Hoke To Michigan


Brady Hoke should have Michigan back up and running in no time.
 

As many times as his name was thrown around for jobs, looks like his resistance paid off. He really wanted this one.
 

What does this say about the Michigan brand of football?

4 years ago they hired RichRod, a guy who'd been to BCS bowl games with a legitimate West Virginia team.

Now, they're scraping in the same barrels as schools like Minnesota and Indiana for guys who are largely unproven in big time conferences.

Don't get me wrong, I would have been happy with Hoke as our hire at Minnesota. But Michigan isn't used to taking chances on anything when it comes to football.
 

What does this say about the Michigan brand of football?

4 years ago they hired RichRod, a guy who'd been to BCS bowl games with a legitimate West Virginia team.

Now, they're scraping in the same barrels as schools like Minnesota and Indiana for guys who are largely unproven in big time conferences.

Don't get me wrong, I would have been happy with Hoke as our hire at Minnesota. But Michigan isn't used to taking chances on anything when it comes to football.

I think Lloyd Carr was a chance.
 


I wonder if Michigan asked permission to talk with him first...:)
 

Anybody know how the Michigan faithfull would react to Hoke. That is what is most important. I kind of got the impression they would be less than thrilled by it.
 

What does this say about the Michigan brand of football?

4 years ago they hired RichRod, a guy who'd been to BCS bowl games with a legitimate West Virginia team.

Now, they're scraping in the same barrels as schools like Minnesota and Indiana for guys who are largely unproven in big time conferences.

Don't get me wrong, I would have been happy with Hoke as our hire at Minnesota. But Michigan isn't used to taking chances on anything when it comes to football.

True. Even Miami (other than the Gruden to Miami talk, and who knows how much veracity that had) had to pull from the same pool of candidates as us and Indiana and other schools generally considered to be on a much lower tier.

To me that's been one of the most remarkable things about this whole coaching carousel, is that no truly top-tier coaches moved from one school to another. Everybody's been left trying to get the best of the up and comers, rather than those who are already there.
 

Anybody know how the Michigan faithfull would react to Hoke. That is what is most important. I kind of got the impression they would be less than thrilled by it.

Yea, that is probably an understatement. Anyone who loves the idea of a Michigan Man loves this hire. Everyone else seems to be less than pleased.
 



True. Even Miami (other than the Gruden to Miami talk, and who knows how much veracity that had) had to pull from the same pool of candidates as us and Indiana and other schools generally considered to be on a much lower tier.

To me that's been one of the most remarkable things about this whole coaching carousel, is that no truly top-tier coaches moved from one school to another. Everybody's been left trying to get the best of the up and comers, rather than those who are already there.

Coaches with jobs know they are precious and don't want to risk it. They know that if they make a potential lateral move they could be on the street in 3-4 years if they don't improve the situation. The up and comer gets a pay raise to make up for those 3-4 years.
 

I'm not sure they count him as a "Michigan Man." He coached there, but he played at Ball State.

Despite the displeasure of many with this hire (remember, many here thought he wasn't good enough for us), there's a lot of talking of swallowing their pride and getting behind him. Apparently many feel that not supporting RichRod doomed him from the start, and they want to give the new guy a more fair shot at success.

There's a lesson there, perhaps, for Gopher fans who want to sit on the sidelines and wait for kill to prove himself.
 

I'm not sure they count him as a "Michigan Man." He coached there, but he played at Ball State.

Despite the displeasure of many with this hire (remember, many here thought he wasn't good enough for us), there's a lot of talking of swallowing their pride and getting behind him. Apparently many feel that not supporting RichRod doomed him from the start, and they want to give the new guy a more fair shot at success.

There's a lesson there, perhaps, for Gopher fans who want to sit on the sidelines and wait for kill to prove himself.

They definitely count him as a Michigan Man. Lloyd Carr is backing him and the term Michigan Man is getting used in every newspaper/blog report about it. His detractors point to his record as ask if they'd actually be considering him if he wasn't a Michigan Man.

Also, I don't think where you played there is the deciding factor with whether the Michigan folks consider you one of them. It can be just as much about whether you coached there under Bo and "get" the Michigan program.
 

The ESPN story says that Hoke is NOT a "Michigan Man" because he didn't play there.
 



I think I posted on here just before Kill was hired that I was listening to one of the plethora of sportstalk shows on the AM dial and a college football expert was just raving about Hoke as someone who was going to move up in the business sooner or later. The commentator was simply effusive in his praise of Hoke.

This looks to be a good hire for Michigan. It bums me out a bit that he obviously used us to pad his San Diego State salary and saved himself for an eventual marriage to Michigan. Never fun to feel used like that. I'm fine with Kill, but it does say something that Hoke didn't really consider us (or at least it appears that way).
 


Let's remember, though Hoke admitted talking to the Gophers, he has always maintained that we never offered him the job.
 

The ESPN story says that Hoke is NOT a "Michigan Man" because he didn't play there.

That AP story is the only one I've seen saying he's not a Michigan Man. Every other story either plays it straight (i.e. nothing beyond the facts that he was hired) and talks only about his background or references him as a Michigan Man or includes quotes from players talking about him as a Michigan Man/part of the Michigan family.

