The Beilein method: Recipe for a turnaround that doesn't involve a HC carousel
I've been trying to identify, specifically, what the problems are for our football team. I'm worried that without a HC slam dunk hire, Michigan's version of Saban (who I maintain is not Jim but John Harbaugh), we will be destined to mediocrity if we get into a perpetual coaching carousel where no coach is able effectively to undo the "problems" left by the former coach. We shouldn't let emotions of bad losses get in the way of the statistics that suggest that coaching changes are inefficient.
And my conclusion is to fire Brandon, Jackson, Ferrigno, and possibly Wellman. Funk, a zone specialist, has seen improvement in his unit (particularly on the experienced inside line, which is also an area of specialty for Funk); Heck has seen improvements in his unit.
- Firing Brandon will take his meddling "branding" strategies of M football out of the equation. Hoke and Nuss will then be free to run what they needs to run in order to win, in the way that Hoke did at Ball State and SDSU, and the way that Nuss did at Bama.
- Jackson's recent running back coaching record has been well documented as questionable at best and bad at worst. Probably better for Hoke to ask Jackson to resign.
- Ferrigno coaches special teams and tight ends, both places with many things to gripe about. We seem have no tight ends that seem to have effective blocking capabilities other than Jake Butt, and our special teams consistently disappoint. Hagerup may be a good punter, but he has looked lousy for his preseason hype.
- Wellman is a little trickier, because it seems like the strength and conditioning of the linemen on defense has been effective enough to get consistent push. But the OL is too small and weak; we're plagued with injuries and have been for the duration of Hoke's tenure, and those are both resultant of bad strength and conditioning.
As the offense ages, new coaches, hopefully drawn to Michigan from places like the NFL, will filter in and improve each unit. Hoke could have a Beilein-esque turnaround. We also need some serious morale boosting. The team is looking defeated, dispirited, and disparate.
I think emotional calls to fire Hoke at this point are just as misguided as emotional calls to bench Gardner. Sure, he seems like he's not putting us in the best position to win, and the results haven't pretty, but the alternative of living in constant transition is uglier, and there are some definite plusses to having him. I reiterate: Without a slam dunk hire, there's no guarantee of upward momentum. And even then, there's no guarantee. Hoke should have one more year before he gets fired. Nuss and Mattison probably go if Hoke goes. I recall reading that the fifth year is the real test year for any new coach.
I also thought Borges should've had one more year. And by the look of it so far, maybe he should have. I think with Borges we're 4-1 right now, with 2 ugly wins against Minny and Utah and a loss to ND. The difference with Borges is that our OL and QB growth would've remained stunted. I think with Nuss, growth in both is just far more plausible.
Facing the facts, we're a hard fanbase to please, and the simple truth of it is that this team shows progress in some areas and regression in others. I'd rather build program stability right now than win right now. We need to set our future teams up for success. Maybe that comes with a new HC, but I don't think it does if a new HC comes right now.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
Keep Funk?!?!?!
Whoever the new coach is should keep whoever he wants, even if that is no one.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
Dude left player in the game after an obvious concussion. Then took him out--and put him BACK into the game a few moment later.
Can't have that.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
Last year Gardner had the game of his life with a broken foot, and no one questioned Hoke for that. Why? Because the guy played well. Denard was also questionably-possibly-concussed on multiple occasions, under both Hoke and RR. We're scapegoating now.
What I saw was that Morris wanted to stay in. Should have/shouldn't have is it's own question. Hoke takes him out if he wants to come out. Shane needs to know when not to be the hero; Hoke needs to know when to enforce that Shane should not be a hero; and while a weird and grotesque moment in yesterday's game, I'm less interested in it as a reason to fire Hoke than as a reason to reexamine a coaching philosophy that has always seemed centered around heroes (Denard, Devin, Funch, etc.).
September 28th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
Please go ahead and name specific instances where Denard was left in the game with a possible concussion. I fucking dare you.
A broken foot is not a concussion.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
Look, I'm not somehow trying to minimize the significance of a concussion.
I was not in any way pleased with the handling of that outfit, but I also saw Morris waive off the possibility of being seen by trainers. And I am not seeing the clear-as-day evidence that everyone else is seeing of a concussion. The confounding variable was the leg, which was also hurting him and had been all game. I wanted him taken out for that long before the targeting hit.
