How will Hoke ever be able to effectively recruit again?

Submitted by JamieH on

Ignoring whether you are furious at Hoke or not over this, and assuming he hasn't been fired by the time I finish posting this, how is Hoke ever going to effectively recruit again?  How are parents going to feel good about sending their kids to him after what happened yesterday?   You don't think every other coach in the country is going to use this to massively negative recruit against Hoke and Michigan? 


Negative recruiting about playing time or winnning or any of that can be counteracted.  But how do you counteract negative recruiting where they are basically telling a player's parents that they don't want to send their kids to Michigan because you can't trust the staff not to get your kid seriously injured, because the head coach just isn't paying attention?   Parents aren't going to play around with their kid's health.  That will be a non-starter.
 

I see this as a recruiting disaster, regardless of whether you think Hoke is completely to blame or whether you think the whole thing was just an unfortunate misunderstanding.  I tend to fall more in the former camp, but even if I didn't, the public perception of the incident is so terrible and widespread at this point that it has done real, serious damage. 

 

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Vice President…

September 29th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^

He's gone.

More perplexing though in retrospect: with his track record of player development, how was he ever able to recruit so well against coaches with established track records (like Meyer and Dantonio)??

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readyourguard

September 29th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^

If it can be verified that Shane did not suffer a concussion, Hoke can spin it to recruits that the media made this into an issue.  Of course, that won't likely be here at Michigan.  It will take a literal miracle for him to pull this team out of the fire and rally support from the fans.

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Ali G Bomaye

September 29th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^

It doesn't matter whether it can be verified that Shane did not suffer a concussion.  What matters is that there is no way Hoke could have known at the time whether or not he did.

The facts are that Shane took a helmet right under his chin, and immediately after that acted woozy on the field.  In that case, it is an absolute imperative that the head coach ensures that the player be examined for a concussion before playing another snap.  Hoke didn't do that.

If Shane didn't suffer a concussion, that's great.  That's the outcome we're all hoping for.  But the fact is that Hoke inserted a player back into the game when the player could very well have had a concussion, a fact which was obvious to 90,000 people.

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alum96

September 29th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^

Doesnt matter - he wont here for too long.  It hurts the next 2 months.  Hoke most likely wont be a head coach ever again or if he is, its going to be MAC or Mountain West level jobs.   He most likely will be a DC and he can go recruit and the HC has to answer the questions.

Basically he is a dead man clapping ... err walking for 7 weeks.

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alum96

September 29th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

I think he could be a DC for a team like Miami of OH.

As I wrote in another post he is basically the college Rod Marinelli.  He went straight from DL to HC ... he got tagged with "Asst HC" for 1 year at UM (wink wink) in between.  Marinelli is now a DC so maybe some MAC school takes pity.  "Hey we have the former UM head coach on our staff!! Bada boom bada bing"

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getsome

September 29th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^

no offense bc i agree with your general sentiment re clapping and never again coaching top 25 team - but hoke has never, could never nor will never be DC for a decent top 25-50 type program.  i could see DL coach or maybe even reprising his figure head HC gig again for some desperate lower tier losing team (after some of the stink of his current performance rubs off) - but this dude just does not have the chops to outsmart opponents on game day or effectively manage / scheme / prepare 1 side of the ball during the week, hes flatout not coordinator material

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Tuebor

September 29th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^

The spin is already in.  Doncha know that Shane stubled because his ankle gave out.  He said it  himself.  Hoke won't make medical decisions about players over the training staff but he sure as hell will let the players do that.

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mjv

September 29th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^

The is no chance that Hoke makes it to signing day as the head coach of Michigan.  So it doesn't matter how he will recruit in the future.  If he is a head coach somewhere else, I don't care.  The appropriate response is probably to steal one of his dumb ass comments about "we only talk about players at Michigan" and apply it to coaches that are somewhere else.  Or something stupid about hypotheticals.

The man needs to be fired.  And once his office is cleaned out, he is dead to me.

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GoWings2008

September 29th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^

(and I'm not overtly disagreeing with you) but all those things about Hoke that we thought were quirky or something that made him "our coach" when we were playing okay have turned into the reasons why some folks want  him fired now that he's losing.  Funny how that works.

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GoWings2008

September 29th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

but there were several times where non-answers to reporters garnered much approval from the MGoReadership in past years.  Shutting down guys asking questions about stuff that was "internal" and didn't need to be shared was one of those things folks around here liked.  Now, notsomuch.

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mjv

September 29th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^

I know a lot of people liked the "Ohio" thing, but it always irritated me. In my opinion, it is really disrespectful. And I know that I had been in the minority (up until Tat-Gate) where I didn't openly root for OSU to lose before The Game.

This was likely due to being raised during a portion of the 10 Year War and the respect Schembechler had for Woody and OSU.  And I was at The Game in 1996 when Tai Streets broke the long TD on the quick slant to ruin a perfect Buckeye season.  Listening to the central Ohio talk radio guys in genuine agony over the loss and how they would rather lose all of the other games and beat Michigan made me realize how much more devastating beating an undefeated team was than beating some sad sack outfit -- and having our boys ripping their hearts out was a lot of fun.

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pearlw

September 29th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^

If he were to stay, there are 2 things that would hurt recruiting and where other coaches would negative recruit against him. 1) Coaches would say that he doesnt care about safety of kids. And lets not kid ourselves, 2) coaches will say the fan base will boo the kids and doesnt support the team at all.

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allintime23

September 29th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^

He's all but over now. He may be able to finish the season but he won't be back. I actually don't expect him to record another win. I don't think anyone worst could have been chosen to coach here and now his failure is complete.

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ontarioblue

September 29th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^

Has to grow a set of stones, and take control of this situation and fire Hoke and Brandon. Unfortunately Mary Sue is gone and the new president has been way, way to silent.

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CLord

September 29th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^

The new President is very academicly minded which is great in some ways,  but not on this front.  We're going to need some serious high donor alum interfacing with him to make him understand the importance football has to this university and its alums and the state,  otherwise this could turn into a third and final level of administrative incompetence, behind which is shinola and doom.

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LSAClassOf2000

September 29th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^

Assuming there is another class to his name (it might be a bold assumption now), the challenge moving forward - as I see it - is how to rebuild the image of one of the very things that made his recruiting so effective, and that is the family atmosphere and the selling of himself and the staff as "real people", if you will. Whatever anyone thinks of the Morris incident and the on-field performance, it's definitely now in question, and the questions will probably drive a few kids away if not addressed. That will be much more difficult now considering how the school has handled things to date.

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Class of 1817

September 29th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^

He's done, and so are our current and upcoming recruiting classes.

The attrition is going to be hell.

The lack of interest next year is going to be deafening.

Only in the wake of a high-profile hire will we be able to get anywhere near back on the recruiting trail in the next 2 years...

and I really don't see any savior licking their chops to come haul Michigan out from underneath the flaming wreck of its own apathy, incompetence, and obliviousness.

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Ali G Bomaye

September 29th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

If there ever was a time to make a coaching change without hurting recruiting, this is it.  First, this was going to be a small class anyway, so any impact will be muted.  Second, our class is almost entirely local - only two out of our eleven current commits are from outside B1G territory.  Local kids are much more likely to have picked Michigan based on things like long-standing fandom and academics rather than just a connection to the current coaching staff.

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mGrowOld

September 29th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

Hoke:

"Son - you look like somebody who will fit right in here at Ohio University.  The Bobcats have a proud tradition of developing long-snappers and we think you're the next great one for sure."

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