We can't blame the Michigan fan base for liking Hoke at the beginning. Rich Rod was finally gone and a new start was around the bend for the Wolverines. False hope it surely was. This may be the hindsight bias talking after all but Hoke was doomed from the start.
Heading into his Michigan tenure Hoke's overall record was 47-50. Sub .500 for the winning-est school in College Football history!!! Sub .500!! Hoke took over at Ball State for the 2003-2004 season and heading into this season, Ball State, had not had a winning record since 1996. In his first year Hoke coached the cardinals to 4-8 with the wins coming against MAC opponents. Hoke and the Cardinals only won 6 more games over the next two seasons; but the Cardinals improved and in Hoke's last year at Ball State he captained the Cardinals to 12-0 record and an appearance in the MAC Championship Game where they were flattened by Buffalo. The Cardinals went onto play in the GMAC Bowl but without Hoke who bolted for San Diego State. What Hoke left behind at Ball State? 0-8 record against Top 25 opponents, 1 appearance in the MAC Championship Game, 2 bowl game appearances (coached only in 1), 1 bowl game loss, 27-20 record in the MAC, and a 7-18 non-conference record for an overall record of 34-38.
Hoke left his alma mater for Sand Diego State in December of 2009 and in his year of preaching toughness, he and the Aztecs went 4-8 with a 2-6 conference record. The second year the Aztecs compiled a record of 9-4 and 5-3 in conference. Hoke's Aztecs won the Poinsettia Bowl bashing Navy 35-14. Michigan came calling in the off-season and Hoke left for the school that gave him his longest experiences in coaching. What Hoke left behind at San Diego State? 1-5 against Top 25 opponents, 1 bowl game appearance and win,
7-9 conference record, and a 6-3 non-conference record for a 13-12 overall record.
With a non-conference record of 13-21, a conference record of 34-29 and only 1 win in 14 games against Top 25 opponents, Brady Hoke entered the wonderful world of Michigan Football head coaching. Let's crunch these numbers even further and give them more of a feeling. Hoke's 13-21 conference record came against two conferences, the MAC and the MWC. Neither of these conferences at the time were BCS automatic qualifiers and currently neither are one of the power five conferences. Hoke only won the MAC once and that was in his final season with Ball State. Before Michigan Hoke had only 3 winning seasons out of 8 total.
Try to convince anyone that Hoke's numbers don't back him up is met with a stern hand. Scanning through articles, all report about how Hoke was well recieved by Michigan because he A.) worked for the school as DE coach and DL coach from 1995-2002 and B.) fit the mold of Michigan man. Brady Hoke has also been rported to be a great recruiter. The reason for Hoke's hiring at Michigan in the word's of Michigan AD Dave Brandon are as follows "The reason I wanted him to be prominent in this process was simply the combination of turning around two programs, being known as a terrific recruiter, and being a defensive-minded coach with a lot of experience. Everybody that I ever talked to just raved about the quality of person he is and how much he loves Michigan."
Let's break this down. Turning around of two programs? Ball State went from one of the worst teams to take the field on Saturday to a mediocre team. They went 12-2 in Hoke's best season and i'll be honest, winning 12 games anywhere in college football is an accomplishment but Ball State was not turned around. After going 12-2 in 2008, in 2009 Ball State went 2-10. Before Hoke's best season he led the Cardinal's to one winning season. 2 winning seasons in 6. Ball State has not been a team anyone should fear since. Promptly leaving for San Diego State he went 4-8 then 9-4. The program was not turned around but did win at least 8 games since Hoke each season heading into this season, which is about where they were before Hoke. You can blame other coaches after Hoke but the standards for turning around a program should be more than 3 winning seasons in 8.
As for Hoke's recruiting that's an entirely different story. Let's jump ahead to his Michigan recruiting classes. Hoke's recruiting class broke the Top 25 rankings in 2012 at 7, the 2013 class was 6th, the 2014 class was ranked 18th. The 2011 team that went 11-2 was made of mostly Rich Rodriguez recruits, the 2012 team that went 8-5 was about half and half, and the 2013 team (7-6) was mostly Hoke's recruits. Hoke's excuses? We're a young team. While that may be relevant when it comes to experience on the field but not for development. By the time your big primary recruits hit the big stage they should be well groomed for success and here at Michigan they havent been. This in lies the answer to why Michigan and Brady Hoke have fallen
Recruiting the big names looks great on paper, just as i'm sure a big slice of pizza looks to a diabetic. Yeah it may feel great when its obtained, but the effects after aren't pretty. Getting the big name recruits is great but if they are not developed, kept humble, and learned in the ways of how to succeed then they'll always be mediocre. To be a success at recruitng you have to convince the recruit one, and two you have to recruit for your system. If you don't fill the spots with guys who are quality athletes and you know will thrive in your system then you'll always be 7-6. Recruit the guys who have chips on their shoulder, who were left out of the picture at big SEC schools. Grab those guys, they're the hungry ones who will thrive when given direction, not the 5 star recruits who have only heard that they're the best thing since sliced bread. That's Michigan's problem; no development. Hoke's downfal began then and it's only gotten worse since.