This is not to say it was handled well, and as I indicated above, I don't really think that it was, but I'd trust the guts of trainers, coaches, people trained to spot symptoms of concussions who are up close and in person before I'd trust the guts of a bunch of people who watched something on TV and felt sure about something that happened.
As a coach, what do you do to a player who waives examination? Do you force him to come off the field? Burn a timeout to get him off the field? Or do you trust that player and hope that the player's gut is gonna give you the best chance to win?
Hoke chose the latter; although almost certainly the wrong decision in this case, I don't think it's as clear-cut a decision as we're making it out to be.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
what do you do to a player who waives examination? Do you force him to come off the field? Burn a timeout to get him off the field?YES!
Or do you trust that player and hope that the player's gut is gonna give you the best chance to win?NO! This isn't even debatable! What the fuck is wrong with you?
September 28th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
I did say that Hoke made the wrong choice, didn't I?
September 28th, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
Acting as if this was anything approaching a difficult decision is reprehensible. There's a reason the staff takes an injured player's helmet. Unless they literally can't stand, players have no fucking clue how hurt they are. As a coach, you put the health of your players at the top of your priority list. End of discussion.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^
I have never tried to "excuse shit."
In essence, I just maintained the position that the decisions made were not tantamount to firing in the way that other people have suggested.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
That's fair enough. I'll state it unequivocally: Morris should've been taken out long before the targeting hit, and definitely after the targeting hit, too. There were many problems involved in the decision to leave him in, and it should make us angry and disgusted. It makes me angry and disgusted.
But if people on this forum believe that their vantage points in their living rooms and their expertise are superior to the vantage points and expertise on the sideline, then I think that they're completely foolish. I do not, with the information I currently have as an outsider to the football program, see it as tantamount to a firable offense.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^
But if people on this forum believe that their vantage points in their living rooms and their expertise are superior to the vantage points and expertise on the sidelineYou have this completely backwards. If we noticed it in our living rooms, then that means it's REALLY GODDAMN OBVIOUS on the sideline. You somehow think it goes the other way. You're just plain wrong. Notice how you didn't meet my dare above, likely because at some level, you know you're wrong.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
Hell, if I'm wrong about Denard, doesn't that do more to go against the narrative that Hoke "doesn't give a damn about his player's health"? Has Hoke ever had a broad reputation to keep players in through really bad and obvious injuries?
So, fine, I may have been wrong about Denard. I think I was mentally conflating different events in the past few years.
But suggesting that the experts on the sideline wouldn't have seen concussed symptoms or wouldn't have reported them to Hoke or that Hoke would've ignored those reports seems silly.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
If you don't think that a head coach should be fired for neglecting a kid's safety, you are insane. You don't think 1 coach saw what happened on that play where Shane got absolutely rocked? Furthermore, you don't think 1 coach saw the replay on one of the two big screens in the stadium?
Even if, somehow, NO ONE on the coaching staff saw either of those, you see your quarterback FALLING into a lineman. A lineman is holding your quarterback up with two hands, and you want to keep him in the game because that player is waving you off? Your argument is beyond wrong. I'd fire you from ever posting again if I could.
1. Protect your player's safety.
2. Win
Brady Hoke hasn't been doing 2 very well, so maybe fire him at the end of the year. Once you start failing 1, gtfo because it goes beyond football and more about what kind of man you are. I don't want that kind of man in control of the player's safety.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
When has Hoke ever had an overarching reputation for keeping seriously injured players in to the detriment of those players?
Maybe he played Funchess once or twice when he shouldn't have. Probably Gardner should have sat OSU.
But overall, the reputation this staff has with injuries in the Hoke tenure has been to be exceedingly cautious. I recall multiple press conferences when Hoke used to discuss injuries where he'd say that a player had been cleared by the doctors, but they were gonna keep holding him out to make sure he'd be 100%.
One begins to wonder if it is indeed the fact that we as fans put too much pressure on Hoke to do #2 that causes him to be less sensitive to #1.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
Hoke has been very, very clear that he doesn't give a shit about what the fans think.
