Has Hoke Changed Everything?

Submitted by cp4three2 on

I don't mean for this post to take away from what a great job coach Beilein has done in rebuilding our program. He's taken us to a place in basketball that I can barely remember as a kid, but I've been thinking about this for awhile and I understand that they are only tangently connected, but it seems like Hoke changed everything.

 

Football is the heart and soul of our athletic program. When Hoke was hired, Michigan basketball was on a brutal game losing streak and was 1-5 in Big Ten play. When Hoke declared "This is Michigan, for God's sake" he seemed to give everyone, not just the football team, a boost of swagger. We went on to get to 9-9 and won a game in the tournament.

 

This year I've noticed that football and basketball seemed to be connected. Mitch McGary is spotted going nuts during the Western Michigan football game. Tim Hardaway is seen rushing the field after OSU. Denard and company are regulars in the Maize Rage. Beilein calls OSU "Ohio." I even think I remember an interview where one of the basketball guys kept saying "This is Michigan."     

 

Does anyone else have that feeling?

Oaktown Wolverine

March 5th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^

I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.

MichiganMan20

March 5th, 2012 at 5:30 PM ^

I actually do feel that way. Ever since he was hired, I have felt like the entire athletic program has improved in every aspect and I think Dave Brandon deserves a lot of credit for that as well considering he was the one that hired him.

turtleboy

March 5th, 2012 at 5:37 PM ^

Dave Brandon went waaaay against popular opinion in hiring Hoke. Good job to both of them. Hoke has realy changed things, though. He and the staff are not only ahead of other schools in recruiting and scouting, they're ahead of the recruiting and scouting services. You can also bet that our staff will get the most out of these young men, not just in scheme, but in mentoring, and technique, and drive. Michigan will be best college pipeline to the NFL in no time.

Coastal Elite

March 5th, 2012 at 5:32 PM ^

I think there's clearly a renewed sense of optimism and pride originating in the football program and permeating every corner of the athletic department. And yes, football and basketball success and recruiting are extremely symbiotic - see Mitch McGary at a football game and numerous 2013 football recruits at our basketball victory over Ohio.

But I'm also hesitant to annoint messiahs. Michigan is going to face adversity again: there will be seasons that we lose 5 games in football, years when we lose to Ohio, etc. Let's just be happy that we have quality coaches in both basketball and football, without putting the entire success (and, implicitly, potential failures) of the entire athletic department on one guy's shoulders.

Philip A. Duey

March 5th, 2012 at 8:36 PM ^

This may be due to my age, but the ZOMG WE'RE GOING TO WIN A JILLION BIG TEN AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ALL OF OUR SPORTS AND WE'LL EAT BLUE RAINBOWS AND POOP MAIZE GOLD mentality is inexplicable considering the last few years.    We should celebrate our accomplishments ecstatically, but we should never EVER take them for granted.  Yes, This Is Michigan, and all that, but high expectations do not mean assuming that success is inevitable. 

Caesar

March 5th, 2012 at 5:33 PM ^

I think it might be more coincidence. While Hoke has definitely help return some fire and confidence back to Michigan's identity, the building blocks of Beilein's success seem to pre-date it. For example, Beilein's talent evaluation and player development have taken several years to build to this point--several years before Hoke.

MKEblue

March 5th, 2012 at 5:53 PM ^

I definitely agree that Beilein has been laying the building blocks for a successful program before Hoke arrived. This basketball season may have turned out similar with or without Hoke around (when did Burke commit? Was it after the "This is Michigan, fergodsakes!" press conference or before?).

But I could definitely see Hoke and the football season having an effect on NEXT year's basketball team in the form of recruiting. I think that's the case anytime a team does well and gets some national/regional media love; all of the sports at that school benefit from the free advertising.

bluebyyou

March 5th, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^

I have to agree that it was coincidence.  We really had no expectations as to how things would work out last year.  I figured, as did many others that 8-4 was about where the football team would end their regular season.  Basketball made it to the second round of the NCAA's and once our hockey team found itself, they played for the NC.  To ascribe the success the hoops and hockey programs had to Hoke would seem like a bit of a stretch.

Hoke started the process of making many of us believers at his intial presser, but it took the season to play out to show what a gem we have in Hoke.  Beilein and Berenson are excellent coaches in their own right and I believe their success would have happened regardless.  That all three programs are doing great  at the same time is just the icing on the cake.  God know, it is about time.

justingoblue

March 5th, 2012 at 5:34 PM ^

You see that level of involvement because Denard respects Hardaway and vice-versa. They know how hard the other teams work, and how close they were to success this year, and showed up for support like you would expect.

That being said, I'm guessing that side of campus has to be in a better mood without feeling like there are vultures circling over Schembechler Hall in the form of the Freep and ESPN and whatever else.

