So my username may reveal my opinion of Coach Hoke to some, but he was woefully unqualified and should never have been considered for the UM job.
The fact that anyone can look back on his tenure with any kind of sanguinity and say something like "he kept the seat warm for Harbaugh" is a testament to how great the last 3 years have been.
We were lucky as all get out that Harbaugh was available in 2014 and that there were not any particularly tempting NFL jobs we had to compete with to get him.
I think this all came out earlier in the season. I think given how things have worked out it behooves us to be gracious and remember him and All fondly as members of the 2021 team that broke our OSU jinx.
C+ game is a spot-on assessment. I thought in the second half we'd see some trickery to punish the PSU defense's aggressiveness; maybe a jet sweep like we saw against Purdue or may some RPO stuff. But in the end, none of it was needed. Michigan ran a 1970's era offensive gameplan in the second half and it was still enough. Another point of data showing how spurious the whole signstealing issue is; PSU couldn't consistently stop runs up the middle.
Team looks great. I'd feel a bit better if our secondary was sharper but maybe it's just that they need injury recovery time. In this era of college football one is going to come up against some juggernaut passing offense and we do have to face the Harrison/Egbuka combo this year.
And I'd feel better if we had just 1 more top flight receiver for JJ to be able to depend on but hopefully the presence of Loveland/Donovan will mitigate that.
I agree! Swallow your pride for 2 years and honestly, he probably could have started for us next year and helped mentor Jadyn Davis. Afterwards he'd have a smooth path into coaching if that took his fancy. Waste of 2 years for the guy but he was exactly the QB we needed in the dark days of 2020.
Clearly replacing our phenomenally successful incumbent QB was the right call. As good as Cade was last year it's hard to see him winning this game for us - which is probably the only game all year that could be said for. JJ is the man.
Without the elite ends and pass rush we had last year I thought they had no shot at stopping Stroud and yet they somehow did it. It seemed to me that Stroud had time to throw and yet our guys covered all their allegedly elite receivers. Absolutely insane.
This has goto be fake news right? In what World would TN hiring Gruden end well? Illinois already tried the plan of hiring an out-of-work, ex-mediocre-NFL coach and it ain't working out too hot for them.
Without a doubt, Appalachian State. My expectations of how bad things could get for us were shattered after that.
I will never forget the day. I was an intern on call at the ICU at St. Joe's - Ypsi. I remember we extubated a very old, ill patient that morning and by afternoon he was apparently looking good and we were wondering if he was stable enough to transfer to the floor. I was busy the entire afternoon and didn't get a chance to check the score on a computer or on TV. I went to check on him and asked him how things were and he informed me that Michigan had lost to Appalachian state. I vividly remember walking out of that room and tihnking to myself "Man, that dude still has some ICU delirium, we should probably hold off on transferring him out until tomorrow".
And then I finally got a sec to sit down at a computer.
I think LSU would be the easiest to win consistently at. USC still has to compete with UCLA and Stanford for recruits. As has been mentioned many times before, LSU is the only power 5 school in a ridculously talent-rich state. Almost no matter what you do you would be guaranteed and excellent recruiting class, year in and year out.
I don't think Texas is as easy a job - too much dysfunction in their administration means a coach will never stand on solid footing. And a ton of other schools to compete with for talent.
I'd also like to see how we do against a spread team - clearly our D can dominate pro-style offenses. Do we play any other spread-type teams until we play the Sith?
Only town in the original Big 10 worse than Chambana is West Lafayette. Why would any high schooler in their right mind go there when they can get to Madison or Ann Arbor or Iowa City in not too much more time than it takes to get down to Chambana.
DId Auburn even have that good of a defense this year? I feel like typically when coaches are fired and have to go back to being coordinators, they need to really do something special before they get offered another HC job.
Do this many people really RichRod is a bad coach? Obviously his Michigan tenure was marred by poor decisions on the defensive side of the ball and his recruiting of offensive lineman (as well as other positions) left a great deal to be desired.
But at the same time he had a phenomenal run at WVU and he seems performing above AZ's usual level. They can't both be mirages. Can they?
Did anyone else watching feel that if Cook had played the way he did tonight against us that we would have crushed MSU? He seemed to underthrow or overthrow a lot of open receivers.
Until Coah Hoke acts honorably I think he deserves all the derision he has received. He should recognize he is hurting the Michigan program and fall on his sword. And he should return the $4.5 million dollar salary he was paid (paid, not earned) this year.
There are very few jobs in America where you can be so ineffectual at our job and yet continue to get paid.
If Coach Hoke loved Michigan as much as people on this site think he would have resigned already. The fact that he hasn't suggests that he's either delusional, an idiot, or just doesn't give a crap about the football program.
I think Michigan's season is still more disappointing. I have some expectations for Michigan football. I have none for the Lions; every Lions' victory is a minor miracle for me. I'll never forget the 0-16 year.
Texas is currently in a messy situation but they are absolutely NOT worse off than we are. They are still the premier football school in one of the most talent rich states in the US. When they are halfway decent they have first crack at all kinds of 5-star and 4-star recruits.
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So my username may reveal my opinion of Coach Hoke to some, but he was woefully unqualified and should never have been considered for the UM job.
The fact that anyone can look back on his tenure with any kind of sanguinity and say something like "he kept the seat warm for Harbaugh" is a testament to how great the last 3 years have been.
