Handling of injured QB's head hit puts Brady Hoke's future in jeopardy

Growing up, Brady Hoke wanted to build and protect.

Shortly after President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, Hoke was motivated to be a Secret Service agent, according to “The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football.” While on a football scholarship at Ball State, Hoke studied criminal justice and interned with the federal probation and parole office. Later, Hoke, a burly man who wears his emotions on his sleeve as head football coach for the University of Michigan, redirected that same passion for working with young men and the need to protect those around him toward coaching.

But now – after a shocking weekend incident – that desire to care has come into question and also cast yet another spotlight on an issue roiling college sports: the risk of concussion.

Down 23 with a little more than 11 minutes to go in the game, Hoke and his offensive staff called for Michigan quarterback Shane Morris to roll out to his left for a pass downfield. In only his second career start, Morris was pulled after aggravating a leg injury earlier in the game, but was forced to come back in after his backup lost his helmet during a play, meaning that he’d have to sit out at least one play, per NCAA rules. Facing pressure, Morris released the ball at the exact moment that Minnesota linebacker Theiren Cockran lowered his head to deliver a blow square to Morris’ chin. (Go to the 2:13 mark in the video below.)

The shot, which looked like a car crash, caused Morris to lie on the ground for a few seconds, holding his head. When he stood up, Morris was wobbling, and had to be held up by one of his offensive linemen. 

After the game, the embattled Hoke, whose future at Michigan is in doubt after losing for the ninth time in the last 13 games dating back to last season, responded to whether the team knew Morris needed to be looked at for a concussion, and if sending him out there for another play was the appropriate decision.

"I don't know if he had a concussion or not, I don't know that," Hoke said during Saturday’s postgame press conference. "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 coach’s reasoning behind keeping Morris in the game when he was having a hard time standing up could be the final straw for Hoke’s tenure at his dream job. For a coach who has seemed to genuinely care about his players and their welfare, Saturday’s decision was a befuddling one. Fans and pundits alike have called for Hoke to be fired after potentially endangering Morris’ health, with #FireHoke gaining traction on Twitter. The fallout around the decision to keep Morris in the game prompted Hoke to release a statement through the school on Sunday, reaffirming the school as being responsible in treating its student-athletes.

“The safety of our student-athletes is always our top priority,” Hoke said in a statement released by the school Sunday. “Shane Morris was removed from yesterday’s game against Minnesota after further aggravating an injury to his leg that he sustained earlier in the contest. He was evaluated by our experienced athletic trainers and team physicians, and we’re confident proper medical decisions were made.”

Hoke added: “The (U-M) has a distinguished group of Certified Athletic Trainers and team physicians who are responsible for determining whether or not a player is physically able to play. Our coaches have no influence or authority to make determinations if or when an injured player returns to competition. The health and welfare of our student-athletes is and will continue to be a top priority.”

While the statement made clear that the program is “confident proper medical decisions were made” regarding Morris, it failed to mention the word “concussion,” or even make reference to head trauma. Whether the omission was intentional, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

On Monday morning, Hoke further clarified that Morris was medically cleared to play after taking the hit, but the damage had already been done. Hoke’s handling of the Morris hit is the latest chapter to the ongoing discussion about how the NCAA and its member institutions address, report and treat head trauma. During the 2013 season, the America Tonight Concussion Map found less than 200 instances of head trauma that were publicly reported in games and practices among programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision – only a fraction of the concussions compared to the estimated 4,000 head trauma incidents that occur throughout all levels of college football each year. Through five weeks of the 2014 season, there have been just 45 publicly reported concussions among those same programs.

But look deeper into the data, and you’ll see that Michigan’s ability to publicly report a concussion suffered by one of its football players has been minimal. In 2013, the concussion suffered by star running back Fitzgerald Toussaint was the only instance that was publicly known. This year? The Wolverines have yet to publicly announce that a player has suffered a concussion. The Big Ten has followed suit the past couple years. As a whole, the conference had just 11 publicly reported concussions last year, tied for ninth among 10 conferences and the independents. Through five weeks this season, there have been only three total instances of publicly reported concussions.