WhoopinStick

March 5th, 2012 at 5:37 PM ^

I thought the same thing.  I don't know how much of it Hoke is responsible for, but after he was hired things  have certainly been on an upswing campus wide.

LSAClassOf2000

March 5th, 2012 at 6:08 PM ^

I don't know if I would say absolutely "everything" in Michigan athletics - basketball, for example, had been on the mend for some time anyway, but he certainly helped set the tone for a great deal of this most recent success, and I believe the transformation he brought to the football culture is spilling into other sports as well. Some of the pieces were there, but Hoke has been a catalyst  for some of the change. I think that his first press conference was the beginning of what seems to be a renewed sense of shared purpose and community among the varsity teams, and that purpose is simply to be "the leaders and best" at what they  do. 

GTWolverine

March 5th, 2012 at 5:43 PM ^

I think the majority of the credit should go to David Brandon.  Hoke has always been Brady Hoke, that's what we love about him now.  He came in just being himself.  Brandon is the one who had the vision of what we could and should be, and he hired the people and put the pieces in place that have led to this resurgance.  Don't get me wrong, Hoke is the man.  He deserves all the credit he deserves.  You just have to remember that without David Brandon, there is no Brady Hoke.  Brandon knew that Hoke was "the one" when the general opinion was that he would be a downgrade.

Blue boy johnson

March 5th, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^

If you recall, in the immediate aftermath of Hoke's hiring, Hoke was roundly(no pun intended)chastised by many for being a stooge, just some talking head who knew the right words to utter in order to make the MSM swoon. We now know Hoke is an innovator not an imitator

BlueBarron

March 5th, 2012 at 5:47 PM ^

Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.

DutchWolverine

March 5th, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

I understand what you are saying, but I think that attributing this years MBB Big 10 Championship in any way to Hoke does take away from what Beilein has done with this squad.  This should be attributed 100% to JB and his staff, as well as the players on this team.

UMfan21

March 5th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^

NO!  What Beilein has done pre-dates Hoke and he should not be given credit for Beilein's successes.

Beilein is the one who laid the foundation with this year's seniors

Beilein is the one who got Crisler rennovated through several phases

Beilein is the one who got this these teams to 3 NCAA tournaments in 4 years

Beilein was the one who fired his assistants two years ago after a bad run.  He had many fans calling for his head.  Instead, he hired two of the best young minds in coaching as assistants and has this team on an upward trajectory.





His first NCAA bid at UofM came about 1 year earlier than most expected.  His first Big Ten title came a year earlier than most expected.  This is ALL on Beilein.  I know it's "Cute" to say Hoke uber alles, but seriously people under appreciate Beilein.  I think the resurgence of football and basketball at the same time is coincidence, but let's not insults Beilein by giving ANYONE else credit for this.

kehnonymous

March 5th, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^

To what extent do Hoke and Beilein interact, on a professional and/or personal level?  They're both super busy with their jobs, but they're arguably the 2 most important faces for our athletics department who don't have dreadlocks or a zillion-watt smile (or who aren't named Red Berenson)  It also seems like Hoke and Beilein would have a lot to talk about and have similar value systems

I remember reading an article in SI that talked about how Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma - the two hoops coaches at UConn - don't have any kind of relationship period which struck as as more than a little odd.

(Also, does Brady Hoke allow Red Berenson to keep the name "Red"?)

VermontMichiganFan

March 5th, 2012 at 6:23 PM ^

Give Beilein some more credit. Because Michigan is a bigger football school than basketball Hoke will always overshadow him and be the main athletic face of the school but Beilein built this program back up! Flip it around and ask if Beilein has changed everything? He had this program turned around and heading in this direction before Hoke was here. The recent revival of our two big sports started with basketball and making the NCAA a couple times and coming two inches away on a last second shot from a nba draft pick leaving early from beating Duke arguably the top team of the last couple of decades.
Hoke getd the credit because football>basketball here and his persona and following trumps that of Beilein.

ommeethatsees

March 5th, 2012 at 6:46 PM ^

I think your giving Hoke too much credit and not giving enough credit to Beilein.  I've been watching Beilein slowly build this program to where it is today (I know it hasn't really taken that long).  While it will be sad watching Stu and Zack leave I'm excited to see the upcoming BBall recruiting classes. 

I think what you see as far as BB players attending FB games and FB players attending BB games has more to do with the quality of the players and of each program and less to do with some mystical power that Hoke has.

CLord

March 5th, 2012 at 6:50 PM ^

Totally agree about that there's a new sense of cross-team cameraderie I haven't seen before, but Beilein deserves all the credit for bball's success.

I watched the youtube of the mbb team celebrating the end of the MSU/Ohio game with a big smile on my face but near the end, I noticed something that made me restart and watch it all again, but this time focusing on how well the players regarded and treated Beilein.

