Brady Hoke Retiring
https://x.com/chrisvannini/status/1724081373978275946?s=46&t=XkWAKdcheS-H4uqZ-PnX5g
Has been rumored for a bit as SDSU is not playing well and is not filling their new stadium, and this has been talked about as maybe a shout the door.
I do wonder if this might be a Jay gig, especially since he grew up there. It’d be weird to be replaced by a father and a son in different jobs.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^
The talk in the papers and air waves was he was forced out. Throughout the season, the offense put up anemic numbers.
To Hokes defense, hard to attract fans to the games when ticket prices are close 200 for good seats.
wish him the best, great guy-did it the right way.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:20 AM ^
Clap clap clap for Brady.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:22 AM ^
Good!
After Shane Morris and Gibbons coverup I think the man has no place being in a position of responsibility.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
I've been downvoted into oblivion for a similar position. Disagree on the Gibbons thing, fwiw. The narrative on Hoke is "good man, out of his depth", but for how he handled injuries to Morris, Gardner, and Denard, I wouldn't want Hoke in charge of the wellbeing of young men.
He's also a bad leader. Not naming captains in 2014, and benching Gardner for "motivational reasons" in favor of an overmatched Shane Morris, lost him the team.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:49 AM ^
On the one hand those were extremely poor decisions on his part. On the other hand, we the fans have no clue how much pressure he was under in those situations. Extreme pressure from yourself and from outside influences can lead to those poor decisions being made, no matter the situation. I’m not excusing him, I’m just not condemning him for something that none of us fans even know how we’d react in those situations.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Goodness gracious. The Gibbons incident happened in 2009 under Rodriguez--not under Hoke. Gibbons was kicked off the team by Hoke when the University instituted new policies about sexual assualt.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
Happy for him! He took a tough Michigan job after RichRod and gave us hope. Hell, he even got us selling jerseys in Ohio, fergodsakes! Looks like he got healthier after leaving and I sincerely wish him the absolute best in retirement. I hope to see him on the sidelines at Michigan games in the future.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:26 AM ^
he also beat OSU so ….. love him for that and the sugar bowl win
November 13th, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
Come back Brady...to WTKA!
November 13th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
retirement probably blows but it beats going to back to muncie even if you take the bus.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
If being a stand-up man and loving a university were directly related to winning, Hoke would be one of the greatest of all time. Best of luck to him.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
Good for him. Would love to have him as an analyst. Can still be involved in the Michigan program (which he loves dearly), still be involved in football, but without the responsibilities of coaching so he can enjoy his semi-retirement.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:41 AM ^
If ego wouldn't be an issue (and I don't see that with Hoke), I'd be all for having him on the staff. Have him be a D-line analyst and make sure he's peripherally involved in recruiting. (In that area, I think his '13 O-line class gets too much attention. A disaster for sure, but overall I thought he had a good eye for talent.)
November 13th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
USD not the same as SDSU
November 13th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
But San Diego is San Diego.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
Jay went to Oregon State. I said grew up there, as in raised. Just figured the program might be looking for energy, but they may have a pretty high opinion of themselves and their position in whatever the Mountain West becomes.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
Should be Rocky Long's turn again, right?
November 13th, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
It’d be weird to be replaced by a father and a son in different jobs.
It would just be one more weird entry in the Hoke saga. Honestly, round two at SDSU is what's truly baffling to me. As a quick recap, when he left SDSU for M, his DC, Rocky Long, stayed and took over as HC, not just continuing but surpassing Hoke's success there (multiple conference championships and 10 and 11-win seasons). After Hoke was fired in 2014, he takes a year off and then has three consecutive one-year assistant stints at various stops before returning to SDSU as a DL coach under his former assistant Long (awkward...). After one year, Long retires, and Hoke takes over again as HC. (And it certainly doesn't seem like Long was forced out--his previous five seasons were 10, 7, 10, 11 and 11 wins.) But where it gets really weird is that almost immediately, Long takes the DC job at New Mexico. He voluntarily left the HC role at one of the premier teams in the MWC to take a coordinator job at the Mountain West's bottom feeder program? If there's a stranger job hop in college football history, I certainly can't think of it...
November 13th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
And Long has continued that as he’s currently the DC at Syracuse (which had previously Been running his system without the actual guy). Pretty much the definition of a lifer at this point as he’s 72.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
If he's so inclined I wouldn't mind having him around the program in some capacity again. He wasn't up to snuff as the Michigan HC, but you cannot question his love for the program.
