Cook on WTKA now
January 13th, 2011 at 1:13 PM ^
You can blame RR for the defense being schematically poor but you can't blame his recruiting. His first recruiting class just finished their true soph season and those guys should only be getting their feet wet.
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<br>Guys like Jake Ryan, Josh Furman and Marvin Robinson are going to end up being impact players in time.
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<br>The lack of talent on D was 99% the result of poor recruiting by Lloyd, coaching change attrition, bad decisions by guys like Warren/Cissoko, and bad luck.
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January 13th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
At some point we all need to get off the "but they didn't treat RR this way!" meme, because it doesn't matter anymore.
Rich Rodriguez is gone. We can't change the past. Brian's going to need to get over it, and we're going to have to allow Brady Hoke to be Brady Hoke without throwing all the garbage and baggage and snark of the past three years in his lap.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
I agree, but like I said, it takes time. And you cannot force the "grieving" process. So people just need to calm the f-ck down are let people foster support in their own way. Maybe Brian didn't come off well, but he speaks for a great many of us in expressing his concerns.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^
Hoke is a good recruiter. He recruited well at Ball State and at SDSU.
Now that he is at an elite school, with a storied history, a massive fanbase and boatloads of funding to all back him up, I bet he will be one hell of a recruiter.
He has ties to SoCal, which is a hotbed for recruting. If he keeps Fred Jackson, that'll be a FL pipeline. I want to see him do some better Michigan & OSU recruiting, pull the rug out from under MSU and tOSU.
The potential is there for us to be a top recruiting program every year. Granted the key is to get the wins to attract top talent...
January 13th, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^
By the way, I'd like to ditch "All In for Michigan." We're in a new time, with a new coach, and a new attitude. Any suggestions?
January 13th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
You should definitely start a new thread for this topic. I'm not sure folks will find it here.
January 13th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
it has a useful double entendre that probably captures all of us in one way or another today
/s
January 13th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^
At this point I am going to try to hold back any judgement and give Hoke some time to build his staff etc. What I will say about recruiting under RR is that he seemed to go after a lot of guys that were borderline as far as academics. I don't pretend to know how recruiting works but it seems like someone would be checking into the grades of these kids earlier in the process. That fact that some of these higher rated recruits never qualified academically really hurt the team, particularly the defense. I bet these players would have been able to qualify at WVU. I am trying to avoid using the term "Michigan Man" but Hoke's previous experience at Michigan will probably help him in the recruiting process. I doubt Hoke will spend time recruiting kids that have a tremendous upside but in all likelihood will not qualify academically.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
"The Team, The Team, The Team" - That is our slogan from now on. It's all about winning the B1G now, peeps.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^
I'm only half way through it I don't really see all that much negativity. He's unhappy but not Whiney.
EDIT: Ok I'm at the "Shoe" caller and What I got is Brian thinks M is going back to the "Bo" era as far as winning bowl games and getting ripped by in the "Rose Bowl".
Plus about USC and Alabama out recruiting M goes???? USC just got busted and ALA get an extra class every 4 years. This I disagree with Brian, but again I think he'll re-examine this when he's not on the spot on radio.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
I'll take getting ripped in the Rose Bowl over, well, getting ripped in the Gator Bowl.
And, let's face it, no Big 10 team has done consistently well in the Rose Bowl.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^
I think some of the critcism toward Brian in this thread by some is a little harsh, we all have our "Opinions" one way or another, so to insult each other really doesn't accomplish much of anything. Brian was a Rich Rod supporter, he has his reasons, and I respect those reasons, at first I was a Rich Rod supporter but as his tenure went on and the Defense, Special Teams, etc. sucked, I had a hard time supporting his same lame duck excuses. Now as far as Hoke goes, at first I was a little disappointed in the hire, I too had my hopes up for Harbaugh. But the more I hear from Hoke and others around him whether media driven or not I like the guy. He looks like a football player, he LOVES Michigan, and depending on the rest of his hires I hope this is a turning point for Michigan Football History. I will support him because I too LOVE Michigan Football, if he loses like Rich Rod does, I'm sure he will endure the same criticism regardless of the fact that he is a "Michigan Man". I'm happy to see all the former players speaking about Michigan again, instead of hearing them call out their High School on Monday night football instead of the University of Michigan. My point is respect each other's opinion's even if you disagree with their statements, at the end of the day we all want what is best for Michigan Football. Go Blue....Good Luck Hoke.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:03 AM ^
To all the people talking about Rich Rod having a one way ticket bought for him before he ever coached a game, I don't disagree with you. However, does anyone really think Rich Rod gets fired if the last 3 games went ANY differently than they did?
