Leadership (or lack thereof)
You know when you are sitting at a restaurant next to a family of four, and the two kids are running around acting like monsters while the parents look around meekly and apologize to the other customers, rather than controlling the kids themselves? You want to be irritated by the kids, but it's really not their fault - it's the parents' fault, that have never taught the kids how to act. That's what Brady's apology is. It's too late for him to actually guide these young men on how to act, so now all he is left with is making weak apologies for them.
We should have all seen this kind of bush-league garbage coming when Hoke didn't name captains. The head coach is the CEO of the program and is 100% accountable for everything, from tent stakes to backup QB concussions. Period.
We know Hoke has failed to develop players on the field, as is evidenced by Jake Ryan, Devin Gardner, Devin Funchess, Blake Countess, et al basically being the same players today that they were the day they walked into Schembecler - magnificently talented but still making bad decisions or, in the case of Funchess, giving up on plays.
But all HCs, especially in college programs, also need to develop player leaders (a.k.a. captains) that reflect their vision, and those leaders have the maturity, credibility, and consent of the governed among their teammates to control the locker room when the coach isn’t around. Getting players who have that authority takes development and guidance from the HC just like their skills on the field. The fact that the coaching staff couldn't come up with two players that they felt would control the locker room and keep the players in line speaks volumes about the leadership development being completely nonexistent.
Brady may or may not have been aware of the stake being driven into the field, but he is still accountable for the lack of leadership among the players that would allow such a ridiculously childish and Spartan-esque action to take place to begin with. The Bobby Williams comparisons are telling - as much as we all despise Dantonio, at least you know who is in charge in EL.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:34 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 8:35 AM ^
I continue to be astounded that Hoke still has his job. Clearly someone is not putting the interest of the football program and University ahead of thier own.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
I honestly do believe that Brady Hoke loves Michigan, loves his players, and loves the football program, and that his first priority is the success of Michigan football. But I also honestly believe that he is in over his head at Michigan. That's not a knock on him as a person, but he just doesn't seem to be equipped to manage this level of program.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:41 AM ^
The whole crew needs to go....Everyone one of them,today!
cancel the rest of the season.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:10 AM ^
This shouldn't have been a diary due to content (or lack thereof).
October 27th, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
I recall a time none of us gave a shit what Sparty was whining about, fans and team alike, but mostly fans. Shit diary.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
That was back when we were kicking their arse every year. You know back when Train and Norah Jones were dominating the music scene... Your comment is just about as relevant. Put down the coors light and acknowledge who we are, not who we used to be.
So I assume you think putting a little tent stake into an artificial turf field when you're a 18 point dog was a nifty idea?
October 27th, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
Just because we're losing to them doesn't mean we have to care whether or not Dantonio had his feelings hurt. Why even talk about this?
And I don't care what motivational ploy the players use to get hyped. Lloyd Carr telling the 97 team to pretend they were climbing a mountain seems pretty childish, but they bought in, so good for them.
It was a stake they drove into a GRASS field, by the way. You know, where they pull it up two minutes later and put it somewhere and you can't even tell a stake was ever even there in the first place. What's the difference between that and woofing at each other?
October 27th, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
The field is made of grass. I can recall a time when we didn't give a shit what Spartan Stadium's playing surface was made of. So you thought it was a good idea, then?
October 27th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
I already said it was a "I don't care what they do" idea. Every single hype video recycles footage of Michigan getting into OSU grills before that particular annual asswhooping. What's the difference, other than Urban Tressel has never been butt hurt enough about it to stand at behind a lecturn and cry about it?
October 27th, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
I don't why the argument is whether MSU should be offended that our kids pee'd in their pool or not. I mean, shouldn't UM fans be pretty embarrassed that our kids pee'd in somebody's pool? I sure am. Yeah, MSU may have pee'd in our pool once or twice, but it sure doesn't make our doing it look any better. It just makes us look more like them.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
It seems whenever there is a problem, Hoke plays dumb and says he didn't know. This happened with the tent stake. It happened with the Morris concussion. He doesn't seem to realize that ignorance is not a viable defense for a head coach.
The man is in over his head, and instead of finding a way to deal with that, he keeps digging his hole deeper.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
1) in your example there is 1 adult per child
2) it was clear from the press conferences leading up to the game that the message hoke was sending was no bulletin board material. Which the players adhered to until the stake incident
3) if people weren't being so petty, I think cooler heads would realize that there is no way for the 10?11? Coaches on the team to babysit the 30?40? Players who travelled. As for bringing the stake to the stadium, are you proposing that the coaches go all TSA?
4) yes, it's unfortunate that the incident happened. But hoke took the high road and apologized - privately and publicly.
5) does anyone really think that if this hadn't have happened that MSU wouldn't have found some other perceived slight?
