game recaps
when can we fire this guy
devin funchess
shane morris
brady hoke doesn't want to talk about it
2014 minnesota

Minnesota 30, Michigan 14 Comment Count

Ace


Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog

“We’re not going to talk about injuries and I might as well bring that out now. And some of that is because you can say something about something and then you’re wrong. Everybody heals a little differently, and the other thing is for our kids. I want to make sure we’re doing a good job protecting them.” — Brady Hoke, 9/17/14

Regardless of how you felt about the on-field performance, what Brady Hoke did in putting an almost certainly concussed Shane Morris back on the field was reprehensible and, if you believe the first job of a head coach is to protect his own players, worthy of a firing. The fact that Hoke let Morris stay on the field as long as he did in the first place—when Morris, at one point, waved at the sideline while needing a lineman's support to stand—was awful enough; to ask Morris to re-enter that game was beyond the pale.

A national television audience just saw every reason why they shouldn't send their football players to Michigan.

An ornery crowd filtered in slowly, with the "attendance" of 102,926 such an obvious farce much of the crowd booed when it was announced. Booing, in fact, was a theme on the day. It started early, when a couple inside running plays netted little. When Minnesota entered the tunnel with a 10-7 halftime lead, the boos rained down again.

By the time Morris lost a third-quarter fumble when he simply dropped the ball in the pocket—the press box announcer flatly stated "fumble not forced by anyone on Minnesota," afterward—the student section had moved on from boos to chants of "Fire Brandon." For the uninitiated, that would be in reference to Dave Brandon, Michigan's embattled athletic director.


Fuller

The first half proved competitive, at least, if not at all interesting. Michigan punted on their first three drives, Minnesota on their opening four; provided stellar field position by the defense, the Wolverine offense tallied their first red zone trip and touchdown against a Power 5 team this season on a nifty ten-yard scamper by De'Veon Smith. The Gophers answered just two minutes later, however, with a ten-yard scoring run of their own when quarterback Mitch Leidner ran untouched around the corner off an inside run fake.

Minnesota added greatly to the fan unrest when they marched 92 yards in 2:17 to end the half with a Ryan Santoso field goal. Then the floodgates opened in the third quarter. Minnesota forced Michigan to punt from deep in their own territory, allowing the Gophers to "drive" eight yards in seven plays for another Santoso field goal, putting them up 13-10. Two plays later, Theiran Cockran tipped a Morris pass to the flat, and it fluttered right to Gopher LB De'Vondre Campbell, who brought it back 30 yards for an easy touchdown.

After the Morris fumble on the very next drive, Leidner ended a five-play drive with a little flip-pass to Maxx Williams for a one-yard score. What had been a 10-7 game just 4:32 earlier morphed into an ugly 27-7 blowout. When Morris was finally pulled, Devin Gardner entered the game and immediately engineered a touchdown drive, capping it off with a three-yard run, defiantly standing as two defenders collided with him upon entering the end zone. During that drive, Gardner lost his helmet for a play, necessitating either a timeout be called or a backup enter. While Russell Bellomy also grabbed his helmet, Morris went in.

On what would ultimately be Michigan's last drive, another woeful three-and-out (their seventh of the game) from the shadow of their own end zone, Devin Funchess also went down injured, and left the field with a noticeable limp. When the game mercifully ended shortly after Michigan punted, still technically down just two scores on the scoreboard, Funchess and his teammates limped to the locker room; Morris left the field on the back of a cart.

"I didn't see that. I can only answer for me," said Hoke, when asked if he noticed Morris looking wobbly on his feet.

If that's the best you've got, Brady, it's best if you let someone else protect the players.

Comments

Sopwith

September 27th, 2014 at 8:29 PM ^

right after Shane basically collapsed onto him when he couldn't stand.  Shane wanted to stay in.

None of that matters.  Hoke saw it.  I've always said Hoke is a good guy, but that was a disgraceful showing of contempt for the health of a helpless player.

Fuck Hoke.  I'm done with him.

Joined: 06/29/2010

MGoPoints: 61056

SteelBrad

September 27th, 2014 at 8:32 PM ^

This wasn't one instance they missed. Shane limped on and off the field multiple times and from what could be seen, was NEVER attended to.

What an absolute joke. Hoke should be fired immediately.


