The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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ankle and lay prone on the turf at Ohio Stadium, waiting to be carted away. Fifth-year senior quarterback Devin Gardner came onto the field, kneeling to grasp Barrett's hand and put a hand on his head in a demon- stration of support. "I couldn't remember a more poi- gnant moment than when our quar- terback went over and touched the head of the injured quarterback," Hackett said. "It underscored for me what I'm telling you about. Where does that leadership for that kind of sportsmanship come from? It came from our head coach." What the gesture, the values, the sterling graduation rate, and the maize and blue blood Hoke bleeds could not overcome involved college football's unemotional, unwavering bottom line. Hoke's hope-filled first season — complete with a dramatic defensive turnaround, wins over Notre Dame and Ohio State and a Sugar Bowl victory versus Virginia Tech — proved the highlight. The following season brought with it a devastating and untimely ulnar nerve injury to quarterback Denard Robinson, contributing to an 8-5 campaign. Seasons of 7-6 and 5-7 ensued, the latter filled with the sort of controversies inflated by los- ing football. Many of them involved ath- letic director David Brandon, who stepped down at the end of October. From that point on, Hoke support- ers clung to the dream of a major November turnaround that never arrived. And now, the search is on. "But not once during a terribly difficult season did Hoke turn ugly, point fingers or present himself as anything worse than slightly baffled at why everyone wanted to push the pillars down on his head … "But the bottom line is his record, which shows he simply didn't coach or delegate well enough to pro- duce a winner. That is indisputable. The Wolverines lost frequently and badly. They were barely in games against Notre Dame, Michigan State or Ohio State, and it didn't look like the sides would balance any time soon. "Hoke had four years to recruit. In- stead of improving, his players lived down to their expectations. His of- fensive line — a Michigan staple — was horrendous. His skill players paled in comparison to years past. And he never found a quarterback. Not a real one. Not the kind that you need to lead your team. There were no Braxton Millers here, or J.T. Bar- retts, or Jameis Winstons or Marcus Mariotas. It's not an accident teams with players like that are in the na- tional championship conversation this week. "Hoke had [Devin] Gardner and Denard Robinson. "End of subject." N i c k B a u m g a r t n e r, M - L i ve : "M ichigan's gone through two coaches in seven years, and their combined record sits at a nasty 46- 42. That's not good enough at most middling programs, let alone the