4)
October 27th, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
He said it was brought and used in the locker room pregame as a motivational tool. I have no problem with Hoke as a person, but he is a terrible head coach.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^
If you look at the coaches' page on MGoBlue.com, there are 54 adults associated with the football program:
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/coaches-m-footbl.html
It's not uncommon for a family to have 4 children. In large families, the older kids usually take on some responsibility for raising the younger kids.
Brady has proven in his four years at Michigan that he is unable to effectively organize such a large organization, or whatever metaphor you want to use.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^
Obviously there are a different # of adults and children. That's why it is, you know, an analogy. But I still think it works, even after rereading it. It is still about leadership of young, immature players.
He is apologizing for something his players did, when it's clear he should have taught those players not to do stupid stuff like that. The "we can't possibly control the actions of the players" argument is complete garbage. If you can't control 65 players for 4 hours while in uniform on the field of play you need to find a new job. If we are going to hold other coaches' accountable for the stupid immature stuff their players do, like the Marcus Hall double bird, or the similar loser antics of the state player that got ejected for targeting on Saturday, then we hold our own coaches to the same standard.
As far as the TSA comment I don't have any problem with using the cute little tent stake as a motivational tool, even having it on the sidelines. Just don't be stupid and douchey with it.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
Apologize? Are you guys fucking kidding me? The only people Hoke should apologize to are the alumni and fans for putting out such a poor effort.
But we don't want to get Dantonio mad. Heaven forbide. Screw Dantonio and screw MSU, we are not there to appease them we are there to kick their asses. And until we have a coach that has that attitude you are going to see a lot of more days like we had on Saturday.
There is no high road here, it is pure cowardice and submission. We have fallen so far as a program that we are worried about offending a coach and program that has complete and utter disdain for you and never fails to show it.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 27th, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
Yeah, but how did we get to either of those cases? How is there not a suitable leader in this group? How could someone not have grown in 4 years that could be looked at as a leader? This speaks to how toxic the environment is that it stifles growth like that.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
The problem is that there are so many straws - all worthy of grasping - that collectively show a total lack of effective control by Hoke. Leadership begins at the top. Hoke fails to effectively lead. Can you imagine an incident like the stake happening when Bo was the coach? EVERY player would have known that such conduct would not be tolerated by Bo, so it would never have happened. As one of the commenters posted, Hoke's all too familiar explanation is that he was not aware, but the other side of that is creating an atmosphere where everyone knows what to do and how to behave.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
figure out what is really ailing it, but there are clearly no established team leaders, just a seniority system that sort of bears on experience and position personality. It's true that Bo would have never accepted the stake driving as an emotional tool, but it seems strange that a team of a program that has suffered such idignities at the hands of its primary rivals this year, losing both games by a combined score of 66-11 needs to have its coach apologize for some onfield behavior that was a symbol of dying pride, the very issue that Dantonio spoke about in the aftermath of the "Little Brother" episode.
Ohio State led by Woody Hayes one time had his players try to take down the M Club banner before the game, and there have been lots of incidents both beforehand and on the field that leap out as rivalry incidents, and have become part of the history and tradition of the game, creating the tension and passion that everyone knows is always there. No one apologizes for it.
Yet, Hoke felt obliged to do so to Dantonio for a motivational ploy gone awry, one that he apparently helped shape. Why didn't Hoke get pissed about two incidents of targeting on two of his sons, especially in the wake of rhe Morris fiasco? That to me shows even greater weakness in leadership. Dantonio didn't mention that postgame, two targeting hits, and make no mistake the only thing that prevent the Tiawan Jones hit from being an ejectionable act on Devin Gardner was interpretation of the incident, not the hit itself which was helmet to helmet, and met the definition of the crime.
And then you wonder why you have shellshocked qbs? Devin has played like a warrior for Michigan and Hoke, but I think he is a broken guy at this point. And again, this goes back to Hoke and this team. The coach talks about toughness, but this is the softest Michigan team competitively I think I've ever watched since I began watching this team for more than 40 years,
October 27th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
I accepted the explanation of the 2nd helmet ot helmet hit as non-Targeting. I thought it was the right call. I hope it wasn't that I just didn't care anymore.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
Hoke's failure to get pissed about the two targetting penalties should get much more attention. Dantonio, not Hoke, should step up and apologize for his team's unsportsmanlike behavior. Where is Hoke's anger? Support for his players has to be shown in game situations.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
Personally, I'm just baffled by the whole stake thing. I get the motivational thing, but all week Hoke had these guys clamped down, mouths shut, focus on the game... the message seemed crystal clear. And then, BOLDEN of all people?! He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that is all... I dunno... STUPID about stuff like that.
