October 22nd, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
I'm guessing a lot of people here won't like it, but I thought it was a great interview. He was very candid and reflective. I'll be rooting for him.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
I'll be double pointing for him.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^
I'll be pooping gold for him.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
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October 22nd, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
I'd be very surprised if he gets a Power 5 gig. I think he'll have to start in one of the lower conferences.
I thought he wouldn't succeed at a Power 5 school if given another chance, but he's obviously learned some things from his time at Michigan, so who knows. Good to see him acknowledge some specifics like QB recruiting, or lack thereof.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
I tend to believe Hackett when he said Hoke had mastered some aspects of the job. I realize that honest statements aren't in anybodys best interest when you're dealing with a high profile firing, but I completely buy Hoke being very good at certain parts of running a program.
I don't think he'll have to drop out of the P5 completely. He might decide that a job like Memphis is better than Illinois or whatever, but there will be jobs open at lower tier P5 programs that would happily take Hoke, IMO.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
He wasn't a P5 coach before Michigan and I don't think he's one after either.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
He'd be a recruiting upgrade for almost every lower tier P5 program, he graduates players and keeps them out of trouble.
Who is Iowa State or Purdue going to get that's significantally better than Hoke? Most of the coaches they'd be looking at have the same type of success he had at Ball State and SDSU without any of the recruiting or program experience he's had at Michigan.
October 22nd, 2015 at 1:40 PM ^
Success at recruiting players to Michigan doesn't necessarily translate into an ability to recruit to Purdue and Iowa State. This is Michigan fer Godsakes. Schools are likely to look at the development of those players after they arrive and find Hoke wanting. When a school hires a coach they want him to build the program, not dismantle it. 11-2, 8-5, 7-6, 5-7.
Hoke's inability to adjust to the rules that govern punting in college and the repeated instances of sending 10 men on the field, even after a timeout, clearly demonstrate that he isn't ready for a "Power 5" job.
Hoke's biggest problem was the poor coaching hires he made. He had to be forced to fire Borges and never could bring himself to get rid of Funk and Ferrigno who clearly were incapable of handling their assignments and were hindering the development of players. Hoke needs to prove he won't be caught in that trap again.
Brandon was stupid enough to hire Hoke at Michigan so I won't say Hoke won't get hired at a major school, but no one who is serious about having a competitive team in a "Power 5" conference should hire Hoke before he has proven himself capable of sustained success at a lower level. (I won't bother to repeat the criticism that his brief stints at Ball State and SDSU never demonstrated that. We've both seen enough posts on that topic).
October 22nd, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
Hoke is a good recruiter. He sent a few guys to the NFL from SDSU and he'll out-recruit Hazell or whoever else is on the radar for a program like Iowa State or Purdue.
I think you're setting a higher than realistic bar for who can get a P5 job. USC won't be calling any time soon, but Edsall, Hazell, Flood and Beckman were all P5 head coaches heading into fall camp this season. Hoke would be an upgrade over any of them.
October 22nd, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^
Harbaugh couldn't have accomplished as much as he has without a lot of very good players. You don't have to be a head coach to recruit. Just there is no mistake, I'm saying he shouldn't get a head coach spot. He seems to be a capable DL coach and, not only is he a good recruiter, he also cares about the players, including their academic performance.
October 23rd, 2015 at 12:49 AM ^
In all likelihood, he'll have been a head coach for twelve of the last thirteen years with a one year sabbatical when he takes his next job.
Dude is a head coach, whether he should be on the sideline at Michigan or not.
October 22nd, 2015 at 7:45 PM ^
From what I gather, he was great at recruiting/developing the 2-star prospects that didn't get any attention, placing a chip on their shoulders and getting them to perform at a high level.
Turning around Ball State and San Diego State is no small accomplisment. He's won Coach of The Year awards 3 different times.
From what I gather, Hoke was not particularly adept at handling the non-underdog role. He wasn't used to dealing with the 4 and 5-star recruits, bigger egos, and larger talent-sets, who were used to being best on the field by default, developing them, managing them, and encouraging them.
