Michigan Football: Will Brady Hoke make it to the end of the season?
By John Bauman
Michigan fans are starting to get a little bit restless. The Wolverines are 2-2 on the season, with losses coming against Notre Dame, a very good football team, and Utah, a not so good football team. If you haven’t been keeping up with the Brady Hoke saga up in Ann Arbor, here is a quick summary.
The faithful are getting restless after Hoke carded an 8-5 record in 2012 and a 7-6 record in 2013, including a 3-5 conference record last season. Even Michigan columnists are getting in on the act. Terry Foster of the Detroit News has not been shy about his belief that Hoke needs to go. Here is a quote from Foster’s latest article, titled “Michigan Job is Too Big For Brady Hoke”:
"[Jim Stapleton, a fan who emailed in support of Hoke] said Hoke is the right man for the job and will win Big Ten titles if he is allowed to keep his job. That would be rare. Hoke has only won one conference title in 12 years as a head coach.Stapleton claims Hoke was hired to not only change a program, but to change a culture that he claims strayed from its true Michigan roots under former coach Rich Rodriguez, who was fired after three seasons.But Hoke seems over his head as Michigan coach. He might be a good fit for smaller programs like Ball State and San Diego State, but Michigan is a giant monster he doesn’t know how to handle."
The rumor mill has already started churning for Hoke’s replacement, even. ChatSports.com listed the “Top 10 Candidates to Replace Hoke If He Gets Fired”, including Jim Harbaugh, Les Miles and Kevin Sumlin and John Harbaugh on the list.
This outcry against Hoke has made a lot of Michigan players mad, most notably Dennis Norfleet. This article from mlive.com outlines a quote from Norfleet on Tuesday that defends his head coach.
"He takes it personally, and says the rest of the roster does as well.“I took it to heart this morning, they were really talking down on coach Hoke, saying his time is coming,” Norfleet said. “Coach Hoke does a lot. For me and the team. There have been times when I needed to see my family at a critical time, or I needed to see my daughter and he was there by my side throughout the way. It’s more than (just) football. In life, he’s a good coach. And right now, the way people are talking about him I don’t feel — and the team doesn’t feel — that it’s right.“Even if we lose. If we lose, if you’re a Michigan fan you’re supposed to be with us 100 percent to pick us up. We need our fans just as much as we need a win. So, yes, it hurts. It hurts a lot.”"
No matter what anyone says in favor of or against Brady Hoke, as of right now, he is still the head football coach at the University of Michigan. The question remains, though, of whether he will make it through the season.
Before condemning or endorsing Hoke to finish out the season at Michigan, let’s look at his track record for the Maize and Blue. At Michigan, he has had a 28-15 record and a 1-2 record in bowl games. His best season was in 2012, when he won 11 games and the Sugar Bowl over Virginia Tech. The last two seasons weren’t great, but they weren’t bad either. They certainly didn’t live up to the sky-high standards set at Michigan, though.
This season, the frustrations came to a boiling point with a loss against Utah. Despite outgaining the Utes in total yardage 308 to 286, Utah won the game by 16 points on the road at the Big House. The long lighting delay during the game didn’t do any favors for the mood of the fans in attendance. That meant that Michigan had lost three out of their last five home games, which, considering the home field advantage that Ann Arbor provides, is pretty disappointing.
I do think Hoke will make it though the season, but not make it back for 2015. The Wolverines don’t have much going for them on the offensive side of the ball. In the Michigan-Notre Dame game, UM was shut out. The fans behind me in Notre Dame stadium were joking that Devin Funchess was the only real threat out on the field for the Wolverines, and those fans were right.
Michigan still has a few winnable games left and opportunities for statement wins for Hoke against Michigan State and Ohio State still left on the roster. But with the locker room under attack with negative attention due to the Hoke scandal, I don’t see Michigan winning more than six or seven games this season. Its going to be hard for Hoke to keep his job with that record and with the pressure already mounting for his firing.
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