It is simplistic to simply say that one play can cost a team a win. But one play did cost a team a win on Saturday, and it should be the final straw for one coach who seems to have been able to stay off the hot seat.
With 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter, with #3 Ohio State up by only an extra point, the Michigan Wolverines season teetered on the brink of being an unmitigated bust, or merely a disappointment. Electing to go for a two-point conversion in lieu of the sane option of taking the extra point and heading into overtime, Brady Hoke sealed the team’s fate.
Out of the shotgun, in a formation that stacked three WRs over top of one another to the right side of the field, a set which makes little-to-no sense with only 12 yards of field to work with, an ailing Devin Gardner threw the ball straight into the hands of Buckeye freshman defender Tyvis Powell. Had a play been called that would have at least given the Michigan receivers room to separate, the Wolverines would have stood a chance of converting, but simply kicking the point after would have made it a lock.
Since Michigan’s regular place kicker, Brendan Gibbons was suffering from a knee injury, Matt Wile, the Wolverines punter, kickoff man, and long-range place kicker was in for the senior. Earlier in the game, Hoke opted not to use Wile for a reasonable field goal attempt, instead allowing the Wolverines offense to turn it over on downs. Up to the end of the game, Wile was perfect on PATs, going 5/5. If the man kicking the extra point was a reason for Hoke’s decision, it should not have been.
Not only did Hoke sell out his special teams and defensive unit with his decision, he also put his offense in a terrible spot, and did an unforgivable disservice to the fans in and out of Michigan Stadium, who rained chants of “Beat Ohio” onto the field, with a decision that cost a team its hopes and chances in one of the biggest rivalries in all of collegiate athletics. A coach who is notorious for not wearing his headset on gameday, Hoke hijacked the chances of his team’s victory and kamikazied it into the hands of Powell.
Outside of this single play, and this single game, which means more than the combined results of the 11 games preceding Saturday’s outcome to Michigan fans, Hoke has been mediocre at best as the coach of a team looking to once again rejoin the ranks of college football’s elite programs. Merely a figurehead, Hoke has spent his tenure as Wolverines head coach glad-handing his way through the ranks of media, boosters, and administrators, at the expense of the fans and his players.
With two of the highest paid assistant coaches in the NCAA, offensive coordinator Al Borges, and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, Hoke has little if anything to do with on field decisions and play-calling except when he usurps his coordinators’ roles. There is a reason Borges and Mattison, who had a sweet gig as the Baltimore Ravens DC prior to being lured away from the NFL, are paid as high as they are: Hoke is not a good coach.
After being at the helm of a BCS victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2012 Sugar Bowl, Michigan has been on the decline under Hoke’s eye in the past two seasons, going 8-5 and 7-5, respectively with a losing record in the Big Ten this season, and numerous close wins against tomato can programs (i.e. Akron and UConn). At least with Hoke’s predecessor, Rich Rodriguez, his record improved as the seasons passed.
Speaking of Rich Rod, its more than interesting that as the players he recruited graduate, Michigan’s teams have been declining in win totals. Stars like Denard Robinson, Taylor Lewan, Jeremy Gallon, and even Devin Gardner were recruited and signed by Rodriguez. While his recruiting classes were not considered to be overwhelming at the time, Rodriguez was able to develop his talent into starting-caliber and even NFL players. The same cannot be said for Hoke.
Hoke has consistently landed elite prospects on the recruiting trail, yet has been unable to convert any of these signings into on-field victories. Big time hauls like Demar Dorsey, Blake Countess, Kyle Kalis, Ondre Pipkins, and Derrick Green have yet to supplant their Rich Rod-recruited counterparts or make the kind of impact expected of players of their caliber. The fact is that Hoke’s abilities even outside of gameday are dismal or neglectful, as evidenced by the lack of player development within the program.
The offensive line is a microcosm of this dilemma. While the two tackles, Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield are legitimate NFL talents and former Rich Rod recruits, the three interior spots have been manned by a revolving door of Hoke recruits who seem ill-prepared and incapable of being effective, even against marginal FBS programs.
While shtick like referring to Ohio State as “Ohio,” is cute and entertaining in press conferences, it counts for less than nothing when the on-field results are demoralizing. Is it funny calling the team who has clowned you on two consecutive occasions and waltzed into your own house and won, by the wrong name? It is nothing short of embarrassing, to give an obvious answer.
Hoke has skated by during his tenure as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, resting on his laurels as a “Michigan Man,” having been assistant to former coaches Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr. While it was nice to have a unifying force to bring the program back together after the debacle that was Rich Rodriguez’s reign, maize and blue fans expect more than just hollow words and empty promises of the future. They expect wins. And as Hoke has especially proved against the rival Buckeyes, he is not capable of delivering, or even being responsible in his duties as head coach.
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