A Brady Hoke supporter
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/brady-hoke-not-jim-harba…
January 7th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^
he'll probably tell them that he'll give them "a decided schematic advantage."
Pete Carroll also had 3 seasons as a DC, and one as an OC before the NFL. Maybe not that enormous of a difference but who knows? You seem to be fixated on the Raiders, but NFL success doesn't automatically = college success.
I actually agree with the positives you'd laid out for Gruden . . . i just don't think it outweighs that lack of college experience, which what little there is, is over 20 years old.
I sort of like the idea of Gruden at least being a bold choice (on the opposite side of the spectrum from Hoke) just not necessarily the best one.
Brandon looks like he's ready to pull Michigan back into it's shell however, so we can all look forward to some disappointment.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
Very little. He was the WR coach at Pitt for a year and had similar positions at smaller schools before that.
But the guy can coach. He coached 11 y ears in the NFL and went to the playoffs 5 times, winning the Super Bowl once. 8 of those 11 seasons he was .500 or better, which is a big deal in the NFL, especially since he wasn't at perennially strong teams (the Bucs and the Raiders). He also wasn't a coach who had the benefit of a star player leading him to success like a Manning, Brady, Tomlinson, etc.
He's young, firy, and has a SB ring as a HC. He's been on MNF so everyone knows who he is. He would be great.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
Are you from Toledo too?
January 7th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
I'm new to board - what does Toledo have to do with this post?
January 7th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
Gruden is from Sandusky...
January 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
The guy owns the local 31 Flavors, am I right?
January 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
but i wish...
January 7th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
He's been putting down payments down on lots of houses since he left the Bucs.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
Yes, please be true. That would be an A+ hire, no doubt about it.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
So, in the two days of our coaching search, Gruden, who is in AZ, managed to get an offer, accept it, find a house in A2 and put a down payment on it. Air tight--it's about time we got some solid leads. Welcome aboard Coach Gruden.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
that Les Miles bought three years ago?
January 7th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
I'm sorry.
We heard the exact same rumor with Miles....
and he wasn't even offered the job.....
January 7th, 2011 at 1:34 PM ^
I could be jumping the Gun and it could always be hear say. That's just how these coaching searches go, but it's welcome news if it were to be true as far as I am concerned.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
I get it. We're in this together and you're just a messenger.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
It just goes to tell you how desperate I am following this coaching situation... Your post has me all up in arms with excitement knowing that it probably isn't true. So for the sake of my sanity, try and legitimize this rumor for us because he was easily my second dream choice after Harbaugh. His recruiting ability will be unmatched. Plus he has studied the spread at Oregon and Florida for the past three years. Please let this be true. Shed some light...
January 7th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
"I have info that Les Miles will be named head coach tommorow and that Bo Pelini will slide down south to take the LSU job per Pelinis Agent. My dads friend has someone in the AD at michigan and he got the information directly from Pelinis agent.. FWIW"
my heads going to explode.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^
Yeah. Gruden would have already had time for house-shopping in AA.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^
I just find this impossible to believe. A couple of years ago this same sort of report was sent out through the rumor mill about Bill Cowher coming to Cleveland. I consider this false hope. Not bashing you but I just can't see Gruden comiing to A2. The dude has a Superbowl ring and is well sought after in the NFL world. Why would he take a step back to coach a floundering college program?
Don't get me wrong, if this happens we will have the college football world up in arms and biting their nails more often then LeBron, but I just find this extremely difficult to believe seeing as how there has been no mention of it ANYWHERE but here. This is something Schefter or Mortenson would be going nuts with.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
that Whitlock, a Ball State alum, is a fan of Hoke.
I don't wanna kiss Brian's ass too much, but he put it perfectly when he was on the radio yesterday: if Brady Hoke wasn't a former M assistant, his name never would have even come up.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^
I'm not sure that's an entirely fair argument, though. Because the guy coached at M, M would have unique insight into the guy's abilities; other schools don't have any practical experience with Hoke. I'm agnostic on Hoke. But I do think it's quite possible that M knows something that others do not.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^
I don't know jacksquat about Hoke, but the reality is that's the case for everyone on this board in all likelihood. Including Brian.
The fact that he spent 7 years at UM is incredibly relevant, he was the Associate HC and that's how we hired our HC for 30+ years. It couldn't be more relevant that he spent 7 years here coaching our football team. How much head coaching experience did Carr have before taking over the ship?