Watching Smot turn to initiate a hug with the coach, and then TH3 voluntarily leave the mosh pit of his teammates to acknowledge and high five Coach B, and then all the subsequent great vibes you saw from how the players hugged and acknowledged Coach B really spoke to how great this man must be as a father figure and friend to these kids, let alone a blue chip coach.

I love Coach Hoke, but today is Coach B's day.

Tater

March 5th, 2012 at 7:17 PM ^

Hoke did a great job, but RR could have gotten ten or eleven wins out of this team, too.  The scores would have looked a lot different, but it was this team's time.  For the first time since the Carr-encouraged mass exodus, Michigan had more upperclassmen on the field than underclassmen.  It's a lot easier to push the other team around when you are as big and old as they are.  

The main "change" is that nobody is trying to sabotage the program from within anymore.  No former players or coaches are telling HS coaches not to send their kids to Michigan.  Nobody is actively lobbying to get the head coach fired, and the coach actually has full access to all of the resources of a fine program.  

If Bo Schembechler had still been alive, he would have told Carr and his followers to do the same thing for RR that Bump Elliott did for him: make the transition as smooth as possible and don't encourage bitching about the new regime.  Since Bo wasn't around to remind the "Michigan Men" act like "Michigan Men," we all have a pretty good idea of what happened.  

The bottom line is that things have changed under Hoke, but he had a lot of help.  You know, the same help RR should have had...

M-Wolverine

March 5th, 2012 at 7:17 PM ^

There seems to be a spirit and camaraderie there hasn't been in the department, maybe ever. They're feeding off each other, and trickling down to the smaller programs. I don't get the feeling that Beilein and Rich were all that chummy even though they came here from the same school. Everyone seems to be picking up things like "Ohio" and showing up at each others games, and rooting for each other. It's a beautiful thing.

Schembo

March 5th, 2012 at 7:41 PM ^

I don't think Hoke changed anything, but his passion has rubbed off on the fans. The fact is that the athletic department finally hired a capable coach and started investing in the basketball facilities. Basketball was almost as big as the football program in the early 90's. The new generation of Michigan students/fans are not used to this yet, but it's the way it has been in the past and the way it should always be.

lhglrkwg

March 5th, 2012 at 8:04 PM ^

Hoke is the public face of the university to pretty much everyone not affiliated with the university and he's instilled a swagger that I feel like I definitely see in the basketball team too. I feel like the athletic department's motto is "This is Michigan" now

I do actually think that Denard, Roy ,etc showing up publicly at other sporting events has done a good job of unifying the "This is Michigan" feel. It's not just Michigan Football or Michigan Basketball. It's just Michigan

CRISPed in the DIAG

March 5th, 2012 at 8:09 PM ^

As a vet of the 80's when we had elite mbb and football, I can tell you that the two programs appear much closer and supportive of one another than they did when I was on campus.  There were two distinctive cultures - Frieder's crew always seemed to be on the verge of scandal (or so it felt) vs the traditional, old-school Schembechler cult.  Now, things seem very collegial.  I like where we're at and where we appear to be heading.

Moonlight Graham

March 5th, 2012 at 8:19 PM ^

those lowest-of-low moments leaving Michigan Stadium after the '09 Ohio game where the place was half-red, and the '10 MSU game where they unfurled the "Little Brother Just Whipped Your..." banner over the edge of the south end zone below the scoreboard. I vividly recall the feeling of dread. "This can't happen again." If the 2011 game is again a sea of red and there is a similar result, Michigan Football as we know it may never recover. 70,000 fans at the Big House? And of course when Hoke was first hired I suppose I wouldn't have quite put it like "Michigan just threw in the towel on being a national program" but it was hard to argue strongly otherwise. Then all of that changed...

...at the Press Conference.

I think the OP is spot on. That was the turning point ... then Mattison ... then capping off the '12 recruiting ... then Roundtree in the corner, then Ohio ... then pointing at and getting ALL the '13 commits ... and the momentum continues.

Roachgoblue

March 5th, 2012 at 8:53 PM ^

"I would if I thought there was even the slightest chance Hoke would replace Rich Rodriguez in early January, because that would be the most insane coaching switch of all time. This is not going to happen. Brady Hoke is not a serious candidate for the Michigan job. He is not any sort of candidate. If Dave Brandon was willing to hire Hoke to coach Michigan, Rodriguez would already be out the door because there would be a dozen people he'd rather have coaching Michigan than Rodriguez. Unless meteors hit both Jim Harbaugh and Rich Rodriguez, the chance Brady Hoke is Michigan's coach in 2011 is zero point zero percent.



Period."



Yes, single sentence paragraph time.