And now you're blaming me and everyone else here for yesterday's debacle. Take five and then ban yourself.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
A foot or leg injury (Funchess, Gardner) is one thing, a possible concussion is an ENTIRELY different thing. Has anyone ever died from a leg injury? You can put a player in with a leg injury and they can get further injured, but you're not putting their life at risk.When you don't take out someone with even the slightest symptoms of head injury, you're risking that player's life.
I don't care about how careful they have been in the past...Hoke wasn't careful in the present moment of the game. Of course during a week of practice you're going to check with doctors, that's the most basic coaching anyone can do. He was not "cleared" after finally being taken out on the sideline. His helmet wasn't taken off, he was just standing there next to the trainer talking to him.
Who gives a shit what the fans put pressure on the coach to do? The coach should know that #1 shouldn't even have to be said!!! That's something Hoke USES in recruiting!!! The family environment and the love he has for his players. Excuse us fans for not reminding him every week "Hey Brady, make sure you protect your players, and then maybe win the game."
September 28th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
have you ever been super close to someone with a concussion? When ever I have been around them, the signs are super obvious. They honestly look like they are lost and confused. Typically, with the concussions I have seen, the eyes become a lot more active.
That being said, Shane walked right past Hoke on his way off the field, and he was clearly limpimg.Hoke said in the post game that he didnt know Shane was hurt. Either Hoke is lying to us and he thinks he is smarter than us or he honestly didnt realize his starting quarterback was that hurt and he wasnt paying attention. Personally, I think its a little bit of both. Either way, Lies which are wrecking the NFL or he isnt paying attention. Either way, I want no part of it.
edited: wrong person replied to
September 28th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
I appreciate your more measured and thoughtful responses.
I won't defend Hoke's postgame comments, and I won't defend the idea that Hoke is always as with it as we'd like him to be. I don't disagree with you on your finer points. We only disagree in broader conclusion, it seems.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
I think you're going to have a hard time finding anyone who agrees with you that the face of this football program, with the events that transpired yesterday, should not go. I'm not going to curse you out or anything, but how can you really believe that Brady Hoke shouldn't be fired for his actions during the game, as well as his comments after the game? I honestly don't understand how you can disagree.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
Because I think that if we had won the game, all of this would be an after-thought. A moment of, "Huh, that was weird, wasn't it?" instead of a firable offense. Because we lost, we're eager to find reasons why Hoke sucks and needs to be fired.
If Hoke were to go undefeated the rest of the season (improbable), 75% of us would forget about the shit that went down yesterday. Yeah, you'd have 25% cling to hating Hoke because he made the wrong call for a player's safety, and obviously, there's no way that we go undefeated the rest of the season, but I'm just trying to inject a little bit of "correction for context" into this meltdown. That's all.
For that reason, my original post is more about what the staff can do to try and effect an ultimate turnaround, and less about Morris. That was brought up solely in the comments.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:53 PM ^
We're not all terrible people. We're not even mostly terrible people. You're wrong and this "holier-than-thou" bullshit is supremely obnoxious.
September 28th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
> this "holier-than-thou" bullshit is supremely obnoxious.
> We're not all terrible people. We're not even mostly terrible people. You're wrong
I won't be responding to any more of your comments.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
It woudn't matter anyway, because the criticisms aren't inaccurate or fabricated out of emotional nonsense.
September 28th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^
no its a fireable offense. You gotta realize that this is going to have a trickledown effect if he is kept at HC.
1. Parents and Recruits are not going to want to come here with such a blatent disregard to player safety. I am going to look and see if I can find the statistics for helmet to helmet shots and concussions. Youre not looking out for my kid's well being, even though you preach a family atmosphere.
2. Hoke fibbed to us during his press conference because he thinks he is the smartest man in the room. If he is fibbing to us about not knowing Shane is hurt, what else is he going to exagerate the truth? Remember, this is the man that all but covered up the Gibbon's fiasco (to me he should have been gone after that)
September 28th, 2014 at 6:35 PM ^
Via #1, you might be right to argue that it would be in our best interests to fire Hoke.
But everyone else is arguing from some kind of feigned moral authority with limited information. I don't consider that to be worthwhile.