I agree with Brian about most things, I don't agree at all about his anti-Hoke rampage. The fact that he spent 7 years here and apparently did a damn good job given his standing with ex players and the AD is beyond relevant. You could argue it's more relevant than his HC experience when it comes to this search.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
Whitlock (who once wrote for the now-defunct Ann Arbor News, in case ya didn't know) is this one...and perhaps only.... Ball State homer. I occasionally read his stuff (I still question why I put myself through it), and I usually leave his stuff pissed off.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^
Where he eviscerates the BSU Prez & AD.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
I agree with whitlock
January 7th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
Let's see if he loves Michigan when he gets booed at the first basketball game after he is hypothetically introduced.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
Let's see his reaction when I run onto the court and stab Dave Brandon for hiring him.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
I LOL'ed for real.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
the funniest post of a pretty funny week. AsAlways, GoodStuff PurpleStuff
January 7th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
Damn, dude.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
Afterwards I would turn to Hoke, shake his hand and wish him good luck, then wonder out loud if they get the Big Ten Network in prison as the cops escort me out of Crisler Arena.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
If this happens I will stand by what I told my wife the other day and another poster echoed yesterday: "If DB hires BH as the next UM coach, he needs to go the fu*k back to dominos...and not as the CEO either...as a delivery boy".
I have questioned his ability to be a good AD openly on this blog since he was hired. I got all the "have faith in DB" and "DB is the best, we love DB" posts in return. This would be all that it would take to solidfy my opinion of DB.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
Purple is winning the "most adversely affected by the coaching search" award.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
Started to sell me up until:
If Michigan would love Hoke with half the passion Hoke loves Michigan, beating Ohio State and returning to the top of the Big Ten wouldn’t take more than three seasons.Sorry, 3 years... I'm not willing to wait that long anymore, especially considering how we sent RR off. I can't take another re-building considering we were just putting the finishing touches offensively.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^
Exactly. We can't have more rebuilding at this point. We need offensive continuity to ease the transition and be competative quickly. The program can't handle three more years of re-building in my opinion.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
Totally disagree. Fitting a coach to present personnel might be a consideration, but I am guessing it is way down the list, something that would be nice but is not an objective. We won't be competitive, at leat not at any level that matters for much, until we've rebuilt the defense. There's no way DB is thinging, Gee we're a spread school now, better get a spread coach.
However, I'm guessing coaching adaptiveness, otoh, will be a bigger consideration.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
But, this team is in a better situation than it was in 2008. It shouldn't take 3 years to have "completely rebuilt" anything. Sure there were some talent gaps (e.g. Rogers in the secondary) but I also believe the Defense will be better going forward, and that's directly related to experience, size, confidence etc.
No matter who the coach is, by the way, I hope we keep the play where the QB fakes the run, drawing the safety into the box, and then hitting a wide open Receiver for a big gain.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:07 PM ^
Didn't Brandon say that he would go after a defensive minded coach? If so, then I would bet that the offensive coordinator hire would be a big topic of discussion.
That way it could be more of a short term situation that could be phased out than the HC hire.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
January 7th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
My take is that the three years was a comparison to RR. Not how long it would take him to right the ship.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
I could be a Brady Hoke supporter. For me it comes down to the coaching staff he builds. If Loeffler is his QB coach and Trgovac is his DC I could handle it.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
Did Hoke actually turn down Indiana and Minnesota? Or the other way around?
January 7th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
probably a little of both.....
Hoke: I need a Michigan buy out clause.
Indy/Minn: F.U.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
he turned them down because he thought taking a HC job in the B1G Ten with any team other than Michigan would ruin the chance of him ever getting his DREAM JOB.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^
I respect Whitlock a lot. I am not on board yet by any means, but this is the first time I have bene able to picture Hoke as our coach without throwing up in my mouth.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
He's 47-50 in 8 seasons as a head coach. He took over a Ball State team that went 6-6 the previous year, and proceeded to go 4-8, 2-9, 4-7, 5-7, and 7-6 in his first 5 seasons before breaking out in the 2008 season that everyone keeps referencing as the main point in his favor.
He then left for SDSU and went 4-8 in his first year. He went 9-4 this year, but his two "big" wins are over admittedly decent Air Force and Navy teams. His other wins were over Nicholls State, 2-10 New Mexico State, 4-8 Utah State, 1-11 New Mexico, 3-9 Wyoming, 3-9 Colorado State, and 2-10 UNLV. According to Sagarin, SDSU's strength of schedule last year was 91st in the country, despite having TCU, Utah, Air Force, and Missouri on the schedule.
He recently stated that he hates spread offenses because they are "basketball on grass" and took shots at the Oregon offense.
He is, like, maybe a legit candidate at Minnesota.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:15 PM ^
This is undoubtedly the best post I've seen by a Hoke opponent. Well said, sir.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
hoke may not be everyones first choice but at this point looks like the only guy that we can get. i just want to know what every one will think when he brings his team to the big house on september 24th and kicks the crap out of us.
January 7th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
I'm prepared to take.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^
I can't wait to see his face when Denard breaks the first tackle and takes it to the house. (God (if there is such a higher being), please let Denard play quarterback for Michigan next year.)
January 7th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
Amen.