The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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while it's still snowing. That's what Brady Hoke had to do. Everybody else is looking and saying, 'Hey, you'd better get that snow scooped up, right now. We're not waiting all day for you.' Because they don't un- derstand building a program." Still, Ray noted, changes may be required, going beyond waiting for maturation. "I think Brady Hoke can win at Michigan, contingent upon one thing: if he has the right assistant coaches," Ray said. "He has to be the one to evaluate that and say, 'So and so, you're not getting it done. I want you out of here. Change needs to be made, because I'm the head football coach and I want to win.' "Brady Hoke can win if he sur- rounds himself with guys that are good enough to get it done. A head coach is only as good as his assis- tants. Assistant coaches are only as good as their players. If you get the right assistant coaches who can bring in players who want to play on Sunday, and go to class, and be a positive, powerful presence in this community." For his part, Skene isn't ready to comment on the extended future. "It's too early to tell," he noted. "People are going to look at that and say, 'Aw, you're crazy.' We have not seen a team that is defiant to its head coach. We have not seen a team that is clearly quitting on itself. You still see a lot of spirit in these players." Not far away, a little patience went a long way, he noted. Mark Danto- nio's marks at Michigan State in- cluded seasons of 7-6, 6-7 and 7-6 before he took his team to the Rose Bowl. "He didn't just take over and dom- inate this league in a year or two," Skene said. "They've built that pro- gram, and it's taken the better part of five or six years to get it where a lot of Michigan fans are pointing at them and saying, 'That's what we used to be. We want to be that.' "Well, maybe it's going to take you the same amount of time to do the same thing. I don't think that's unre- alistic to say so. "A lot of fans say we need another change. Brady's not getting it done. We need to hit the reset button again. It's easy to say that, at this point in the season, with a season going like this. "But be careful what you wish for. When you hit the reset button, you're talking about another two or three years of transition, automatically." Skene wants to see what happens in the days and weeks ahead, par- ticularly in East Lansing. "I'm not convinced that a reset at the head coaching position is what Michigan needs," Skene said. "I'm not remotely close yet. There are still a lot of things I want to see happen, specifically up at Michigan State. This will be a large indicator, regard- less of what the score ends up being." He is ready to begin catching a glimpse of the physicality, the tough- ness and the winning Michigan knew as second nature for so long. So is Ray, and every other former Wol- verine. After years in transition limbo, it's a matter of getting there. ❑