Michigan Football: 2014 Thoughts — Part II

Posted at 12:00pm — 3/7/2014

Michigan Football: 2014 Thoughts — Part II

Coach Hoke and the off-season changes

Here is my take on this off-season. First, Coach Hoke had to make some changes (Borges of course being the main one) despite all the “reasons” for a lackluster 2013 season, it was simply just unacceptable for almost everyone associated with the football program.

Dec 28, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Michigan Wolverines offensive coordinator Al Borges against the Kansas State Wildcats during the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsI thought during the process their would be many more changes. And I believe there were discussion to make “big changes, but the decision was reached to somewhat “tweak” the program (if one identifies “Tweaking” with replacing just one coach).

But, I do believe and have people who has confirmed that Coach Hoke is very much appreciated and it is widely believed that Coach Hoke is the right guy for Michigan football going forward. Therefore, if Michigan has another average season (which we could all discuss what that means) I fully expect those “drastic changes” to take place a year from now vs. any discussion on whether Coach Hoke will be the head coach going forward.

So, there are some coaches who are the so-called “hot seat” and they understand this as much as anyone and are coaching this year with much more urgency and much more demanding in their approach.

Dec 28, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke in the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Kansas State defeated Michigan 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsI also see a change in Michigan’s approach to their “Senior Leadership Program”. First let me state I believe this approach is great and teaches the “student-athlete” lessons that they can use when they leave Michigan and the football program. That is the reason it was set up. The problem a year ago (and now I am talking about (MY OPINION ONLY) is that there is a fine line between adopting lessons learned in the program and communicating those lessons throughout the program and becoming overbearing and words do not match up with certain actions. This is where I think the for lack of better words (morale) reached a low last season and the younger players simply tuned out certain Seniors when they tried to used “leadership skills” later in the season.

When I say change, I do not think there is anything wrong with the approach in the teaching involved in “Senior Leadership Program”, but rather the monitoring of the application. (if that makes sense).

Maybe it is the off-season optimism, but I really think that this will be the year that we at least see progress in the transition of the program to a more physical football team.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — MaizeMan

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