Michigan head football coach Brady Hoke should have been fired Sunday. That much we can all agree on. The man should not be in charge of 110 kids, let alone ones who depend on him for their overall health. His press conference yesterday was nothing short of Baghdad Bob type stuff, with lies spewing out of his mouth like verbal diarrhea. He is grossly incompetent and frankly, I question whether he has an IQ above Forrest Gump.
All that being said, the problems with Michigan’s program go much deeper than Hoke. In fact, all of their problems lay at the feet of athletic director, David Brandon. In the middle of the night, Brandon released this statement about Shane Morris, the player whose mild concussion set off this whole mess.
In the fourth quarter, Shane took a significant hit and stumbled after getting up. From the field level and without the benefit of replays, medical and coaching staffs did not see the hit. Because they did not see the hit, the athletic training staff believed Shane stumbled because of his ankle injury. The team neurologist, watching from further down the field, also did not see the hit. However, the neurologist, with expertise in detecting signs of concussion, saw Shane stumble and determined he needed to head down the sideline to evaluate Shane.
Shane came off the field after the following play and was reassessed by the head athletic trainer for the ankle injury. Since the athletic trainer had not seen the hit to the chin and was not aware that a neurological evaluation was necessary, he cleared Shane for one additional play.
The neurologist and other team physicians were not aware that Shane was being asked to return to the field, and Shane left the bench when he heard his name called and went back into the game. Under these circumstances, a player should not be allowed to re-enter the game before being cleared by the team physician. This clearly identifies the need for improvements in our sideline and communication processes.
Now, here’s the crazy thing. During Brady Hoke’s press conference, he said he wasn’t aware of a Shane Morris head injury. He said in no uncertain terms that Morris would have practiced if not for an ankle sprain. You see the communication issue here? Michigan’s student newspaper the Michigan Daily saw it right away and called out the athletic department for their lies.
Hoke’s statement Sunday was sent at 8:37 p.m. In it, the coach asserted he was “confident proper medical decisions were made.” Monday, he claimed he didn’t know if he would handle the situation differently if it occurred again.
Either Hoke did not know Morris’ diagnosis Sunday night or Monday afternoon, or the truth was not provided.
At approximately 12:45 p.m. Monday, Hoke said he hadn’t been in contact with Brandon about the incident.
Twelve hours later, Brandon claimed he had “numerous meetings” with those “who were directly involved and who were responsible for managing Shane’s care and determining his medical fitness for participation.”
Now it looks like Brady Hoke is totally out of the loop. Sure, he’s getting fired at the end of the year but what does that say for the next guy coming in? Why would any coach with a functional brain come into this mess knowing the AD’s a big stinkin’ a$$hole? The answer is no one one. Not a single, solitary coach who has pride in himself.
And that my friends is why Brady Hoke and Dave Brandon should walk off into the sunset together, holding hands and singing “Kumbaya”—never to be seen in the Big House again.