One of the biggest Michigan blogs out there (Maize and Brew) calls him a Michigan Man and the biggest Michigan blog (MGoBlog) has done the same. I'm going to defer to the Michigan die-hards over the AP guy.

I think the whole idea of a Michigan Man is dumb, but there is definitely more out there pointing him being thought of as a Michigan Man than the single AP article would suggest.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/22364/hoke-a-michigan-man-with-plenty-to-prove
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/11/michigan-hires-san-diego-states-hoke/
http://www.detnews.com/article/2011...ke--Not-a-big-name-but-a-solid-choice-for-U-M
http://www.detnews.com/article/2011...1265/Brady-Hoke-named-Michigan-football-coach
http://www.maizenbrew.com/2011/1/11/1928959/desperation#storyjump
 


I really feel as though using a very vague term like "Michigan Man" to describe everything surrounding a program is incredibly pompous and, above all, stupid. I feel dumber for even making a post about it. Bo made up that term because he was pissed that a basketball coach decided to take another job. According to his definition, then, Les Miles is not a Michigan Man.

Garbage.
 

I really feel as though using a very vague term like "Michigan Man" to describe everything surrounding a program is incredibly pompous and, above all, stupid. I feel dumber for even making a post about it. Bo made up that term because he was pissed that a basketball coach decided to take another job. According to his definition, then, Les Miles is not a Michigan Man.

Garbage.

Yep. It's the kind of thinking that got Trestman mentioned as a candidate for the Gophers. I think most rational Michigan fans feel the same way. Frankly, I'm glad that the bigwigs don't seem to agree. The meltdown in that fanbase is fun to watch.
 

I really feel as though using a very vague term like "Michigan Man" to describe everything surrounding a program is incredibly pompous and, above all, stupid. I feel dumber for even making a post about it. Bo made up that term because he was pissed that a basketball coach decided to take another job. According to his definition, then, Les Miles is not a Michigan Man.

Garbage.

Well put. Amen.
 

Even my girlfriend, and Michigan grad, hates the term "Michigan Man"
 




Michigan fans seem to be upset. Like virtually everybody else that has hired in the process they ended up with a lower profile coach than they initially expected (Miami: No Gruden, No Mullen; Maryland: No Leach; Pitt has already fired the first coach they hired this offseason; Florida: ended up with a coordinator instead of proven BCS coach; Colorado: Bellotti was the hot name their fans wanted Minnesota: so many names and now Michigan: No Harbaugh, No Miles). It really has become fascinating to see so many teams fall so far below fans expectations when hiring. Even teams like Michigan with money they are willing to spend (reportedly offered $5.2 million to Harbaugh) are missing out on top candidates.

I think Hoke can be a very good coach there. He is bringing Al Borges, his OC from SDSU (formerly at Auburn), which is a good hire. Now the key is who he brings in on the defensive side of the ball. I think it is going to take a while for them to rebuild. They have some talent on offense but their depth is thin--particularly at QB where they are rumored to be down to 2 scholarship QB's on the roster with 0 committed in this class. Their defense is really lacking and that won't be a quick fix.
 

Michigan fans seem to be upset. Like virtually everybody else that has hired in the process they ended up with a lower profile coach than they initially expected (Miami: No Gruden, No Mullen; Maryland: No Leach; Pitt has already fired the first coach they hired this offseason; Florida: ended up with a coordinator instead of proven BCS coach; Colorado: Bellotti was the hot name their fans wanted Minnesota: so many names and now Michigan: No Harbaugh, No Miles). It really has become fascinating to see so many teams fall so far below fans expectations when hiring. Even teams like Michigan with money they are willing to spend (reportedly offered $5.2 million to Harbaugh) are missing out on top candidates.

I think Hoke can be a very good coach there. He is bringing Al Borges, his OC from SDSU (formerly at Auburn), which is a good hire. Now the key is who he brings in on the defensive side of the ball. I think it is going to take a while for them to rebuild. They have some talent on offense but their depth is thin--particularly at QB where they are rumored to be down to 2 scholarship QB's on the roster with 0 committed in this class. Their defense is really lacking and that won't be a quick fix.

Nice to see Michigan and others also not getting their top choices. We are past the shock phase.
 

Let's remember, though Hoke admitted talking to the Gophers, he has always maintained that we never offered him the job.

I think Maturi said at some point he wanted a head coach with a winning record. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that Hoke has a winning record.
 

What does this say about the Michigan brand of football?

Nothing, IMO. I think it says a lot more about where college football is now. This year there has been 3 Top 10 openings in FL, Mich, and Miami and none of the 'hot' coaches moved. And now Stanford has opened and Petersen already said 'no thanks'. It would be very easy to make the argument that the Gophers came out of this with a better coach than any of the big guys, and it sort of shows that, at least right now, the dreaded 'stepping stone' is an over rated fear.
 

I think Maturi said at some point he wanted a head coach with a winning record. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that Hoke has a winning record.

You would be correct. His HC record is 47-50.
 




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