Hoke drove the Wolverine feel good bus to 11-2 and their first BCS Bowl victory since 2000. Those two losses? At Michigan State and at Iowa. In a season where Michigan had 8 home games, they went 2-2 on the road and 2-1 against rivals. The Wolverines beat hated rival Ohio State who went 6-6 that year. Michigan beat a mediocre Ohio State, the first time in 8 years in a rivalry game that hadn't been much of a rivalry recently. Also the Wolverines lost a spot in the first Big Ten Championship game to in-state rival Michigan State. But hey they won a BCS Bowl against a barely above average Virginia Tech and beat Ohio State so all was good in Ann Arbor.
For Hoke's sequel, the Wolverines hit a pot hole dropping the bus to 8-5. Coming in ranked 8th in the country where they were squashed easily by #1 Alabama. The much hyped Michigan Team lost 41-14 on the national stage. The team lost to Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, and South Carolina. The team also barely escaped, Air Force and Northwestern. Winning their weak schedule but losing all the tough games was a sure sign of things to come for the Wolverines.
It was. Michigan's 2013 campaign began by rolling Central Michigan and Notre Dame at home but barely escaping Akron and Connecticut in back to back weeks. With Michigan's talent from recruiting they should have rolled into East Lansing 7-0 but instead they lost to upstart Penn State and gave up 47 points to Indiana the week after in a 63-47 shootout and then were crushed 29-6 by MSU. Michigan's stat line against MSU? -48 rushing yards. MSU drowned the Wolverines in a defensive hell-fire and Michigan looked like a glorified high school team. Michigan went on to win 1 of the next 5 games.
Brady Hoke stated when he took the Michigan job that his goal was to win the Big Ten title. He hasn't come close. In the 3 Big Ten Championship games, Michigan has not reached one, while in state rival MSU has reached 2 of 3. Michigan has gone 4-5 against rivals. Those rivals being Michigan State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. Which I guess is an improvement from Rich Rod's 2-7 record against those 3 teams. Brady Hoke put an emphasis on beating Ohio State yet could only do it against a mediocre 6-6 version of Ohio State. Hoke is 1-2 against MSU. Hoke has seen this talented team fall apart and his been at the helm of the collapse of the program he loves so much. And to top it all off, Michigan started this season 2-3 losing to Notre Dame by a score of 31-0, lost to Utah at home, and then turned around and lost to Minnesota. Something that's only happened twice in 24 years. Michigan also lost 3 games before October for the first time in 135 years of football at the university. To place the cherry on this clustered sundae is the Shane Morris incident.
Shane Morris, Michigan's back up QB, statred the Minnesota game on a bad leg and was highly ineffective. The offense having gone no where throughout the season remained its usual self and Morris should've been pulled long before we reached the hit. After firing a pass, Morris was targeted by the Gopher's Cochran, who hit Morris square in the chin. Morris came up visibly shaken, and stumbling around he fell into his lineman's arms. That screams concussion to me. Michigan teammates were waving for trainers but Morris himself waved off trainers and stayed for another play. Upon the play resulting in an incompletion Morris stumbled to the sidelines. Devin Gardner taking Morris's place ran the Michigan offense for two plays before losing his helmet therefore having to be taken out of the game. Russell Bellomy,Gardner's would be replament, could not find his helmet so injured QB Shane Morris was re-entered into the game!!!! A kid with a possible (probable) concussion gets reentered into the game. Disgusting. With all the concussion research and brain damage issues stemming from football, a player with a probable concussion should not reenter the game for any reason. Hoke's excuse after the game for Shane Morris reentering the game was that he didn't see the play and that he assumed protocol was followed by medical staff. No one can delve into Hoke's memory to see if he witnessed the play but to assume that medical action was taken is incompetence. Hoke surely must know that protocol takes longer than 2 minutes. In the NHL, players with concussion symptoms are put into a dark room for 25 minutes. 25 minutes!!!! Not 2!! Under Hoke's command this program has failed to reach full potential and put players at risk. WR Devin Funchess may never play the same again after suffering an injury at the blowout loss to Notre Dame, after he was kept in. This program needs a change and Hoke must go as well as Dave Brandon. Neither has shown they can handle the program Michigan claims to be. Hoke's record long before his hiring at Michigan should have kept him from receiving the job. But hey he's a Michigan man.