We were lucky as all get out that Harbaugh was available in 2014 and that there were not any particularly tempting NFL jobs we had to compete with to get him.
I think this all came out earlier in the season. I think given how things have worked out it behooves us to be gracious and remember him and All fondly as members of the 2021 team that broke our OSU jinx.
C+ game is a spot-on assessment. I thought in the second half we'd see some trickery to punish the PSU defense's aggressiveness; maybe a jet sweep like we saw against Purdue or may some RPO stuff. But in the end, none of it was needed. Michigan ran a 1970's era offensive gameplan in the second half and it was still enough. Another point of data showing how spurious the whole signstealing issue is; PSU couldn't consistently stop runs up the middle.
Team looks great. I'd feel a bit better if our secondary was sharper but maybe it's just that they need injury recovery time. In this era of college football one is going to come up against some juggernaut passing offense and we do have to face the Harrison/Egbuka combo this year.
And I'd feel better if we had just 1 more top flight receiver for JJ to be able to depend on but hopefully the presence of Loveland/Donovan will mitigate that.
I agree! Swallow your pride for 2 years and honestly, he probably could have started for us next year and helped mentor Jadyn Davis. Afterwards he'd have a smooth path into coaching if that took his fancy. Waste of 2 years for the guy but he was exactly the QB we needed in the dark days of 2020.
Great write up. Amazing gameplan by Minter and heroic efforts by Sainristil et al.
Clearly replacing our phenomenally successful incumbent QB was the right call. As good as Cade was last year it's hard to see him winning this game for us - which is probably the only game all year that could be said for. JJ is the man.
Also, no blizzard during the game this year so what will the excuse for losing be? That they were missing Smith-Njigba?
Without the elite ends and pass rush we had last year I thought they had no shot at stopping Stroud and yet they somehow did it. It seemed to me that Stroud had time to throw and yet our guys covered all their allegedly elite receivers. Absolutely insane.
Is it just me or does ceiling of Manziel without the off-field issues sound awesome?
For as much of a punchline he became in the NFL he did some insane stuff in college.
This has goto be fake news right? In what World would TN hiring Gruden end well? Illinois already tried the plan of hiring an out-of-work, ex-mediocre-NFL coach and it ain't working out too hot for them.
Rutgers is the win that gives us hope that the team will finish much better than it started.
Without a doubt, Appalachian State. My expectations of how bad things could get for us were shattered after that.
I will never forget the day. I was an intern on call at the ICU at St. Joe's - Ypsi. I remember we extubated a very old, ill patient that morning and by afternoon he was apparently looking good and we were wondering if he was stable enough to transfer to the floor. I was busy the entire afternoon and didn't get a chance to check the score on a computer or on TV. I went to check on him and asked him how things were and he informed me that Michigan had lost to Appalachian state. I vividly remember walking out of that room and tihnking to myself "Man, that dude still has some ICU delirium, we should probably hold off on transferring him out until tomorrow".
And then I finally got a sec to sit down at a computer.
Doh.
I think LSU would be the easiest to win consistently at. USC still has to compete with UCLA and Stanford for recruits. As has been mentioned many times before, LSU is the only power 5 school in a ridculously talent-rich state. Almost no matter what you do you would be guaranteed and excellent recruiting class, year in and year out.
I don't think Texas is as easy a job - too much dysfunction in their administration means a coach will never stand on solid footing. And a ton of other schools to compete with for talent.
Nope, nevermind, we were #5
Weren't we #3 going into The Horror?
I'd also like to see how we do against a spread team - clearly our D can dominate pro-style offenses. Do we play any other spread-type teams until we play the Sith?
Only town in the original Big 10 worse than Chambana is West Lafayette. Why would any high schooler in their right mind go there when they can get to Madison or Ann Arbor or Iowa City in not too much more time than it takes to get down to Chambana.
DId Auburn even have that good of a defense this year? I feel like typically when coaches are fired and have to go back to being coordinators, they need to really do something special before they get offered another HC job.
Do this many people really RichRod is a bad coach? Obviously his Michigan tenure was marred by poor decisions on the defensive side of the ball and his recruiting of offensive lineman (as well as other positions) left a great deal to be desired.
But at the same time he had a phenomenal run at WVU and he seems performing above AZ's usual level. They can't both be mirages. Can they?
Did anyone else watching feel that if Cook had played the way he did tonight against us that we would have crushed MSU? He seemed to underthrow or overthrow a lot of open receivers.
Until Coah Hoke acts honorably I think he deserves all the derision he has received. He should recognize he is hurting the Michigan program and fall on his sword. And he should return the $4.5 million dollar salary he was paid (paid, not earned) this year.
There are very few jobs in America where you can be so ineffectual at our job and yet continue to get paid.
If Coach Hoke loved Michigan as much as people on this site think he would have resigned already. The fact that he hasn't suggests that he's either delusional, an idiot, or just doesn't give a crap about the football program.
I think Michigan's season is still more disappointing. I have some expectations for Michigan football. I have none for the Lions; every Lions' victory is a minor miracle for me. I'll never forget the 0-16 year.
Texas is currently in a messy situation but they are absolutely NOT worse off than we are. They are still the premier football school in one of the most talent rich states in the US. When they are halfway decent they have first crack at all kinds of 5-star and 4-star recruits.