I'm very happy for Brady Hoke.  Clearly he wanted this job very much and I have no doubt he will put everything he has into making Michigan football successful.  I'm rooting like hell for the guy, but I am a little skeptical because he is underqualified.  However, if Brandon really thinks he's the best man for the job I'll put my faith in him. He certainly knows more than I do, and the scene at the OSU basketball game was great.  I've been wrong about pretty much everything regarding Michigan football over the last four years so who knows.  Go Blue and go Brady!

Did you all know that of the 11 players who started most of the games on the defensive side of the ball in 1997, 10 of them made an NFL roster?  And the one who didn't became a cage fighter.

I don't know that this has anything at all to do with the story here, but I had to tell somebody who might actually believe me.

...brussels sprouts, then I saw Jacques Pepin prepare them differently than I thought was possible, and now I love them.

Stop equating Hoke with Lloyd ball. He's evolved as the game has evolved while still retaining his essential Hokey-ness. Kind of like those braised brussels sprouts that are so damn yummy.

I've always loved spinach, though.

I am in an odd position where I completely agree with everything Brian writes about Hoke, but at the same time I'm excited by what Hoke says. I'm mad about everything with RR, scared about Hoke, and excited about Hoke's rhetoric. Football season needs to be here NOW.

it's easy to be sarcastic at a time like this. Maybe even bitter might not be too strong, but I do think he portrays the sense of disappointment many of us felt how everything went down. First of all, even most of the naysayers know Coach Rod needed/deserved that fourth year to finally get the ball of wax going, especially in terms of youth. Of course, after his release the 'National Search' turned out to be less national then advertised. I'm happy for Coach Hoke, I will support his program, but it's going to take some time for me to jump on the bandwagon with the huzzah I did when Coach Rod was introduced; I was 'All in' for Coach Rod and the emotional investment has left me a little worn out. Perhaps Brian feels the same way and given time will be 'All in' for Coach Hoke as well. Wins cure a lot of ills, after all.

over an opinion he expresses just because it doesn't agree with my own.

If Hoke succeeds, the brain cook will prolly grow to support the man.

If Hoke fails, the brain cook will be vindicated.

I don't think the brain cook wants Hoke to fail.

He's not wrong:

Michigan's secondary still trying to figure out which way "left, left, LEFT GODDAMN LEFT AAAARGH"

Hiring Bedford would be another shrug-your-shoulders moment. There's no reason to expect he's awesome but he's not Greg Robinson.

I'm still doubtful he's [Campbell] going to suddenly figure things out.

Brian's take on this hire and situation is spot on.  It's underwhelming, especially when juxtaposed with having Harbaugh in the driver's seat right now.  Brian has always measured his opinions by analyzing the numbers - nothing has changed here.  Brady Hoke's resumé is ho-hum at best.  The coordinators he's hired are not big splash.  The media fawning over Hoke on the merits of politically correct coaching clichés at press conferences and interviews is both predictable and nauseating, especially when compared to what Rodriguez faced.

It's not about whether RR should've been kept at this point.  Brian is simply collecting the relevant data surrounding the situation and dealing with it reasonably.  He's not supposed to be a cheerleader and never has been.

If you don't like that the numbers, relative resumés, coordinators and recent events (sans Denard staying news) are less than stellar and not big splashes, that's your problem.  Quit whining about Brian being consistent.

Something that a good number of people around here seem to be forgetting. That's a primary reason why Brian has turned down the opportunity to receive official UM press credentials—he wants absolute freedom to be as critical or as laudatory as his analysis take him. I certainly don't agree with everything he's said in the past or is saying now, but:

It's. his. fucking. blog.

Those of us who post and comment don't own the site. Brian Cook does. Those who can't stand his opinions are very free to go elsewhere. That's the beauty of the internet, at least until net neutrality is finally killed in its crib.

Here's a newsflash for all of you waiting for Brian to post pictures of Hoke riding unicorns and jumping over rainbows:  I don't know if you've noticed, but the writing on MGoBlog tends to have just a bit of an edge to it.  Let's go way back to, say, two days ago, when Brian told those who accused him of hypocrisy and negativity to "please fuck off and die"  -- but hey, at least he said "please."  If you're waiting for him to suddenly become a gushing fanboy of Hoke:  The Toughness, you might have to wait a bit longer.  Especially since we're, like, three whole days past the conclusion of a "national coaching search" and a "process" of which Brian and many others have been justly critical.  Just a hunch, but repeated calls to change the banner, tone down the sarcasm, etc., just might produce the opposite result -- nah, come to think of it, I've never seen Brian with any sort of chip on his shoulder . . .

I have always seen Brian and this blog as serving the function of "loyal dissent," which is one of the highest values imaginable for a society, let alone a college football fanbase. I think Hoke has played all the cards right in his first days, but it still all comes down to winning often and honestly. I will reserve judgment on the new regime and keep returning here as a counterweight to invitations to drink the Kool-Aid.

As pointed out this is Brian's blog so freedom of speech does not apply.

However, I give Brian a lot of credit for allowing all opinions, whether agreeing with him or criticizing him, to find a place here. Hearing many points of view is one of the reasons I enjoy this blog.

Not excited about Hoke, you say?  Where exactly did PeanutButterJellyTime get us?

nt

That the search was performed in a manner that would be expected from someone from the business world.  

You consider the politics of the organization, who this person needs support from to succeed, who could sabotage this persons success, who understands your corporate culture, etc. 

You talk to experts in the field, you do background checks, run financial optimization programs, Monte Carlo simulation,  what-if heuristics, and multi-level constraint based availability checks…

Then one day, late at night, you just say  to yourself “f*ck it – does the guy have jowls?”

http://mgoblog.com/content/jowls