Brady Hoke Fired As Michigan Head Coach


And the coaching carousel, featuring Brady Hoke, spins around and around.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that after four seasons with the university, Hoke has been released from the head coaching position. He finishes with a record of 31-20, with three bowl appearances, losing the last two.

Hoke coached at San Diego State previously, having compiled a 13-12 record, the best season with the Aztecs being his last year, when San Diego State went 9-4 in 2010. Hoke left San Diego State after two seasons to return to Michigan. Hoke was an assistant coach with the Wolverines from 1995 to 2002, serving as assistant head coach and defensive line coach.

Upon his return to Michigan, 2011 proved to be the best season for Michigan under Hoke. The Wolverines finished that season 11-2, with a solid 23-20 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. After that, however, each year’s record got progressively worse, with the Wolverines going 8-5. 7-6, and 5-7. Michigan also lost two consecutive bowl games, losing to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl and Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. The Wolverines failed to win six games this year, removing them from bowl contention.

Perhaps Hoke’s biggest issue was failing to create a viable offense with the dynamic Devin Gardner as his quarterback. Gardner threw for 31 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in the two seasons he started at Michigan. While explosive at times, most times Michgan’s offense would stagnate at the most inopportune times. Losing to rivals Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State definitely didn’t help, either.

USA Today is reporting that though Hoke has become the repository for the blame at Michigan, there are other issues as well. Hoke’s Wolverines finished 3-5 in the Big Ten this year, far below Michigan fans’ expectations. The most ironic part is that the reason Hoke got the job in the first place is what eventually led to his termination. Hoke was considered a “Michigan” man, trained in the Wolverine system, and was expected to reinstill the winning Michigan culture of days past. Rich Rodriguez, who was fired so Hoke could be hired, was considered an outsider, and didn’t fare well at Michigan.

Rodriguez would eventually be hired by Arizona, where he and the Wildcats have won the Pac-12 South title this year.

Perhaps the event that capsulizes Hoke’s tenure at Michgan was the incident involving backup quarterback Shane Morris in a 30-14 loss to Minnesota on September 27. Morris suffered a concussion and was evaluated on the sidelines, where, after only one play, Hoke’s staff put Morris back on the field, though he still exhibited concussion-like symptoms.

Michigan’ interim athletic director, Jim Hackett, said the search for a new coach who is capable of “winning with the shared values of the University of Michigan” would start immediately.

[Image courtesy of Athlon Sports]

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