in the organization and don't really know what is going on there.
But I definitely think you need a coach to be a strong leader. Seems like the guys who win the most are really strong personalities whether they are loud or quiet. They want quality control over every assistant caoch.