I'm not sure what else Hoke could do. I mean, he's clearly in over his head, too big a stage, blah blah blah, no question there. But the players still listen to him, they don't discount him or second guess him or talk behind his back. It just seems so ODD that they'd run out there and put a tent stake in the turf. Take away the whole contrived "DISRESPECT" card that Sparty is always going to play (I thought Baumgardner had a pretty good article on this) overall the gesture just seemed I dunno... WEAK.
It's like the players listen to him, but have also adopted his habit of not really thinking things through.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
I agree with you we have a complete lack of leadership from Hoke, but I have a completely different take of the spike incident. This is football not “Little Miss Manners Finishing School”. When asked about it, a REAL leader and competitor upon hearing that one of his players took the inspirational team building symbol and drove it into the opposing team‘s field would have responded by saying “Yeah so what? The only thing I regret is that our team didn’t back it up.”
It has never been clearer that Hoke doesn’t understand the nuances of building a tough, strong-minded, championship caliber team than it was on how he responded to one of his players tossing down the gallant to an opponent.
Dantonio makes no secret of his disdain for your program. He admitted that he wanted to score the last touchdown simply to rub it in. There was no other reason for the score other than to add a little humiliation. I wouldn’t hold my breath on any apology coming from East Lansing, which is how it should be. Dantonio is the same man that undressed your assistant coach and representative of your program and university in front of a room full of high school coaches. Telling Hecklinski to shut up and sit down or if he wanted to talk about Michigan to go outside in the hallway. He in essence spit on your program in a public forum. Did Dantonio apologize for that?
When Woody Hayes went for two points in a blowout of Michigan, did he apologize for that? When Jim Tressell had Lloyd and his team strip searched prior to entering Buckeye stadium, did he apologize? When Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a win against OSU in 1986, did Bo jump in and issue an apology to OSU?
When the same Jim Harbaugh added a little salt in the wound after his underdog Stanford team beat Pete Carroll’s mighty USC team, which caused Carroll to utter the famous words “What’s your problem?” Did Harbaugh apologize? No he looked at him and said “what’s your problem?”
The difference between men like Woody, Tressell, Bo, Harbaugh and yes Dantonio, are that they won’t back down from a fight. Hoke, on the other hand, feels so bad that Dantonio’s feelings might have gotten hurt that instead of trying to figure out why his team got slaughtered on Saturday, he instead scurried to issue an official and public apology. Simply pathetic.
October 27th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
a REAL leader and competitorLook around the school and you'll find plenty of REAL leaders and competitors. Look in the Top 3 B-school, look in the Tier 10 law school, look in the highly ranked hospital and medical school. Heck, look in the school of engineering and you'll find freaking astronauts! I haven't seen any those REAL leaders and competitors acting like the arrogant dickhead you seem to be idealizing.
October 27th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
Maybe Hoke should get a job at the B-School. That way he won't have to worry about making Dantonio upset.
I actually think his apology fell a little short. I think he should have also apoloized for scoring a touchdown on MSU in the second half to break UM's TD draught against MSU.
October 27th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
I am not looking for manners, just perspective. You can run your mouth when the series has been close lately, or it’s expected to be a close game, at least. You don’t make your stake-in-the-turf stunt when you’ve been getting manhandled for 5 years and are heavy road underdogs. You keep you mouth shut and let your game do the talking.
The Harbaugh guarantee is a great example. The series was nip-and-tuck for 10 years prior to that game, and Harbaugh was the undisputed leader of the team – he had earned the right to make a strong statement. Bo stood behind it publically because Harbaugh had earned the mandate as a leader to do it. Remember, Bo didn’t agree with Harbaugh publically on lots of occasions. But that’s the difference between a leader being a leader and the inmates running the asylum. Thanks, you basically made my point for me.
As your other examples - Woody, Tressell, and Dantonio – of how to act “fiery” as a leader, you can have them. If you think these guys are what we should emulate, then you and I can fight right now.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^
I didn't know anything about the "stake incident" until I read about it in here. Personally, I like the fact that the players took it upon themselves to do something to motivate each other in the face of an obviously superior team. It didn't seem to do much good as, once again, they got bullied in every way possible, and look completely soft and lost.
Hoke's apology, IMO, was perhasp the weakest thing I could possibly imagine a coach doing. In fact, after MSU ran the score up on us, I was hoping that Hoke would go out to meet Dantonio after the game and fuck him up, or at the very least express show him he was pissed. But, once again, Hoke rolled over like a dog in the face of the Alpha dog.
I like Hoke as a person (but I am beginning to like him less and less) but that is just fucking sad. The whole Michigan football organization -- coaches AND players -- just fucking suck. They're weak physically and mentally. I know people don't think we should "rip on the players" and I've admonished people for doing the same. But, with all apologies, they just SUCK. They're completely incapable of doing even the most basic football plays. I feel so sad to say this, and I know there is a lot of "bad coaching" involved, but c'mon guys.
The whole thing depresses me to no end.