What a great plan. Good Luck Ann Arbor.
-Stephen
Hoke left his alma mater for Sand Diego State in December of 2009 and in his year of preaching toughness, he and the Aztecs went 4-8 with a 2-6 conference record. The second year the Aztecs compiled a record of 9-4 and 5-3 in conference. Hoke's Aztecs won the Poinsettia Bowl bashing Navy 35-14. Michigan came calling in the off-season and Hoke left for the school that gave him his longest experiences in coaching. What Hoke left behind at San Diego State? 1-5 against Top 25 opponents, 1 bowl game appearance and win,
7-9 conference record, and a 6-3 non-conference record for a 13-12 overall record.
With a non-conference record of 13-21, a conference record of 34-29 and only 1 win in 14 games against Top 25 opponents, Brady Hoke entered the wonderful world of Michigan Football head coaching. Let's crunch these numbers even further and give them more of a feeling. Hoke's 13-21 conference record came against two conferences, the MAC and the MWC. Neither of these conferences at the time were BCS automatic qualifiers and currently neither are one of the power five conferences. Hoke only won the MAC once and that was in his final season with Ball State. Before Michigan Hoke had only 3 winning seasons out of 8 total.
Try to convince anyone that Hoke's numbers don't back him up is met with a stern hand. Scanning through articles, all report about how Hoke was well recieved by Michigan because he A.) worked for the school as DE coach and DL coach from 1995-2002 and B.) fit the mold of Michigan man. Brady Hoke has also been rported to be a great recruiter. The reason for Hoke's hiring at Michigan in the word's of Michigan AD Dave Brandon are as follows "The reason I wanted him to be prominent in this process was simply the combination of turning around two programs, being known as a terrific recruiter, and being a defensive-minded coach with a lot of experience. Everybody that I ever talked to just raved about the quality of person he is and how much he loves Michigan."
Let's break this down. Turning around of two programs? Ball State went from one of the worst teams to take the field on Saturday to a mediocre team. They went 12-2 in Hoke's best season and i'll be honest, winning 12 games anywhere in college football is an accomplishment but Ball State was not turned around. After going 12-2 in 2008, in 2009 Ball State went 2-10. Before Hoke's best season he led the Cardinal's to one winning season. 2 winning seasons in 6. Ball State has not been a team anyone should fear since. Promptly leaving for San Diego State he went 4-8 then 9-4. The program was not turned around but did win at least 8 games since Hoke each season heading into this season, which is about where they were before Hoke. You can blame other coaches after Hoke but the standards for turning around a program should be more than 3 winning seasons in 8.
As for Hoke's recruiting that's an entirely different story. Let's jump ahead to his Michigan recruiting classes. Hoke's recruiting class broke the Top 25 rankings in 2012 at 7, the 2013 class was 6th, the 2014 class was ranked 18th. The 2011 team that went 11-2 was made of mostly Rich Rodriguez recruits, the 2012 team that went 8-5 was about half and half, and the 2013 team (7-6) was mostly Hoke's recruits. Hoke's excuses? We're a young team. While that may be relevant when it comes to experience on the field but not for development. By the time your big primary recruits hit the big stage they should be well groomed for success and here at Michigan they havent been. This in lies the answer to why Michigan and Brady Hoke have fallen
Recruiting the big names looks great on paper, just as i'm sure a big slice of pizza looks to a diabetic. Yeah it may feel great when its obtained, but the effects after aren't pretty. Getting the big name recruits is great but if they are not developed, kept humble, and learned in the ways of how to succeed then they'll always be mediocre. To be a success at recruitng you have to convince the recruit one, and two you have to recruit for your system. If you don't fill the spots with guys who are quality athletes and you know will thrive in your system then you'll always be 7-6. Recruit the guys who have chips on their shoulder, who were left out of the picture at big SEC schools. Grab those guys, they're the hungry ones who will thrive when given direction, not the 5 star recruits who have only heard that they're the best thing since sliced bread. That's Michigan's problem; no development. Hoke's downfal began then and it's only gotten worse since.
