Brady Hoke Monday Press Conference: Rutgers Week
9/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
• Game Notes 
| Game Central
• Press Conference: Coach Brady Hoke 
| Ryan, Clark & Kerridge | Mattison | Nussmeier
• Inside Michigan Football
J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Head Football Coach Brady Hoke
Opening statement ... "Number , thanks for coming. I know there has been a lot of talk, a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors in regards to what happened and what is going on with Shane (Morris). Obviously, I can tell you from my perspective, of being on the sideline, and what I know. I'm going to touch some of those things a little bit. But at the same time, I think there are other experts that will have a statement and opinion. I'm a football coach. Some of you don't think we are doing that very well, but that's what I do. I don't make decisions who plays, who doesn't play, as far as when there are injuries and particularly if there were any head trauma or head injuries. And for those of you who know, or who don't know, I would never put a kid in that position -- never have and never will. Because you get into this to coach kids, believe me. And that's what this game is all about -- helping those guys in a lot of different ways. As a staff, I can assure you that is never going to happen. We practiced yesterday, we practiced last night. Shane Morris would have practiced if not for a high ankle sprain, and that is one reason I am telling you that, because that is what I have been told. He would have practiced if it wasn't for that. During the course of the game, Devin (Garnder)'s helmet comes off. My intention is to go out, I get the referee's attention, who I think is one of the better referees by the way in this league, and want to buy him back with a timeout. When I say that, and I've talked to the Big Ten, I've talked to Billy Carollo last night about this; I was told I couldn't buy him back. And I say, 'yeah, we can buy him back.' And so him and I had a little bit of a discussion because you can buy back in because of the helmet, not because of any type of injury, but because of the helmet coming off. Well the linesman comes up, and I say I want to buy him back, and the referee says you can't do that, and then the linesman says, 'yes you can.' By that time, I know Shane is on the field, taking one more snap, handing the ball off, and Devin gets his helmet back on. That's how that sequence went. What I can tell you is we would never, ever, put a guy on the field when there is a possibility with head trauma. We won't do that. Guys play beat up every day. If they are not beat up a little bit, they are never 100 percent, then they aren't doing much. So guys always have nicks and bumps and bruises and strains and everything else. I'll also tell you that football is a sport where guys have to be highly competitive, and they are highly competitive because they love to play the game, and they love to compete, and that's part of their DNA. And I think it is different than obviously a lot of other things and professions and those things. Let me finish with this: We have got to do a better job of playing football, coaching football and being a team. We get to go to Rutgers this week, and we are excited about that that. We had a great practice last night, focused on fundamentals and the techniques that you need to have. That is what this game is. I know Jack Miller said this after the game, offensively we played a little bit of '10-man football,' and we can't do that. Every guy has responsibility. Everybody has to do their job. Defensively, I think the disappointing thing is our tackling and leveraging the ball. We don't think we did a good enough job there, and that was addressed last night and will be addressed throughout the week. We're excited about going to Rutgers. These two schools are the oldest schools, besides the Ivy (League teams), playing football -- so that's exciting. It will be a new environment, and we are excited to get on the road."
On ruling out the possibility of injuries ... "Like I said, you will have a statement from our medical department."
On if in hindsight QB Shane Morris should have been taken out of the game ... "Hindsight is good; it's easy today. It is easy today; it is easy yesterday. As far as seeing the film, I saw the film yesterday, watched the coaches copy, and we obviously turned in the hit. We're not going to work in hypotheticals."
On who ultimately decides if an injured player can play ... "If our trainer says one thing, I'm not going to say the other because he knows that. If our doctor says one thing, and this guy has studied in the field and knows that, it would be like him telling me 'run a zone blitz on third down.' What does he know about a zone blitz on third down? So that doesn't make sense for me to override."
On the perception that he did not know Shane Morris was injured ... "That is your perception, not mine. I knew the kid had an ankle injury. That is what I knew."
On keeping QB Shane Morris in the game ... "Because he felt like he could still play. When the injury happened, and I'm not going to get into all of this, I will let our medical people talk about it, but when the injury happened the first time he came back and could play on it. The guy is a competitor, and he feels he can play on it. When he comes back in, hands the ball off, checks it the right way, does everything he is supposed to do."
On if QB Shane Morris' symptoms were due to his ankle injury ... "Correct. When he motioned to the trainer he was fine; that tells you something."
On if there was communication with offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier about QB Shane Morris' status ... "Well Doug and I were talking about how he was doing. When he waived off the trainers it kind of told you how he was doing. There was communication, but about that, not as much."
On QB Shane Morris appearing to be held upright by his lineman ... "Well his ankle gave out, that's what he told me. Did I see that? Yeah I saw Ben Braden there. But I didn't see the hit either because I was traveling the ball down the field."
On if the interaction with his lineman was caused by his ankle injury ... "Yes. He said his ankle hurt."
On if there are people on the sideline dedicated to watching for injuries ... "Sure there are. I would assume yes because they do every other time."
On his interaction with QB Shane Morris since the game ... "Yes, I saw him yesterday, and I saw him this morning."
On how proactive the players should be in signaling injuries to the sidelines ... "I think -- and number one -- I think the mentality is as a player and how the players are, they love to compete, and they love to play. So if you're asking about that mentality, I think that's what they all have. That's what they've done since whenever they started playing the game. They also know if the injury is one where you don't think you can continue to go to go down. "
On assuming that QB Shane Morris was checked out by the medical personnel and how future situations may play out ... "Well I don't know -- I think that's a little bit hypothetical. I do know one thing, when a guy is out of the game they tell me, and they have consistently for the last three years when a guy has been ruled out."
On the criticism being fair or valid ... "I don't know. I think there are some things that there should be some criticism when we talk about the performance, and that's me and coaching -- I understand that. But when your integrity and character is attacked, I think that is really unwarranted."
On the well-being of the student-athletes ... "That's why you coach. That's why I got into coaching, to help kids. Well, helping kids is also their welfare and their health. We would never, ever, if we thought a guy had a concussion, keep him in the game. And we never have."
On the sideline staff needing to do a better job of deciding if a player is hurt ... "I think they do a good job. I've never had a problem, never had a problem. They've always been, when a guy goes down and a guy can't come back, or they think he's done for the day. I've always been alerted to that."
On the player's decision to stay on the field and how much his input is worth ... "Well, there is some of it. Obviously, we're going to be smart if a guy can't run right or has a problem somewhere. Head injuries are totally different things, because a lot of those guys are playing with bruises and bumps and stuff like that."
On QB Shane Morris' seemingly inability to run and if he should have been taken out ... "I don't know about that because they tested him out and checked him out."
On how the Shane Morris situation has been handled internally ..."I'm getting ready to play Rutgers, that's what I've been doing. Getting ready to play Rutgers. Getting the staff and the team ready to go play Rutgers -- that's what I've been doing."