He clearly fielded some of the softest Michigan teams I"ve ever seen. I mean RichRod's teams were fundamentally and executionally a mess, but they weren't soft or lacked moxie. Quite the opposite. But, Hoke's teams were so uninspired, it's like he suffocated their mojo. He wanted them all to have the countenance of a humble, hard-working 54-year-old-man. To the point that Peppers and Norfleet seemed like the craziest guys out there. But when you look at some of the great 90s and early 2000s teams, they ALL had a swagger and vibrance to their game, every single player, was on the field with the same energy as Peppers or Norfleet, which Hoke's teams were literally completely devoid of.
Hoke has a head-down, workman-like mentality. Never too excited, never too worried. Which is probably a must for the 2-star-types, who will succeed on work and humility alone, not pure, gifted skill. But with the immensely talented players that UM can recruit, and the immense media-coverage, spectacle, and expectations that Michigan Football will have, clearly Hoke did not have the right skill-set, approach, philosophy, attitude to be a head coach at a place like Michigan.
That and the guy had no idea what he was doing on offense. I mean NONE. If it wasn't for Denard Robinson, I don't know if Hoke stays more than 2 years. We always fielded pretty talented and strong defenses. And the cupboard WAS bare, from RichRod, and Hoke & Mattison pieced together some respectable defensive play. But our O was unreal bad at times. Not taking a QB in 2012, only taking a single QB who didn't even play his senior year in 2013. Oof.
Not acceptable.
October 22nd, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^
..a very, very good recruiter. Coaches love to coach with him. Players love to play for him. He loves them in return.
I think his greatest problem may be that he is loyal to his players and coaches to a fault-. He gives his coaches a lot of latitude and he's reluctant to change assistants (or QBs) when things are not working.
From reading the article, he's at least humble enough to keep learning how to be a better coach.
I for one, wish the man happiness and success wherever he goes next.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
Hoke says he should have taken another QB the year they got Shane Morris. No. Disagree. Where they messed up was not taking one in 2012. That was especially problematic given the only guy thety took from the year before was Russell Bellomy - not exactly a sure fire prospect.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
on where he could improve, is coaching staff management. It is great that Hoke and Rodriguez are loyal to their guys, but Hoke really needed to make some changes.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
Hoke was right about 13 and you are right about 12.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
Rutgers needs Hoke to just clean up their program. They need a positive figure head in that department, and I feel like Hoke would fill that roll well. Be weird with him back in our conference, but I really think that's a good fit.
Hoke to Rutgers.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
Pun intended?
I'd hire him at a lower tier P5 in a good recruiting area. Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia. If he can't put some good teams together after 3-4 years, fire him and bring in someone who can coach up the recruits.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:13 PM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:22 AM ^
Hoke's job was to be David Brandon's sock puppet. I think he can, at the very least, do a serviceable job when he is allowed to actually be the head coach. Just like Rich Rod is a much better coach than he was allowed to be at Michigan, so is Hoke.
I think he would do fine with the right Power 5 job. From his comments, you can bet your ass he isn't going to allow an AD to dictate his offense or his defense anymore.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
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October 22nd, 2015 at 12:13 PM ^
While he does admit some mistakes/lessons learned, he also is clearly campaigning for his next job. I don't think he's being candid when he claims to have 58 freshman and portraying himself as a great builder of programs. I don't how you can argue "we were building for 2015" at the same time that you say you have a roster of freshman in 2014. That's just dishonest. Whether he's in denial (dishonest to himself) or just trying to sell himself, I don't know, but both are slightly off-putting to me. It was interesting to see his complements of Rodriguez. I wonder how much of the program's hostility to Rodriguez after the firing was driven by Brandon.