Hoke drove the Wolverine feel good bus to 11-2 and their first BCS Bowl victory since 2000. Those two losses? At Michigan State and at Iowa. In a season where Michigan had 8 home games, they went 2-2 on the road and 2-1 against rivals. The Wolverines beat hated rival Ohio State who went 6-6 that year. Michigan beat a mediocre Ohio State, the first time in 8 years in a rivalry game that hadn't been much of a rivalry recently. Also the Wolverines lost a spot in the first Big Ten Championship game to in-state rival Michigan State. But hey they won a BCS Bowl against a barely above average Virginia Tech and beat Ohio State so all was good in Ann Arbor.
For Hoke's sequel, the Wolverines hit a pot hole dropping the bus to 8-5. Coming in ranked 8th in the country where they were squashed easily by #1 Alabama. The much hyped Michigan Team lost 41-14 on the national stage. The team lost to Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, and South Carolina. The team also barely escaped, Air Force and Northwestern. Winning their weak schedule but losing all the tough games was a sure sign of things to come for the Wolverines.
It was. Michigan's 2013 campaign began by rolling Central Michigan and Notre Dame at home but barely escaping Akron and Connecticut in back to back weeks. With Michigan's talent from recruiting they should have rolled into East Lansing 7-0 but instead they lost to upstart Penn State and gave up 47 points to Indiana the week after in a 63-47 shootout and then were crushed 29-6 by MSU. Michigan's stat line against MSU? -48 rushing yards. MSU drowned the Wolverines in a defensive hell-fire and Michigan looked like a glorified high school team. Michigan went on to win 1 of the next 5 games.
Brady Hoke stated when he took the Michigan job that his goal was to win the Big Ten title. He hasn't come close. In the 3 Big Ten Championship games, Michigan has not reached one, while in state rival MSU has reached 2 of 3. Michigan has gone 4-5 against rivals. Those rivals being Michigan State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. Which I guess is an improvement from Rich Rod's 2-7 record against those 3 teams. Brady Hoke put an emphasis on beating Ohio State yet could only do it against a mediocre 6-6 version of Ohio State. Hoke is 1-2 against MSU. Hoke has seen this talented team fall apart and his been at the helm of the collapse of the program he loves so much. And to top it all off, Michigan started this season 2-3 losing to Notre Dame by a score of 31-0, lost to Utah at home, and then turned around and lost to Minnesota. Something that's only happened twice in 24 years. Michigan also lost 3 games before October for the first time in 135 years of football at the university. To place the cherry on this clustered sundae is the Shane Morris incident.
Shane Morris, Michigan's back up QB, statred the Minnesota game on a bad leg and was highly ineffective. The offense having gone no where throughout the season remained its usual self and Morris should've been pulled long before we reached the hit. After firing a pass, Morris was targeted by the Gopher's Cochran, who hit Morris square in the chin. Morris came up visibly shaken, and stumbling around he fell into his lineman's arms. That screams concussion to me. Michigan teammates were waving for trainers but Morris himself waved off trainers and stayed for another play. Upon the play resulting in an incompletion Morris stumbled to the sidelines. Devin Gardner taking Morris's place ran the Michigan offense for two plays before losing his helmet therefore having to be taken out of the game. Russell Bellomy,Gardner's would be replament, could not find his helmet so injured QB Shane Morris was re-entered into the game!!!! A kid with a possible (probable) concussion gets reentered into the game. Disgusting. With all the concussion research and brain damage issues stemming from football, a player with a probable concussion should not reenter the game for any reason. Hoke's excuse after the game for Shane Morris reentering the game was that he didn't see the play and that he assumed protocol was followed by medical staff. No one can delve into Hoke's memory to see if he witnessed the play but to assume that medical action was taken is incompetence. Hoke surely must know that protocol takes longer than 2 minutes. In the NHL, players with concussion symptoms are put into a dark room for 25 minutes. 25 minutes!!!! Not 2!! Under Hoke's command this program has failed to reach full potential and put players at risk. WR Devin Funchess may never play the same again after suffering an injury at the blowout loss to Notre Dame, after he was kept in. This program needs a change and Hoke must go as well as Dave Brandon. Neither has shown they can handle the program Michigan claims to be. Hoke's record long before his hiring at Michigan should have kept him from receiving the job. But hey he's a Michigan man.
What a great plan. Good Luck Ann Arbor.
-Stephen
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