Tag: Brady Hoke

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Michigan vs Michigan State Football — Looking Back – 2012

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins Highlighting Key Rivalry Games

The first chapter in this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State takes us back to 2012. The previous season had been wonderful for Michigan, as the maize & blue had firmly reestablished their birthright of national football relevance. But there had been one snag. Brady Hoke’s first team found a way to lose to Michigan State.

As 2012 rolled around, Hoke was reminded of that fact, almost hourly. The flash and dash of the Rich Rodriguez-inspired zone read spread option offense hadn’t worked against Michigan State; neither had UM quarterback Denard Robinson been able to summon up his customary magic. None of the new age stuff worked against the Spartans, but that was just what Hoke was built for. He realized immediately that the Michigan-Michigan State game had always been about smashmouth football, and on Oct. 20, 2012, Hoke reintroduced the Wolverines to a Schembechler tradition: Michigan played old-fashioned, rock ‘em, sock ‘em football, punctuated by an aggressive, bone-crunching defense.

Sure enough, the game proceeded in classic Big Ten fashion, as a low-scoring, field position-oriented struggle, with Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan and MSU defensive end Will Gholston waging a battle for the ages. The teams traded the lead a few teams in the fourth quarter, and on the final drive, Robinson scrambled and connected with receiver Drew Dileo for a critical 20-yard gain that set up Brendan Gibbons for a 38-yard field goal that brought the Paul Bunyan trophy back to the Michigan locker room.

Thanks to youtube poster parkinggod and the Big Ten Network for the attached highlight film. As always, we own nothing and this film and blog post are used strictly for the enjoyment of our readers.

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Jabrill Peppers– The Time He Helped Michigan by Not Playing

Jabrill Peppers

No players had a larger impact on last Saturday’s game than Jabrill Peppers.

The Michigan safety/linebacker/kick returner/running back dazzled fans in attendance at Michigan Stadium and a national television audience leading the Wolverines to a 45-28 victory over Colorado.

His performance launched him into contention for the Heisman Trophy and bagged him dual Big Ten player of week honors for special teams and defense.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has seen his share of great football players described Peppers as “special” during his Monday press conference.

“…I can’t think of another player like Jabrill. I know there’s not another player I’ve coached like him. The unique thing is all the positions– if you start counting them, it’d be safety, it’d be corner, it’d be nickel, it would be outside linebacker, it would be slot receiver, it would be wildcat quarterback, running back, kick returner, punt returner, gunner, hold-up. That’s 11 or 12 right there, and I know there’s others he could do and do well, but those are all the things he’s done already here for us…and that being said, he’s done them all well.”

But Peppers’ most important contribution to Michigan football may have come from not playing.

Jarbrill Peppers 2014
Jarbrill Peppers 2014

Flashback to his first season in Ann Arbor. Peppers came to Ann Arbor in 2014 as the center piece of Brady Hoke’s ultimately final recruiting class– one of most highly sought after recruits in the country.

He was compared Michigan great Charles Woodson and expected to be an impact player in every phase of the moment he showed up on campus.

Brady Hoke admitted that Peppers was in the mix to play more than offense– and seeing him play this season it’s not hard to imagine the impact he could have made as a true freshman.

But early season injuries derailed what might have been the difference for Hoke.

Peppers played in three games before being shut down for the season.

Michigan staggered to a 5-7 finish, embroiled in drama on and off the field that caused interim athletic director Jim Hackett to dismiss Hoke after the disappointing season.

To the surprise of many fans Hackett struggled with the decision.

“This was not an easy decision. Everywhere I go, there is zero question about Brady’s values…Brady’s peers, both active and retired coaches, really respect him. His players love playing for him. He’s done a great job of molding these young men and focusing them on success in the classroom and in the community.

“One could make the argument that we have a very young team and that we’re about to pivot next year into being an extraordinary team. It’s about making sure, then, that Brady has received adequate time to exhibit that arc of improvement that would come from his effort. And I believe Brady had enough time to produce results. And they’re just not there today.”