September 28th, 2014 at 6:24 PM ^
Then you are the only person I want coaching this team less than Hoke.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
I never thought I would use this quote from the office, but here we go...
Michael: Doctor, what is more serious, a head injury or a foot injury?
Doctor: A head injury.
Michael: Well, you don't have all the information. The foot as been fairly severely burned and healed quickly, very quickly, actually like suspiciously quickly.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
is probably my favorite episode.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
I wish to add to this comment to reflect that I am not defending the handling of this situation. I simply don't see it as tantamount to a firing in the same way that others see it. I don't believe Hoke+staff had evidence that his player may have had a concussion; I don't think we have enough evidence to do anything but speculate on that either. I wanted Morris out when his leg/ankle steadily became more of a bother.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
Except Hoke isn't half the coach Beilein is. He looks in way over his head at this point. Before yesterday I was fine with retaining him until the end of the year, but watching Shane Morris wobble around made me sick to my stomach.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
He is the problem. There is no curing that. He needs to go as does his entire staff. So does Brandon and his staff.
What also needs to happen is for the factions to stop the infighting. A big house divided cannot succeed.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^
The O-line isn't small. There was a whole diary about this: http://mgoblog.com/diaries/b1g-offensive-line-sizes
The coaches aren't doing a great job of preparing them and no, youth is not a factor anymore. There are plenty of schools out there with brand new o-lines who are doing fine and buying time for their QBs. The o-line is improving, but I think they're improving more from experience and not being rotated around like crazy, not from actual coaching. This was a huge problem last year and is still and issue. Funk should have fired along with Borges last year.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
I saw that diary; the problem for me is that our offensive style is emulating more of a Wisconsin style of play than of any other unit on that list. Without closer-to Wisco sized OL, we may not be able to succeed with that style of offense.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
apparently
September 28th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
You can't compare Hoke to Beilein. Beilein (as TV announcers helpfully remind us every game) has never been an assistant - he's spent 35 years being the face of whatever program he's coached and figuring things out himself. His offense is his own invention. He needed some help with recruiting and developing player fundamentals, and found it in his choice of assistants, but it's still pretty clearly his program and his system.
Brady OTOH is basically a guy who needs other people to coach for him to overcome his own shortcomings. Aside from coaching the defensive line, and recruiting, what he brings to the table is limited. He's not going to have a Beilein epiphany because he just isn't a Beilein. Not to mention that he's now becoming radioactive in the media over the Morris thing.
Coaching changes suck, but eventually you find the right guy. Alabama, Oklahoma, ND and MSU did. We can too.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
I appreciate the effort at a reasonable argument to keep Hoke, even if I think the only defense people keep bringing up is fear. Fear of what will happen if we make a change, but I am sorry, things can't get worse, we are staring down the barrel of 2 and 10.
As for your points, Hoke had his chance to clean house after year 3. He got rid of Borges but didn't go far enough, I don't believe he deserves the chance to fire more people and blame them for the problems. He kept Funk, he kept Jackson and we are seeing the consequences. He no longer deserves the benefit of any doubt, no Michigan offense should ever be this inept.
Finally Beilein had a significant track record of success at every level he had ever coached at, so he deserved the benefit of the doubt. I was willing to blind myself to Hoke's track record upon being hired because I wanted him to succeed, but he doesn't have the track record to inspire faith he can turn anything around.
Year two under Hoke, an 8 and 4 record, is the best we can hope for as long as Hoke is the head coach here, and that just isn't good enough for me.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
Fire Hoke, keep Hoke, it really wouldn't matter. He doesn't do anything anyway. He's like Joe Paterno was in his last decade of coaching, except without the headset.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
And you know, that whole track record of success at the school
September 28th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
If our head coach isn't doing anything and everyone else's is, wouldn't that put our program at a strategic disadvantage against our opposition?
September 28th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
unless of course you have a schematic advantage in which case you can afford a clueless coach
September 28th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
Maybe he can coach from the box?
September 28th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
Hoke is not Beilein.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^
Comparing Hoke to Beilein is a god damn disgrace.
Yes Beilein had a bad season in 2010 but it was not anywhere near this bad.