The team mentally crumbled in all respects, went back to 2008 where we fumbled everything and couldn't hold onto anything, special teams was bad, the defense continued to execute poorly. We were willing to accept 3-9, 5-7, and either 8-5 or a more competitive 7-6 , and I don't think it was going to be so tough to bring Rodriguez back.
The environment was toxic for Rod, he was an outsider, etc etc, I am not taking away from those statements because they have some validity, but ultimately him getting 'run out of town', was it about anything more than the embarrassing end to the season showing that we really hadn't made any progress under him?
January 13th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
What you describe was a frequent occurence with RR's teams, as well. There were many games where the wings simply fell off the plane (Illinois 2009 is a good example).
Sustaining motivation (and other aspects of psychological performance), over the long-term, is the coach's responsibility ... same as any leadership role in any organization. Not that every game will be 100%, but complete disasters occurring with such regularity is indicative of a fundemantal problem in leadership.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
Man - I'm listening to these pod casts (WTKA doesn't make it to Texas without the Interwebs)... what's with the Brian Hate? Is it always like this? One caller put him with Drew Sharp.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
January 13th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
I was an ardent RR supporter, A fourth year would have been nice.I was underwhelmed by the Hoke hire. Massively irritated by the way the coach search was done. Now that Hoke is here, i will give him the support that i believe every coach deserves, however I have my grievances.I think that my conceptualization is similar to Brian's, this incestuous love affair was something that Brandon said was not important, and then promptly went out and got his first cousin pregnant. That " Michigan Man" meme may never die now. Then DB killed this recruiting class, which to me is the bigger sin. He has handicapped Hoke, this in turn I believe is the biggest fear that individuals such as myself have. What happens if Hoke doesnt make a new years day bowl next year. Everyone will be clamoring for his head. how will that affect the 2012 recruiting class.Worrying about the OC is important. The Media said that RR did not adjust his schemes.Will Borges adjust his to fit the talent currently on this one? Those of us that believe RR was treated unfairly are stunned by the way this hire has been viewed. Perhaps if the good ol boys club had reached out to the last coach we had, then we would have been in better shape. I have heard it said, that the NCAA investigation wasn't a freep hit job, but rather someone from inside the Alum/booster circle handed them that story. I believe we have the right to express our anger over this.
More importantly than anything else, if the offense is not tailored to the talent on the roster, then we indeed have doom. 7 wins this year with and improved offense should be 9 wins in 2011. That is where the expectation level is, and if the team wins less than that then it is a failure, and the higher ups will start to question the hire, then the factions wil again appear, and then there wil be another messy divorce, and we wil be Notre Dame. That is what Brian is most upset about, he doesnt want to be the irish. This was supposed to be the splash hire. If Hoke doesnt turn out then we wil indeed be The south bend crowd.Brian and others like me just don't want us to be Notre dame. People wanted LLOyd out beacause he couldn't win the big game, everyone got tired of going 8-4. the factions wanted rose bowl wins. The factions wanted someone else. Well now the factions got us into this . Maybe Brian is being that crazy guy with the end is nye sign, or perhaps Brian is that guy that builds the ark before the floods come.Who knows. But if Brian is selling ticket for his ark, i will hedge my bets and by a seat. Because if the factions arise again, i would rather float on a boat, than swim all the way to south bend.
edit: Hoke just stated he would tailor his offense to the talent we have. I am still tracking the price for those ark tickets, but im also planning on good weather.
January 13th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^
I still think the banner should be taken down.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:35 PM ^
Dammit!
January 13th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
"Emo Hour with Brian Cook"
January 13th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
Did anybody catch Mike Taylor's call? He blistered Dave Brandon and his process pretty bad. Wow.
January 13th, 2011 at 1:52 PM ^
I agree with Brian here and I don't think he is whining about anything. He is merely pointing out facts regarding the changing college football landscape and the inherent disadvantages at Michigan. People miss the point when they say USC did it with a pro style offense. He isn't saying we will never be a national power, nor is he rooting against UM. We hired a guy with moderate success at a lower level of competition, with no experience as a coordinator, who will return to running a scheme that may or may not have moderate success at the level Michigan wants to be. Not to mention the offensive coordinator he brought in has never before exhibited the ability to utilize, or even convince to stay, the best weapon in the conference. I myself will wait and see. However, I do believe Michigan is going to have a tough time getting back to a national power given the significant disadvantages in recruiting base. Also, people need to relax and not flip out when someone has a differing opinion than the one they hold.