After Michigan‘s nightmare loss to Michigan State on Saturday, former head coach Brady Hoke says he wouldn’t have punted at the end of the game.
Everyone in the world has a take on the punt that cost Michigan the game in epic fashion last week. Despite Michigan punter Blake O’Neill speaking to the media already and the team moving on, the story of what happened on that play still hasn’t died yet.
The latest to have an opinion on the Michigan gaffe against one of their big rivals is ex-Michigan head coach Brady Hoke, who was fired after another disappointing season in Ann Arbor last year.
Discussing the final play of the game on his SiriusXM national radio show, Hoke talked about how he would have handled the last play that ended up being a major blunder differently.
"“Personally, if we have the No. 1 defense in the nation I’m going to test those guys,” Hoke said. “You’ve got to play to the strength of your football team and the strength of the Michigan football team all year long has been their defense.”"
As for the punt itself, Hoke broke down what went wrong with it and what should have happened if it was going to be a punt call.
"“No. 1, I think the one gunner to the field should have been in a little bit more and if you’re going to punt it there’s ways to protect it a little better,” Hoke said."
After Saturday, it’s easy to see why many people might just trust their defense on the final play of the game instead of their punter, considering it would have been out of field goal distance if the Spartans took over on downs.
Going forward, it’s a play that will probably have lots of teams using as a reference point if they find themselves in a similar situation at the end of the game.
Brady Hoke made plenty of blunders of his own at Michigan, and has never been afraid to admit when he’s made the wrong call. However, if it was him on the sideline coaching Michigan against Michigan State, he wouldn’t have called for a punt.