I think Hoke has the tools to be a successful Power 5 coach. I believe he learned a lot at Michigan. He knows his limitations and knows he needs top-shelf assistants to succeed. I do think he'll struggle to recruit at anywhere the level that he did at Michigan ever again. Still, he can be a successful progam manager if he finds the right situation. I could see him turn things around at a Colorado, Virginia, or BC type of school, if backed by a strong supportive AD.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
The guy is so disingenous. Who the heck would have been his starting quarterback in 2015????? It would have been Shane Morris or Wilton Speight (no Rudock, no Gentry) as his starter and with either of those two, I think Michigan might be very well 1-6 right now. Even futher, there would be no O'Korn and no Brand Peters either. Michigan would be screwed at the QB spot for years to come.
I'm tired of hearing about Hoke and wish he would just go away (and stay away).
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
It's unfair and unrealistic to assume a coach is going to do nothing during an offseason and project that to future results.
We don't know how Hoke would have addressed the QB situation. Harbaugh addressed it with a 5th year transfer, maybe Hoke/Nussmeir would have too. Look, I don't think it was headed to a good place either, but you can't take away an entire offseason and recruiting class away from Hoke. Rudock wasn't the only transfer available and Gentry wasn't the only recruit.
People tried to do this same thing in blaming Rodriguez for Hoke's OL in 2014. The ONE THING Rodriguez did at Michigan that was excellent was locate and/or quickly develop OL talent that worked in his system (Molk, Omameh, Schofield, Lewan) - and he was probably going to do it again in the 2011 class before he got canned. You can't just take away the '11, '12, and '13 classes and assume Rodriguez was going to come back in 2014 with just the guys he had in 2010.
October 22nd, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
In fact, RR did secure a commitment from Jake Fisher for 2011, and it is likely that several other OL were driven away by the uncertainty that Brandon purposely created.
October 22nd, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^
but he had demonstrated that he could, unlike Hoke, have RS Freshman ready to play at a high level.
Rodriguez had bigger concerns in the 2011 class than OL, and he was right to be confident that he could address those OL needs at a later date.
October 22nd, 2015 at 7:31 PM ^
Absolutely. There's little question that Devin Gardner was the player who was hurt the most by the coaching change, but guys like Jack Miller also suffered.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
This is about a former football coach, and a member of the Michigan family, I doubt this would be seen as OT. Thanks for sharing.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
True; removed the "OT" - - thanks for the heads up.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:31 PM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
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October 22nd, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
i guess you guys agree hoke should take credit for Harbaugh's coaching this year.
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
Hoke (and Mattison) won in year 1 with RR's guys despite Borges' best efforts to shut down Denard. Now, JH is winning with Hoke's players that he couldn't develop.
October 22nd, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
So you are dissapointed that Michigan went 11-2 instead of 7-5 because Denards stats weren't as good?
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
So much this. It's over, like the MSU game. Spending time complaining about what happened in 2013 and 2014 is useless. There is good football being played right now that is a better focus of attention.
October 22nd, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^
i didn't say anything about not giving him any credit for his 11-2 year.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
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October 22nd, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
"Very good" is all relative... maybe not a very good P5 coach.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
I'm a very good coach as well...in Madden. And I always field 11 guys.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
There's some aspect of context here. DL coach? Very good. Recruiter? Very good. I think Hoke's biggest weakness was not pulling in the assistant coaches that could properly develop the talent he was getting. We saw flashes of it with Mattison, Montgomery, and maybe Nussmeier, but outside of those guys, the development of the team just seemed very lacking.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
He made the mistake of bringing them with him to the B1G. I think the same could be said for his predecessor as well. When you make a LB your secondary coach, heads will get scratched.
What makes Harbaugh a very good HC is the quality assistants he brings with him. Harbaugh has the best coaching staff in the B1G and possibly the entire country IMO. It's at least top 5 nationally. He can't coach everyone individually, so he makes sure he can get the best possible coach for each position.
October 22nd, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
October 22nd, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
One thing about Borges though: I thought his playcalling in 2011, minus the Iowa game and the first 3 quarters of the ND game, was brilliant. They never should've switched to full MANBALL.