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Joined: 04/27/2011

MGoPoints: 4160

CoverZero

September 27th, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^

Well, I didnt care for RR as a coach at Michigan...but I never said this about him, that I am going to say about Coach Hoke:

He is a prick.  A massive douchebag liar.  Yes Brady, you only know...and care about yourself, despite the spew that comes out of your mouth.

Joined: 08/30/2014

MGoPoints: 14571

Willie Heston

September 27th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

first post in 3 years..........

 

absolutely discraceful what I heard over the radio today--seeing it in person must have been much worse.

Surely, Schlissel can go over Brandon's head  on this and can Hoke for cause.

It's not about the losses.  Hell, there was a brutal stretch in the '30s when we couldnt beat Minny (6 in a row we lost to them).  It is the blatant disregard for player utilization, development and safety.

Not ennui. 

COMPLETE. UNFETTERED. ANGAR!

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 939

Jon06

September 27th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

If Brady can't figure out who should be fired over Morris going back into the game, Brandon needs to figure out who it was, and fire them along with Brady.

Since Schlissel also needs to fire Brandon yesterday, I have a new view. Before I was with the people who thought that DB should go immediately, while Hoke should get another year with a competent, non-meddling AD. Now I think they should both go today.

It's Lloyd Carr time. Come back, Coach Carr. We need you. Lloyd Carr for interim AD. Lloyd Carr for interim head coach.

Joined: 09/19/2009

MGoPoints: 15308

Mazzy

September 27th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^

How quickly we forget... Loyd Carr was definitely good in his day, there's no denying that, BUT - Carr stayed WAY too long at the party. It was my belief back then just as it is now, that Loyd stayed about three years too long and during that time the program started to slip. A program going into a downward turn makes it a lot harder to get good recruits and even top quality new coaching prospects to replace the one leaving. I strongly feel Loyd played a role, albeit a more subtle one, in pulling down this program, by staying too long when he should have left at his height, rather than waiting for that streak to run dry and then saying "okay Michigan, good luck finding the coach that can bring this program back to what it was when I was in my prime." Have you forgotten that field goal? I sure haven't. I had already been saying a year earlier that Loyd was wearing out his welcome and then he pulled that ridiculous stunt against OSU and we lost the game because of it. I do NOT want that back in the Big House!

Joined: 09/25/2014

MGoPoints: 156

Mar

September 27th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^

So, as far as Lloyd goes, you are all high. Lloyd won 10 games in 2004 and was a pube away from winning the rose bowl against Vince young, who won the NC with basically the same team the next year. 2 years later, he was 11-0 going into the OSU game and probably would have played for the NC had crable not had a dubious late-hit penalty called on him. He retired one year later after beating the team that straddled that loss with 2 NC's. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

Joined: 11/30/2012

MGoPoints: 147

Mazzy

September 28th, 2014 at 7:14 AM ^

A friend of mine sees it just the way you do and we have gone round and round about it. I see a team as more than straight up wins and losses. As I said, there's no doubt Carr was a good coach. However, what I AM saying is he stayed too long. Those last three years, regardless of record, showed a team slowly losing it's luster and a coach that was being way too conservative during plays. Did they still win? Well yes. They had excellent talent (thanks to Loyd) and because they were such a great team anyway, it would take a lot more than a few seasons of conservative play calling from a coach who seemed to just be done with this whole coaching gig to knock UofM off it's shiny pedestal, but if you were looking closely you could see the cracks starting to dull the armor. The plays were getting stale. The playING was getting stale. The aggressive drive to fight back when we needed to was eroding the fastest of all, and it was frustrating to see. Yes, of course on paper Carr was great right up until the moment he left, but in real life, watching each week and seeing that slow but sure loss of drive and momentum in the program was, to me, plain and obvious that Carr was clearly done and should have stepped aside well before he did so that the program could have found a new coach at it's height rather than as it was sliding into what we ultimately have now. I have no doubt that some, like you, don't see it like that, but that doesn't change what I saw.

Joined: 09/25/2014

MGoPoints: 156

bjk

September 28th, 2014 at 12:37 AM ^

there's too much circumstantial evidence that Lloyd was behind pulling down the program starting with the coaching search in '07. I don't want him put in a position where he can reprise his role in first getting RR hired, and then sabotaging him.

Joined: 11/26/2009

MGoPoints: 3993

clevelandmaize

September 27th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^

I gave my tickets away yesterday becase I could no longer stomach the 2.5 hour drive to Ann Arbor, the 4 hour horror show, the hour it takes to get back to the highway from the stadium, the 2.5 hour drive home to Cleveland. If Hoke remains the coach, I will stomach it all for Penn State, so that I may voice my "boos" for Hoke.

