Hoke Must Go.

First things first: Brady Hoke must go.

There has been a lot of outrage (and rightly so) over Hoke's decision to not immediately remove Shane Morris from the game after he had sustain what was likely a concussion. THEN when Gardner had to leave the game for 2 plays when his helmet came off (why these guys are allowed to wear their helmets without properly strapping them on is beyond me), Hoke sent Morris (again, probably concussed) back in to face the wolves instead of having his 3rd stringer hand off to Smith or something. These aren't necessarily things that get coaches fired outright, but they are indicative of a larger problem.

Hoke is clueless. Let me go back to the week leading up to the game over the Little Brown Jug. I know this is a bad Michigan team, but I still expected them to pull out a win, because it isn't a BAD Michigan team. Or so I thought. Hoke announced a potential change in starting QB for this game, which was understandable because Gardner was pretty bad vs. Utah. Here's a news flash: Shane Morris was WAY worse! I figured this was a manufactured QB controversy, engineered to light a fire under Devin Gardner to squeeze a game out of him like we saw last year. I was giving Hoke too much credit.

Brady Hoke should have made Gardner fight for his job, then announce on game day that Gardner has his full confidence, or something. Gardner would've busted his ass! Again, you didn't need to be a college football insider to see that Shane Morris wasn't ready to face a Power 5 defense. This was proven in the stat sheet, but Hoke should've known that prior to kickoff. As the game went along, it became a countdown to when he would pull the trigger on Gardner. Morris's halftime numbers were 6-10 passing for 41 yards. The passing game was window dressing. Then the 3rd quarter happened, Michigan failed to move the ball AT ALL, Morris going 1-7 for 8 yards with 2 fumbles (1 recovered) and an interception.



Prior to the roughing play, Morris had been limping due to the cumulative effect of a couple sacks where his ankle had twisted awkwardly. So putting aside his poor play, Hoke could've used that as an excuse to pull him. He didn't, god knows why. Then the hit happened. A defensive player launched himself at Shane Morris and his helmet hit Morris in the chin. Hoke should have been on the alert, wary of concussion symptoms. Morris looked so groggy and out of sorts that he needed to be supported by one of his linemen to make it to the huddle. Yet Hoke left him in for another play, then reinserted him in the game a few plays later when Gardner had to come out. Here's how he defended his actions:

"I don’t know if he might’ve had a concussion or not. I don’t know that and that wasn’t something- Shane’s a pretty competitive, tough kid and Shane wanted to be the quarterback and so believe me, if he didn’t want to be he would’ve come to the sideline or stayed down."

Allow me to paraphrase - the thought that Shane Morris might have had a concussion didn't enter Hoke's head, and if Morris HAD wanted to come out, it would only mean that the kid didn't really want it enough. Later, when it became evident that this was clearly a THING, Hoke released this statement:

"The safety of our student-athletes is always our top priority. We generally never discuss the specifics of a student-athlete's medical care, but Shane Morris was removed from yesterday's game against Minnesota after further aggravating an injury to his leg that he sustained earlier in the contest.

"He was evaluated by our experienced athletic trainers and team physicians, and we're confident proper medical decisions were made. The University of Michigan has a distinguished group of Certified Athletic Trainers and team physicians who are responsible for determining whether or not a player is physically able to play. Our coaches have no influence or authority to make determinations if or when an injured player returns to competition. The health and welfare of our student-athletes is and will continue to be a top priority."

So, let me get this straight - Shane Morris was removed because his leg injury was reaggravated when he was hit in the head? He wasn't limping after the head hit, he was staggering because his equilibrium was knocked out of whack! Which, by the way, is a concussion symptom. This statement is clearly a CYA move by Hoke, saying Morris was removed due to a leg injury, because Hoke didn't follow the NCAA concussion protocol.

The NCAA is pretty clear on concussions. Once a player exhibits symptoms, he/she must be removed from competition and examined by a medical professional. If a concussion is diagnosed, the athlete can only return after being medically cleared. Concussion assessments must include "balance evaluation", which Morris certainly would have failed. I'm assuming Morris didn't undergo the concussion tests after being pulled because in the post-game, Hoke stated that he "didn't know" if Morris sustained a concussion or not. If that's true then no concussion tests were done, because a concussion expert would have had to clear Morris to play.

Let me get back to the larger problem, that Hoke is clueless. A tactic he's taken in pressers when a reporter has asked a question he didn't want to hear is to question the question and claim ignorance. It's never Hoke's fault or something he has control over. He has to check the tape. He has to hear back from the medical professionals. He'll have to convene with his assistant coaches and make a decision later. Here's an interaction in the same presser between Hoke and a reporter:

There was a stretch there in the third quarter where Shane had a fumble that he recovered, then an interception, then a fumble that he lost. Any idea what was going on during that stretch?

“He had a fumble that he recovered, and what was the other thing?”

Interception.

“That was tipped at the line of scrimmage, right? Okay. I think obviously we have to have better ball security.” 

 The reporter is referring to a sequence in the 3rd quarter when Shane Morris fumbled to himself on one drive, then threw an interception, then lost a fumble that looked like the ball just fell out of his hands. Hoke acted like he only remembered the fumble that Morris recovered, ignored the fumble that he didn't, and blamed the interception on a tipped pass, like it was a freak play or something. All Michigan fans know that passes tipped at the line of scrimmage can be the QB's fault as well as the offensive line's.

When asked what the team's goals are going forward, Hoke said, "I think this team can still win the championship." I can only assume he means a Big Ten championship, since the last time a 3-loss team won the National Title was... never. I know Hoke HAS to say he believes in this team, but the way he said it sounded extremely oblivious to reality. I have a real problem with the way he breaks down a loss - "we didn't execute", "we didn't tackle", "we didn't play very well", "I'm disappointed in the way we played"... This is all code for "it wasn't my fault".

Here's the problem - this loss was 90% coaching. Poor offensive game planning - this new offense is run with no regard to the abilities of Michigan's players, nor does it consider the strengths/weaknesses of the opposing defense. A number of people have pointed out Poor defensive preparation - they weren't ready to face Minnesota's starting QB, despite the fact that he hadn't been ruled out. Michigan failed to name their QB for the game all week but were confounded by Minnesota doing the EXACT SAME THING. On top of that, the defense seemed fooled by Minnesota's basic running plays, as though they practiced against a different offense. It wasn't a tackling issue, it was a not-being-in-position-to-tackle issue. Poor personnel management - Hoke handled the QB situation entirely wrong, since he named the wrong guy as starter and undermined confidence in the best QB on his roster (who is, sadly, Gardner). Then he proceeded to muck things up by seeming to not care enough about the most important player on the field to have him checked out to see if he could stand on one leg without falling over.

Hoke has to go. He NEVER holds himself accountable, he's failed to develop a program in 4 years, and the future looks as bleak as it did when Rich Rod ran things. Additionally, the Shane Morris incident is a blacker mark on Hoke's record than Rich Rod's practice time violations. Hoke is less detestable than Rich Rod, but that doesn't make him better. Instead of being a slimy character, like Rodriguez was, Hoke is willfully ignorant. He appears unaware of the day-to-day operations of his team and oblivious to the status of his players. Right now he's claiming Shane Morris didn't have a concussion that he knows of, and that the medical professionals will release their own statement, presumably with actual facts in it and stuff.

I'm not saying Michigan should fire Hoke (or AD David Brandon) right now, but they should start sending Jim Harbaugh weekly fruit baskets.