Michigan Wolverines head football coach Brady Hoke has been under enough fire for how underwhelming his storied program has performed on the field. After a bad 30-14 loss to Minnesota on Saturday, he faced criticism for the handling of injured quarterback Shane Morris.
The sophomore signal-caller took a big hit in the fourth quarter that forced him to the sideline, but Hoke reinserted him into the game after just one play off. Morris was later carted off the field.
Nicole Auerbach of USA Today documented Hoke's statement on the matter from Sunday, which makes no mention of a potential head injury Morris may have sustained:
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg offered his take:
Bleacher Report's Michael Felder weighed in on the situation before Hoke's comments were released:
Morris was just 7-of-19 passing for 49 yards and an interception with shabby protection throughout the game against the Big Ten rival Golden Gophers.
Asked after the game whether he thought Morris had a concussion, Hoke provided a somewhat muddled answer that he attempted to clarify somewhat in his latest remarks.
"I don't know if he had a concussion or not, I don't know that," said Hoke, via MLive.com's Nick Baumgardner . "Shane's a pretty competitive, tough kid. And Shane wanted to be the quarterback, and so, believe me, if he didn't want to be he would've come to the sideline or stayed down."
The current climate Michigan is operating in doesn't exactly promote a prompt transition under center. Morris is attempting to establish himself as the face of the program's future in bypassing Devin Gardner on the depth chart, and thus far it's going poorly.
This is yet another dynamic that is hurting Hoke's clout as coach, and with three losses already in 2014, he may be shown the door soon enough. Based on the footage of the hit Morris took that ultimately forced him to leave Saturday's game, the fact that Hoke didn't acknowledge the possibility of Morris hurting his head won't do much to promote Hoke's precarious popularity.
Next up for Michigan is a road trip to Rutgers before hosting Penn State and a tough contest away from home with rival Michigan State. Between an uncertain QB situation and this latest controversy, Hoke's seat is indeed hot.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1t9L9hY
via IFTTT September 28, 2014 at 06:34PM
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