Joined: 09/17/2014

MGoPoints: 2

SysMark

September 27th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^

Everything changed for me today.  That was absolutely stunning to watch.  I knew Hoke was stubborn but this takes it to a new level.  Gardner should have been in early in the 3rd quarter at the latest, before Morris got hurt.  After he was hurt it became inexplicable.

I would be okay with firing him now regardless of the impact on recruiting.  The only thing worse than recruits watching this would be to watch it and then see nothing done about it.

Joined: 11/15/2008

MGoPoints: 21712

Hannibal.

September 29th, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^

ABC/ESPN always does this.  Always.  The only exception is the Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman pair.  Everyone else adamantly defends bad coaches no matter how bad they are. 

I remember when Brian Ellerbe was our basketball coach and ESPN did one of our home games in his final disastrous year.  The students were openly campaigning to get Rick Pitino and the ESPN announcers were chastizing the students on air for it.  Those dipshits will always support the coach.  Always (except for the aforementioned McDonough/Spielman).

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051

robpollard

September 27th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^

I was at the game, across from the UM bench. I had my bincoulars and since the on field product was so bad, I took to watching the UM sideline during breaks in play in the 2nd half. For the most part, they all were just standing there, stone-faced, while their world collapsed on them.

Even more weird, after Morris' second turnover (i.e., before he got injured), I found him on the sideline. He was just sitting there! No coach going over plays, or reviewing technique, or even bucking him up. He was just sitting there, like a lump.

Then I went over to Garnder, who seemed relaxed and had a bemused smile on his face. I'm not suggesting, at all, that we has happy UM was losing b/c the offense was floundering so bad, but his face suggested, "Y'all thought I was the problem, huh? Look at that nonsense we've done today."

And of course, Hoke was just either clapping his hands and/over hunched over looking at the field. I'm not sure what he does.

Thank goodness I left at the end of the third quarter (where I even I, 500 feet away, could see Morris was limping after a hit). What a total debacle.

Hoke should be fired, tomorrow.  He doesn't deserve to finish it out. And Brandon should announce he will be stepping down in December, to let a new AD find a new coach.

That kind of performance can't go on without an answer from UM administrators.

Joined: 06/03/2009

MGoPoints: 13966

Jon06

September 27th, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^

For my part, I was imagining the Obi Wan Kanobe you're our only hope thing. Not being that serious. Although it'd be totally fucking awesome if LC was like, you know, I don't have a lot of time to fuck around with bullshit right now, so you, you, and you are fired, and the rest of you are going to stop failing right fucking now or I'll call you from Mott with your pink slips.

But yeah, fair point.

Joined: 09/19/2009

MGoPoints: 15308

chadborman

September 27th, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^

I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Michigan finishes the season with a 2-10 record.  This is a really bad football team.  Special teams are terrible (no FG kicker, punter hit's line drives and we can't cover punt returns); defensive secondary is a sieve and front 7 looked awful against the run today, and the offense doesn't even merit comment.  Where are the wins going to come from?  Rutgers on the road next week and Indiana at home?   I wouldn't favor Michigan in either one.  Either way, I bet Hoke will be back for a wonderful 6-6 season next year before they finally tire of him.

Joined: 04/07/2011

MGoPoints: -13

UMfan21

September 27th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^

Clearly the problem here was Shane was injured, and Hoke doesn't talk about injuries.

Hell, hoke was probably trying to determine if it was a "boo boo" or an "ouchie"

Joined: 09/28/2009

MGoPoints: 51224

BlueinLansing

September 27th, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^

Nuss was waiving for Shane to get down on the ground if he was injured, Shane refused.

 

Not having Bellamy ready to go as the backup to Gardner though is inexcusable in that situation.

Joined: 09/01/2009

MGoPoints: 23520

Bando Calrissian

September 28th, 2014 at 2:05 AM ^

In what universe does a coach tell a player to hit the ground if he's hurt? Seriously. In what universe? 

The kid got lit up by what should have been a targeting foul, helmet-to-helmet. He couldn't stand up. You do not trust a punch drunk, likely concussed kid when he's telling you he wants to be on the field. This is 2014. 

I wonder if Nuss would be committed to helping Shane Morris if the poor kid ends up with dementia when he's older because the coaching and training staff couldn't recognize obvious concussion symptoms.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68118