Is this the new normal?

I've often found myself thinking about how the team could have been such a dumpster fire last year, but then in just a few short months look like a respectable, top 20 team.  I've come to the one and only obvious conclusion that makes sense, coaching.


In my teacher-mind, I've compared the transition and evolution of the team, to classroom management.  Some teachers have it, some don't. Some have it for kindergartners, some don't. Some have it for middle schoolers, some don't. I've yet to meet a teacher that feels he/she would be able to teach and teach effectively at any age level.  We all have our comfort zone. And apparently, so do coaches......except for one.


I imagine Brady Hoke, who no doubt wanted to be a great coach/classroom manager, just wasn't in his comfort zone at Michigan.  He loved Michigan. He wanted to do well there, but he just was out of his element. 


Take me for example, I know with every fiber of my being, that I could not be successful in a general education middle school English class. I'd try really hard. I'd ask colleagues for help. I'd want to do my best. I'd surround myself with people that I thought would be able to help me. But ultimately, it would be up to me to make it work. And I wouldn't. I'd fail miserably. I'd probably be fired for lack of student progress.  I know my limits. And this is it. I'd be eaten alive. 


If Brady Hoke were a classroom teacher his day would probably look and sound like the preschool classroom on Toy Story 2. You know the one; kids coloring on walls, ripping hair out of baby dolls, crayons up their noses, standing on counters, eating PlayDoh, screaming, hollering, complete and utter chaos. A dumpster fire.


And then, We Got Harbaugh. The guy that has been successful everywhere he's been and everything he's done.  Hell, he could probably teach kindergarten if that were the job he'd been hired to do.  I don't know how he does it, or care much for that matter. I'm just happy as hell that he can and that he's doing it for Michigan.  So, I guess I need to just sit back, enjoy the ride that he's taking me on, and get used to this the new normal.


Go Blue!
~Bekki