Hackett shocked the national media by convincing Jim Harbaugh to return to Ann Arbor and it’s been a whirlwind of national hype since.

Hoke, exiled to Oregon can look back at his former team and see that his recruits are leading the way during Michigan’s resurgence.

Could a healthy Peppers have made a difference in saving Hoke’s job? We’ll never know for sure.

Peppers absence due to injury helped put into motion Jim Harbaugh’s return and together they’re working to put Michigan back into national title contention.

 

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Review- Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football

IMG_3786Outsiders who question how Michigan football warrants three best selling books over four short years are completely oblivious to the fervent devotion of its fanbase. And readers expecting a short tome cashing in on Jim Harbaugh’s arrival in Ann Arbor will be surprised by the scholarly work in Endzone.

Don’t be fooled, this book is about more than just football. Author John Bacon has chronicled how David Brandon’s reckless mismanagement ran the Michigan athletic department into the ground.

Brandon made a rookie mistake easily identified by any first year marketing student— he treats the hallowed Michigan brand like a commodity.

Instead of focusing on the distinct characteristics that made the Michigan football experience unique he added things that made it just like everything else. In came the big game uniforms (even if they didn’t fit properly), the role of the band was minimized in favor of piped in music (Eminem’s Lose Yourself might be awesome when its 4th and 1 at the goal versus Ohio State but it’s embarrassing versus Delaware State) while the students were squeezed out of their seats by a combination of price hikes and byzantine seating policies.

Brandon whose goal was to make every game a “Super Bowl” like experience for fans instead emptied the Big House of paying customers. For Michigan’s final season game last season the athletic department padded attendance with nearly 17,000 tickets— more than the amount of free tickets given out for the entire 2010 season. Michigan’s vaunted waitlist for season tickets was also zeroed out by a combination of poor team performance and athletic department marketing blunders like game tickets with soda purchase.

Brandon’s megalomania is on display as he inserts himself between his coaches and their players.

A good manager hires good people and gets out the way— but not Brandon who sits in on game film study with Hoke and his staff. Brandon apparently is unfamiliar with the observer effect. We can only speculate on how his presence negatively impacted Hoke and his coaching staff but one thing is clear— his behavior was atypical for an athletic director at a major university. 

Whether cutting the nets down after a critical basketball victory or sending scathing email replies to fans Brandon chose a path that caused his underlings and professional peers to question his methods.

Bacon repeats a story told previously how Brandon’s failure to be an impact player for Michigan during his playing career may have fueled his drive for business success. His return to Michigan and chest bumping with the team on the sideline gave him the acclaim he always yearned for. One wonders what lesson he’ll take from this latest very public failure.

What makes Endzone so compelling is that shows how the Shane Morris concussion-gate fiasco was a direct result of Brandon’s mismanagement of personnel. His atmosphere of fear resulted in experienced staff being shuttled out of critical jobs and being replaced with Brandon loyalists who weren’t up the to task.

His remaking of the athletic department in his image is the most depressing part of this book. Brandon may be gone but his employees live on. New athletic director Mark Hackett inherits a department populated with Brandon’s minions— like Yeltsin surrounded by apparatchiks who resisted the democratization of Russia.

Michigan has a mixed track record with business-minded athletic directors. Former AD Bill Martin filled coiffures beofr and hired basketball coach John Beilein before whiffing on Rich Rodriguez. Brandon’s failure is well documented in this book and now Michigan turns to another athletic director with no significant athletic experience.

Hackett has his work cut out for him.

Bacon also expertly details the orchestrations that brought Jim Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor.

Hopefully, the next book will detail Harbaugh’s march to the Big Ten title and National Championship.

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But until then this book gives fans a lot to chew on.

Michigan fans will agonize reliving the Brandon-Hoke era while opposing fans will enjoy an insider’s take on Brandon’s self immolation all the while hoping their programs don’t follow a similar path.