Brandon - Hoke Rumors Nonsense
"Brandon said he will meet with Hoke after the season -- as he does with every head coach at Michigan -- and will discuss the season, personnel, the coaching staff and how to fix the problems that have been apparent."
FIRE AL!
November 27th, 2013 at 7:41 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:11 PM ^
The quote you copied seems like non-news - as the athletic director, I would assume one of his standard duties is to meet with coaches and go over the season and what they can do to improve. It only becomes newsworthy when one of those coaches is on the hot seat and news sites are looking for hits on possible coaching changes. This one seemed more useful to me:
"Brady Hoke is our football coach, and he's going to be our football coach into the future," Brandon told The Detroit News in a telephone interview Wednesday. "Any of that nonsense is that -- nonsense. Let me make this clear, this isn't about one football game or a couple disappointing losses. It's about building a program.
"The same guy who was national coach of the year his first year (in 2011 when Michigan went 11-2) is the same guy. So the same guy who started that process is going to finish that process, and it's Brady Hoke. I want to put a bucket of cold water on these Brady Hoke rumors, because it's so ridiculous. He will be our football coach, and I'm proud to say it."
Translation: Firing multiple coaches after only three years is a good way to end up with a program that's always in transition.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:18 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^
Although there are a rare few programs that have made an art of the idea of being always in transition and somehow winning at a reasonable pace (not a great one) with a group of players that are typically someone else's players, most fail miserably at it and there is no compelling reason to be that program. I would have thought it was a foregone conclusion that Hoke stays - indeed, there is a realizable possibility that the staff remains intact too (even if many wouldn't be thrilled with that), and that really isn't even a bad strategy for many good business reasons. That is to say, at the end of the day, I would assume that the reasons Brandon and Hoke have to maintain some continuity (recruiting and building the roster come into play here) are far more attractive that a canning rampage.
November 28th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
As much as I think Borges was awful this year, Brady Hoke should be the one to make the decision regarding the OC. Brady, who are you going to start at OC in your critical 4th and 5th years? And, Brady, you do realize that you unexpectedly used up a good deal of capital in your 3rd year.
A delegator type coach is only as good as the coordinators he can identify and attract. I hope Brady believes that he can do better than Borges. But I don't want Brandon making that decision. (Brandon does need to support a attract a new OC with $$$, of course.) Brady needs to make that decision himself with the knowledge that the decision that Dave Brandon makes--whether or not to retain Hoke--is one that is going to be evaluated without a "needs more time" result in the next two years.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
Did you read the title? Your quote reiterates what the title says
My quote states the problem at hand and how they will fix the problem...Which is Al Borges.
Fire AL!
November 27th, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 2:09 AM ^
hoke will not be back in 2o14
November 27th, 2013 at 6:14 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:38 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
Exactly. I'd rather go to the Heart of Dallas Bowl with no OC and get a head start on finding a suitable replacement.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:39 PM ^
Remind me again what John Cooper's record was?
November 27th, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^
for a time there was talk of naming February 10th, 2001 "John Cooper day"...because 2-10-1 in the only game that mattered.
I miss John Cooper
November 27th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
Remind me again: How many years was John Cooper the head coach at Ohio State?
November 27th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^
26-11 is not good enough, and quoting records without context is stupid. The best players on the current team are Rich Rod recruits, and how surprising that the same people who rode him out of town now want to give Hoke the chance he never got.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:11 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:42 PM ^
7-5 > 7-5?
November 27th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^
Well I guess it sounded good to some.
November 28th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2010/team/
and better than 81st http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2009/team/
and better than 95th http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2008/team/
I'm not particularly inclined to defend 46th, but it is better than 60th.
Since 2000
Year Rank 2000 12th 2001 18th 2002 10th 2003 8th 2004 19th 2005 16th 2006 7th 2007 21st 2008 95th 2009 81st 2010 60th 2011 11th 2012 20th 2013 46th
November 29th, 2013 at 2:29 AM ^
Opinion rankings? Really? You don't care how bad it is, so long as a few people with votes thinks it isn't quite as bad as it is? The offense is an utter trainwreck right now. Absolutely zero progress over the course of the last two seasons. This team peaked at the Notre Dame game. That was game two. It's indefensible. Our defense is pretty much the only reason we've even been anywhere near competitive in any of our losses. They're the reason there's any poll anywhere considering us anything other than abysmal.
November 29th, 2013 at 3:45 PM ^
(by the end of a season.)
The Michigan results are "out-of-sample".
November 28th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
Hoke has played about 75% of the number of teams that ended the season ranked that Rich Rod played. No one seems to want to point that out. The Big Ten is significantly worse now than it was 5 years ago.
