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01/13 2011

Over/Under: Reaction to Brady Hoke, Dave Brandon, Michigan Men

Posted by Ty Schalter.

Not long after this blog opined that Michigan needed to hire a good coach, not make a good hire, U-M AD Dave Brandon took the suggestion to heart. When he offered San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke the job, Hoke agreed without bothering to ask about terms. To say Hoke was eager to take the job is understatement indeed; practically the first words out of Hoke’s mouth after being introduced were, “We would have walked to the University of Michigan.”

Rich Rodriguez’s tenure at Michigan was unquestionably marked by his relationship with the media. It was a Detroit Free Press investigative report that resulted in the first major NCAA violations in Michigan football history. Throughout Rodriguez’s tenure, Michigan fans complained that the Detroit media seemed to paint Rodriguez as a renegade outsider, and Mark Dantonio as an avatar of integrity—even as Michigan State players wound showed up in the police blotter over and over again.

In Hoke’s introductory press conference (video available at http://www.mgoblue.com), however, the media seemed to welcome Hoke with open arms; the Q&A session was flecked with “welcome back, Coach” greetings and first-name-basis recognition. From the stories ran in the conference’s aftermath, the media is largely embracing the “good coach, if not a good hire” viewpoint.

Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News:

Hoke, 52, provides many of the traits Michigan sought, although he certainly doesn’t bring the gaudiest track record. Hoke hasn’t coached in a major conference and has a 47-50 career record, and that will give people pause. They also should give him a chance.

It’s reasonable for fans to be puzzled, especially with big-name “Michigan Men” such as Miles and Jim Harbaugh seemingly available. Michigan went flashy and bold with Rich Rodriguez last time, and that failure certainly affected this plan under Brandon, on the job less than a year.

Michael Rosenberg of the Free Press—who wrote the practice-violation story—let us know that Jim and John Harbaugh vouch for Hoke:

“He’s a phenomenal coach,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “Proven track record, and good person.”

Hoke does not have the All-America magnetism of Harbaugh. He will not intimidate and inspire at the same time in the way that Bo Schembechler did. He won’t quote Winston Churchill and Rudyard Kipling as often as Lloyd Carr did — and he won’t give the media as many death stares, either.

Hoke is just one of the guys. He loves his sport, really loves his job, and really, really loves the University of Michigan. Hoke isn’t the most polished coach, but he knows it, which makes him endearing.

This was all evident in his introductory news conference Wednesday afternoon. He joked about accidentally inventing a word (“You’ll get used to it. I do that once in a while — I’m good in Scrabble”) and didn’t hide his excitement at getting his dream job.

As John Harbaugh — Jim’s brother, and the successful coach of the Baltimore Ravens — said: “Everybody that’s ever met him likes him and respects him.”

Of course, a new era in a college football program is always met with optimism. Brian Cook of MGoBlog even broke his promise to curse a two-thousand-word blue streak if Hoke was hired, though only just:

This is a stupid hire. It will always be a stupid hire and David Brandon just led the worst coaching search in the history of Michigan football. He managed to chase off half of an already iffy recruiting class, hired a Plan C coach on January 11th, probably ensured the transfer of the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, and restricted his “national search” to people who’d spent at least five years in Ann Arbor.

The Detroit Free Press’ Drew Sharp—always game for penning a dissenting opinion—concurred with Cook:

They couldn’t get Jim Harbaugh. They apparently weren’t comfortable with what Les Miles required, or vice versa. They couldn’t get the “can’t miss star” who leaves eyes wide and tongues wagging, so they will find comfort in the guy determined to give them what they can specifically appreciate.

I Tweeted to Brian during the presser that Michigan may have gotten their Mark Dantonio: a man who was on the sidelines during the program’s most recent glory days, who “gets the rivalries” to a possibly-unhealthy degree, and who will coach the brand of football that the fans want to see. Will that, backed by the resources of the University of Michigan, return the Wolverines to their Carr-era success? It’s possible–even probable.

But the oldest joke in the Michigan Man book is “you can’t spell Lloyd without two Ls.” Will the fans, and media, be pleased with Hoke if he restores Michigan to what it was before Rodriguez—or will they judge Hoke by the same standard they judged his mentor?

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Posted on January 13, 2011 at 10:45AM

 

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