Also, were it not for his 2011 win over OSU they would have won the game for damn near 20 years in a row.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^
Im sure OSU did it with impeccable honestly and integrity.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
Like Brady as a person, underwhelming as a coach. The spotlight always looked to hot for him here. I do wonder if it had gone better if he had a better AD behind him instead of Dave Brandon.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
Great recruiter and DL coach.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:40 AM ^
A good dude. Enjoy retirement, coach.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
The guy could recruit and he had an eye for defensive line talent. Some of the success we had in 2015 and 2016 was due to his ability to recruit talent.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
So will he be available on 11/25?
*ducks*
November 13th, 2023 at 9:56 PM ^
I was going to downvote but then I remembered how well he played OSU with inferior talent.
November 13th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
3 claps for Hoke!
November 13th, 2023 at 10:50 AM ^
He was head coach for most of my time at Michigan, so for that I always will have a soft sport for him. I always want nothing but the best for him.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
Best of luck to him in retirement, should he choose to not coach anymore. He always seemed like a good person who was just in over his head at a major program like Michigan.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Great guy. Loved UM. He never developed a QB here. But the talent he left for JH in 2015 (plus the add of Rudock from Iowa) put us in a run of 19-3 until the meltdown at the end of 2016 (helped by the zebras in C-Bus).
IF Al Borges is still around (?) talking UM football, we could use a Brady here too. JH specifically mentioned him and Lloyd when he took the job at the end of 2014 during his press conference. Plus, he spoke at the 2014 Banquet when most other coaches would have left town. He cared about the players.
I think what really sank him at UM was his staff. Other than two-time UM traitor Mattison, the rest of the staff ended up in middling programs post-UM. Plus, awful clock management (back to back years vs. PSU).
My guess is he retires and stays in SD. Wonderful place and weather.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^
I'll admit it. I loved the Brady Hoke hire. He really tried to embody what I wanted Michigan to be all about. He sold Michigan for being Michigan. He loved the university, probably more than any coach I've seen in my 47 year old lifetime.
It didn't work out for him at Michigan but he seemed like a genuinely decent guy. Best to him in his retirement.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Hoke is a good man. Turned that SDSU program around a couple of times.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:40 AM ^
Was a great recruiter at UM. Loves Michigan football.
Bring him in as an assistant D-line coach and have hime focus on just recruiting. He is well connected in the midwest and on the west coast and HS coaches like and trust him. He can relax and not have to worry about anything gameday or strategy related, or even developing players. Just go recruit and have fun meeting new families of recruits. He's a likeable guy.
Besides his meh coaching abilities, never a bad word about the guy in coaching circles.
November 13th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
Clap clap clap
November 13th, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^
Could be a nice man for all I know, but he never should have been given the Michigan job.
November 13th, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
Interesting. This would be a good starting coach gig for Jay. In about 15 years give or take a few, he could replace his dad at Michigan. OSU, MSU, etc. would have another 30 years to bitch about a Harbaugh.
November 13th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^
would hate hate hate to lose jay but it sounds like a perfect opportunity for him
November 13th, 2023 at 1:54 PM ^
Saw these stats in the press release:
“Hoke is the only active college coach to lead three different FBS programs (Ball State, Michigan and SDSU) to an 11-win season and one of only two coaches overall since 1996 (also Urban Meyer with Utah, Florida and Ohio State).”
November 13th, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
He was an earnest guy put in an untenable position and didn't help himself out by doing things like leaving poor damn Shane Morris on the field to stumble around.
November 13th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^
Hoke vs OSU:
2011 - win. OSU had an up and down season.
2012 - 5 point loss. Led at halftime. Denard Robinson unable to throw. OSU went 12-0
2013 - lost on a gutsy 2 point conversion, with Gardner badly injured and playing his heart out. OSU went 12-2
2014 - lost. Tied at hand, trailed by 7 going into the fourth. OSU won the national championship.
Despite having an inferior team every time past 2011 - Michigan hadn't won in 8 years when he started and took another 7 years after he was let go - his teams gave OSU everything they had. If the team played every game with the same effort he would have done far better here.
November 14th, 2023 at 12:16 AM ^
I've wondered how Brady would have done with a healthy Denard in 2012. We lost at Nebraska after Denard got hurt (it dated back to Illinois game) and Bellomy was a disaster that day. We finished 2nd to Nebraska. Ohio was ineligible for the title because of Tattoogate.
November 13th, 2023 at 3:49 PM ^
You don't need a headset to steal signs. Just sayin'.
November 14th, 2023 at 1:24 AM ^
Thanks for all your efforts, Coach Hoke.
You'll always be a Michigan Man, and Spartan Tears will Always Taste Like Sugar.