I did coach a ragamuffin bunch of 20-something softball studs to a softball championship. But really all I had to do was keep guys happy and let the talent take over.
But this Michigan football thing is something else. Again, I'm no coach. Nor have I ever been an Athletic Director. Much like most of my friends, I've never played a second of college sports. Never signed a pro contract.
Somehow though, we're all experts.
And according to the experts, the Brady Hoke hiring is a joke.
The fact of the matter is....we don't know! And now one of my best and closest friends will be upset with me! What up, K!
The way I look at it, this hire wasn't about 12-0 or 11-1. This was about making Michigan, Michigan again. As much as we don't like the thought of 8-10 wins a year, we loved it when it was that way before.
But more than 8-10 wins, and top 20 rankings, Michigan was a solid school with a clean football program. And during those years, they'd beat MSU most seasons, Ohio State every other year or so, and win 8 out of 10 of their other games.
Michigan loved the rivalry games, and what made them great was they were....drumroll please...rivalries. They hated Ohio State and would say it. They hated MSU and said it. It was never "just another game".
It wasn't about flash, though enough flash came through the Big House. Jim Harbaugh, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards. Michigan was a factory for NFL caliber QB's, WR's, Offensive linemen, and defensive studs. Even if Lloyd Carr's last couple years they were pumping out 1st round draft choices. Under Lloyd Carr, UM won 75% of their games.
But the Michigan faithful were tired of being clean, yet successful. They lusted for speed and savvy of the SEC schools. All flash, and alot of cash drew the cream of the crop to those schools. We wanted the spread offense. UM was stagnant. Football passed Lloyd by.
Now, us same experts, sit back, point, laugh, and shake our heads at the new head coach of University of Michigan football program.
I'll say it again...We don't know.
Remember when Lloyd Carr took over in 1995? We didn't like it, but didn't mind having him during the undefeated season and national championship in 1997. He was U-M's defensive coordinator before getting the head coaching job. His D-line coach? Brady Hoke.
The 2 names the experts in our area wanted were Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles. Not a surprise. Both had the UM ties, and Jim Harbaugh appears to be the next Vince Lombardi.
People point to Brady Hoke's poor record as a head coach, and it's a fair point. They say he's only had 2-3 good years, and only one was great. Let's look at these numbers...
1st season - 1st school: 7-4. Then two 11-1 seasons in the PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE! Then he goes to Stanford and goes, 4-8, 5-7, and 8-5. That's a combined 17-20 at the big program. Those look alot like a recent UM coaches first 3 seasons....Just sayin.
Then...THEN, he has the 12-1 season. Now, he can do no wrong and is the best thing out there. His career winning percentage...68%....at the big school...58%.
Yeah. That was Harbaugh. And don't get me wrong. I'm a huge Jim Harbaugh fan. He was my first favorite college athlete. I followed him as he went into the NFL. So yeah, I would've been a huge fan of him as the UM coach.
Next guy. Great record in the SEC. Even a national title. He has the Michigan background as both a player and coach. He started as a head coach at Oklahoma State. He had a 58% winning percentage there. His teams went to 3 bowl games in 4 years, but his teams were never ranked.
Then he went to LSU when Nick "the Mercenary" Saban jetted for the NFL. His teams have been to bowl games in all 6 seasons, and in his 3rd season they won the National Championship.
All in all, he has a 70% winning percentage.
So Michigan faithful....Lloyd's 75% wasn't good enough. But the top 2 choices don't have his winning percentage. Jim and Les combined have just as many national championships as Lloyd had.
Now, Brady Hoke doesn't have the same resume as Miles or Harbaugh. I'll give you that. But it's not like they became the Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles we know today overnight. He's turned 2 ugly programs around while learning on the job. He never had a coordinator job before the Ball State gig. He left that program with a 12-1 season. He went to San Diego State and turned a 4-8 team into a 9-4 team with a bowl win.
Yeah, he has a losing record overall. But so did Harbaugh after 3 years at Stanford.
From what I've read, players love playing for him and coaches love coaching for him. He loves Michigan. He was one of Lloyd Carr's top recruiters.
And from what I hear he's a stand-up guy. My guess is you'll never hear about NCAA violations with Hoke around. Yeah, there might be alot of 8-9 win seasons, but that looks pretty darn good after the last 3 seasons.
My guess is he'll run the football. He'll focus on defense. He'll tell his team we've got to beat MSU and Ohio State. The very things that made Michigan, Michigan. From 1969 to 2007 that was good enough. During that time, Michigan football was consistent. Consistently great.....They won 77% of their football games! Bowl games from something like 1976 through 2007. No one else could say that.
I guess I'm saying the formula worked for nearly 40 years. I don't buy the whole "Michigan Man" thing. Way overblown. But you want a guy who wants to be here. Not the guy who wants the biggest paycheck. The thing with that guy....a bigger paycheck will always come around. The job you've dreamed might only come around once.
This is Brady Hoke's dream job.
I'm not saying he's the one. But I'm saying he could be. We just don't know....I'm just sayin.
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