In the week since Brady Hoke was fired, both Florida and Nebraska have filled coaching vacancies. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor the top football job remains vacant as Michigan conducts its third coaching search since the 2007 retirement of Lloyd Carr.
It’s not yet evident that Michigan has learned anything from its previous searches. History seems to be repeating itself.
Once again an athletic director from the commercial sector is conducting a search that’s moving at an orderly, unhurried pace oblivious to damage caused by leaving the position empty.
”The interest has blown me away,” interim athletic director Jim Hackett told Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press on the search's procession.
Fans hope that the search is completed soon and that Hackett finds a coach who doesn't repeat the mistakes of the last two.
Here are factors he can consider when evaluating candidates.
Recruiting and Player Development
The lifeblood of any college football program is the ability to bring in new players. College teams fight a constant battle of attrition with graduation and injuries since position depth is a perpetual concern. The best coaches have a talent for identifying players who haven’t yet reached their full potential.
An incoming coach either needs a robust recruiting network and familiarity with high school coaches in talent-rich areas or a big enough reputation to have instant credibility.
Hoke and his staff were fairly skilled at attracting top recruits but failed at developing that talent. The quarterback position is the most obvious example of this failure. Not only did Devin Gardner regress during his career, but backups at the position (Shane Morris and Russell Bellomy) were unprepared to take over when presented with the opportunity.
Contrast this with an Ohio State team that lost quarterback Braxton Miller prior to the season, reloaded with J.T. Barrett and then hardly missed a beat with Cardale Jones against Wisconsin.
Coaching Network
The ideal candidate will have a history of hiring and developing assistant coaches. Players spend most of their time working with their position coaches and strength staff. These coaches have a major impact on the success or failure of a coaching regime.
The top college coaches have the ability to identify and hire talented assistants who constantly push the program to improve. These assistants also need to be skilled at developing and motivating players.
Hoke seemed to strike gold at first, luring Greg Mattison from the NFL to be his defensive coordinator, but problems later emerged on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive coordinators Al Borges and Doug Nussmeier were unable to establish a consistent identity for the team’s attack.
A potential coach from the NFL ranks will need to evaluate if his assistants can be successful at the college level, where players need more direct development.
Game Management
This should be a given, but unfortunately it wasn't under Brady Hoke. Michigan struggled with mismanaged timeouts and questionable play-calling.
The focal point of this criticism was his decision to not wear a headset during games. When Michigan went 11-2 in Hoke’s first season, his stance on headsets was quirky. But as the team began spiraling down, his stubbornness became an issue.
In the 2013 season opener, Michigan came out in its hurry-up or “NASCAR” offense against lowly Central Michigan. Hoke was genuinely surprised by the tactic but wouldn’t have been if he had been on the headset.
Another example was the 2014 concussion injury to quarterback Shane Morris. Morris was obviously staggering after the play. His distress was evident to observers in the press box and to broadcasters. Hoke could have been notified of the problem if he had been wearing a headset.
Michigan’s next head coach needs to be responsible and involved in monitoring every aspect of the team’s play.
Public Relations
Michigan is a major football program that garners a huge amount of national attention. Every word the head coach utters is reported and parsed by fans and media alike. Both Hoke and Rich Rodriguez before him failed on this count.
Rodriguez failed to court Michigan fans by acknowledging the program's rich history, while Hoke relied on it too much. Both frustrated fans by not showing enough fire after losses. Rodriguez appeared distraught, while Hoke spoke in a flat monotone, relying on the same cliches as the losses piled up.
The next coach would do well to show some emotion after both wins and losses.
Other Considerations
Interested candidates are great, but the longer the search goes on the perception grows that the effort is foundering.
How does Jim Hackett’s interim status impact the search? Any top coaching candidate will want to know who his boss will be. If Hackett wants the job full-time, he could help matters by declaring his interest.
What about being a “Michigan Man”? Any organization would prefer a candidate who is familiar with its own particular culture.
Rodriguez was oblivious to the toes he was stepping on, but his ultimate undoing was not fielding a competent defense. Hoke was steeped in Michigan culture but was undone by a complete systems failure on offense.
In both cases the “Michigan Man” myth was a sideshow to problems on the field.
Any coaching candidate would be wise to tip his hat to Michigan tradition, but previous ties to the program shouldn’t be a determining factor for the next hire.
If the next coach can get the program back on track, he'll make himself part of the tradition. Lose, and quoting Bo Schembechler will not save you.
Brady Hoke is proof of that.
Phil Callihan is a featured writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations obtained firsthand.
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All season statistics from mgoblue.com, official University of Michigan athletic department web site
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