Brady Hoke has never beaten a team ranked in the top 15 in his entire career.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:55 PM ^
Obviously, since RR guys are all upperclassmen now.
Hoke's guys are at best true juniors right now (from the 2011 hybrid class where he had a few weeks to fill 10ish spots). His first full class are either RS Freshmen or true Sophomores.
Do I even need to bring up the 2010 class debacle AGAIN?
November 27th, 2013 at 6:23 PM ^
I like DB.. or I really try to like him.. or maybe I kinda don't anymore. Either way, I love how he infers his apathy towards the possible sea of 'red' at the stadium on Sat. It's pretty safe to say it wasn't his intention -- but with his support of the commoditization of College athletics, it comes off smelling like "I don't care who's really there, we're making money. That's good for MICHIGAN."
November 27th, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^
It's shouldn't be a sea of red ever! Whoever sells to Bucknuts fans should be punched right in the lips with brass knuckles
November 28th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
Maybe they were bought by an Ohio fan and mayber they weren't. Either way I dont give a shit what you or anyone else thinks of my decision. It is no one's business but my own what I do with my tickets. If you want to send me $400 everytime I choose not to go to a game to make sure an opponents fan doesn't buy them then maybe we have something to talk about. Otherwise, you can take your opinion and shove it.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:33 PM ^
Pat Haden said the same thing about Lane Kiffin just a handful of games before he was canned.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:55 PM ^
Kiffin has also been pretty much a PR nightmare.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:34 PM ^
Hoke is going to get another year for sure. But if next year is as bad as this one it might get touchy. Brandon is not going to like standing on the corner every week trying to sell 50,000 tickets.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^
Because the longer they wait, the more candidates will slip through their fingers to other gigs. Should they wait until after the bowl to make an inevitable move... well, it just reinforces the growing notion that there are some real stubborn, blinder-wearing dopes at or near the top of this fumbling, stumbling organization...
November 27th, 2013 at 6:59 PM ^
After the bowl is my guess, Hoke is probably too nice of a guy to cut him before and will likely give him a month of bowl preparation to try to salvage whatever he can. Heck, I think the fanbase needs to acknowledge the slim but real possibility that Borges is retained going into next season.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:11 PM ^
That will go over well, as long as the Borges offense puts up 70 against Ohio State this weekend. Since it is more likely that his offense puts up 7 against Ohio State this board is going to be awesome if Hoke announces he is keeping Borges.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^
Them seats gonna be scorching hot.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
I thought he did a good job. DB's public relations skills do Michigan well at times, IMO...I also thought it was interesting that he said he's not going to go through position by position and defend each coach. That implies, if nothing else, that he doesn't consider Coach Hoke to have total control over who populates his staff.
November 28th, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
"But I can't engage in a public discussion of personnel and won't. I'm not going to talk about individuals up and down the staff."
How in the freaking hell can you conclude from this bland statement that Brandon "....doesn't consider Coach Hoke to have total control over who populates his staff?"
All DB meant was that he wasn't going to discuss in public the same stuff that he will be discussing in private.
If Brandon HAD gone through and defended—or not—each coach in public, then he would have been blasted for interfering in Hoke's staff.
I'm not a big fan of Brandon, but bashing him for this statement to the newspaper is bashing for bashing's sake. Brandon's in a no-win position with regard to meeting with Hoke and discussing personnel and coaches. Since he does that, he gets labled as a meddler by those who think he should be hands off. I guarantee that if he didn't meet with Hoke to discuss those things, then he'd be bashed by an equally large contingent of fans for not caring about the the program.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:53 PM ^
...to see if DB was holding a sign that said, "Attn: Jabrill Peppers?"
November 27th, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^
Yes, at least two.
I'm expecting much better from the next two years, but if not...
November 27th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^
the dreaded vote of confidence?
November 27th, 2013 at 7:14 PM ^
The full statement put out by Brandon can hardly be derided as "the dreaded vote of confidence." See for yourself here. Pretty smart to mention New Jersey in this paragraph:
Our coaches are recruiting nationally from New Jersey to California, from Michigan to Florida, and continue to bring in the type of young men that can compete on the field and in the classroom at the University of Michigan. The depth that this program needs to be a consistent winner is coming, but it doesn't happen overnight or in one or two recruiting classes. It takes time and probably a little more time than we all anticipated. However, the only threat to our continued success in recruiting is the same old, tired tactic being used by some who wish to see us fail -- to try and scare young recruits into believing that our coach "is on the hot seat" -- which simply isn't true. In fact, this is the same guy that was Big Ten and national coach of the year two seasons ago.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^
Uh oh. The dreaded vote of confidence. Time to work on odds for the eventual Hoke firing date......