HAIL: Brady Hoke named Big Ten Coach of the Year

Some said he was the back-up choice.  Some claimed Michigan settled when it "couldn't" land Les Miles or Jim Harbaugh.  Still others derisively pointed to his ties to former coach Lloyd Carr.

Today, those folks are hard to find.  

He's B1G Coach of the Year, fer God's sake!

After leading Michigan to a 10-2 record -- including a perfect 8-0 at the Big House with wins over ND, Nebraska and Ohio -- Brady Hoke was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by both the media and the other coaches in the conference.  It was the 6th time a first-year coach had been awarded the media honor which began in 1972 and is named after some guy you probably never heard of.  This marks the inaugural presentation of the coaches' award which is called the Hayes-Schembechler and is named after...I'm kidding.  If you need an explanation for that, please ask your mom how to get back to the Justin Bieber fan site.

As pointed out here and so many other places, Hoke took over a team that had only won six B1G games the previous three seasons and matched that total in his first.  He inherited a defense that was both a punching bag and a punchline.  It was "ranked 110th in total defense in 2010, 16th this season. It was 108th in scoring defense in 2010, No. 9 this year."  And contrary to some fears, the offense didn't suffer -- it was 25th in scoring last year, 23rd this year with a game to go.

In short, Hoke did a helluva job.  Best of all, he did it with class and dignity.

And he's starting to run out of room in his trophy case as this is Hoke's third Coach of the Year honor in four seasons.  Previously, Hoke won the MAC's Coach of the Year award while at Ball State, then he won the same honor for the Mountain West when he was the head man at SDSU. 

Well done, Coach!

Coincidentally, on the same day Hoke was honored, former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English was named Coach of the Year in the MAC for his work in turning around the Eastern Michigan Hurons Eagles.

Gee, I guess Lloyd Carr's coaching tree isn't too shabby after all.

Finally, this feels like the perfect time to repost the MZone editorial below that first went up on January 13th of this year.

Will some UM fans one day wish they hadn't "shouted at the airport?"

I've been disappointed by the harsh criticism of the Hoke hire in some Michigan quarters.  Obviously one doesn't have to do cartwheels if they disagree - that's what being a sports fan is all about.  But some of the shrill negativity from Day 1 is sad (and no, Rich Rod didn't face such a "the sky is falling!" response immediately following the announcement of his hiring and his first press conference.  But more about that in a post next week).

Judging by some reactions, one would think Dave Brandon hired me (I got a call, but no face-to-face).  Hell, Fox News wasn't this harsh on Obama until at least six days after his inauguration.

But history always has the last laugh.  

When Gene Chizik was hired at Auburn in December 2008, the first video shows the "welcome" he got from one Tiger fan.  This, uh...passionate fan...showed up at the airport to heckle AD Jay Jacobs as he arrived back upon the Plains with his new coach.  The fan was less than thrilled by the selection of Chizik, a former Auburn assistant - an "Auburn Man" if you will - who just went 5-19 at Iowa State.

Actually, there's no need for me to point out Chizik's record as you'll soon understand why:



But, in the wake of Auburn's national title, the maker of the new video below theorizes that that airport "Greeter" might do things a little differently if he had a mulligan:



I hope those Michigan fans who are "shouting at the airport" today regarding Hoke's hire also wish they had a do-over in the near future.

(Video HT: EDSBS)

ED. NOTE:  As Benny noted (yes, that Benny), did you hear what the guy in the top vid shouted out around the :58 second mark?

Brady Hoke does not do push ups, he pushes the earth down

ED. NOTE: Some Michigan "fans" are using the loss to MSU as the opening they craved to question Hoke's hiring -- still (absolute dumbest tweet I've seen by an alleged U-M fan this week: In the next 2 years I know that Hoke will underperform what RR would have done. After that I have no idea).  But we here at the MZone still believe. That's why the post below that our friend Michigan Sports Girl put in the queue last week still holds true today.



So, upon reading Yost's recent post about our unflappable head coach, it got me thinking.

It brought to mind another undeniable bad ass to whom the world and all of its inhabitants owe all of our earthly freedoms: the one and only Chuck Norris.

I am quite a fan of Chuck Norris Fact sites. They're everywhere, and they are endlessly entertaining. Norris' level of tough was once thought to be unattainable by any human being -- until I began to see some similarities between Chuck and our now-fearless leader. Could there actually be a parallel between one Chuck Norris and the King of Toughness and 'Payshun' himself, Coach Hoke?

A story then popped into my mind. Back when Coach Hoke was an assistant at Michigan, he was the head coach of one of the intra-squad teams heading into our annual spring game. In the Lloyd Carr days there was a tradition (a tradition actually brought back with Coach upon his return to Ann Arbor) that whichever team won the game that day got to eat steak at the barbecue that night. The losing team? Banished to the more simple backyard fare of hamburgers, hot dogs and a steaming hot helping of shame coming from the endless taunting of the winning team around the picnic table.

Before the game that year, Coach rallied his troops in the locker room for his pre-game pep talk. After a fiery speech that more than sufficiently hyped his corps of Wolverines, he proclaimed: "Men, tonight we eat steak." He then turned his head, pulled out a large bottle of A-1 Sauce, and proceeded to DRINK THE ENTIRE BOTTLE in one swig.

That is one bad-ass coach.

So, here are some Brady Hoke facts that you may not know:

*Coach Hoke and Superman once fought each other on a bet. The loser had to start wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants.

*When all else fails, Coach Hoke doesn't.

*Coach Hoke does not wear sunglasses. The sun wears Coach Hoke glasses.

*If paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, what beats all 3 at the same time? Answer: Coach Hoke.

*When Coach dives into a pool, he doesn't get wet. The water gets Hoke'd.

Please feel free to leave your best Coach Hoke facts in the comments below.

][V][ GO BLUE!

ED. NOTE, PART II:  This just sort of screamed out for a re-posting of the video below that the MZone made back in June.

Unflappable Brady Hoke

One of the most impressive things about Brady Hoke is how calm he is on the sidelines, no matter what the situation on the field.  Notre Dame up 17 in the second?  No problem.  Northwestern running wild in the first?  No worries.  The man defines cool under pressure.

Well, the MZone has done a little digging and discovered Hoke's pattern of calm in the face of chaos knows no bounds.  The dude is simply unflappable.  Behold...

Here's a shot of Brady Hoke running with the bulls in Spain.

Here's Brady Hoke playing through the American Revolution (let it be noted that the future-U.S. side was down 18 late when this was taken, making Hoke's demeanor even that much more impressive).

Finally, here's Hoke getting eaten by a man-eating shark near the Great Barrier Reef, yet not even breaking a sweat.  Yes, the man has ice in his veins.

Ohio: All Your Players Are Belong To Us

UPDATE:

Recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill weighs in on impact of Kalis switching to Michigan.



Over the weekend, two of the top high school football prospects in Ohio committed to Michigan as Brady Hoke continued to attract the best of the Buckeye state.

Kyle Kalis, a 5-star OL and Tosu* de-commit, chose the Wolverines after an unofficial visit on Sunday.  Kalis is the sixth-ranked offensive tackle in the country, the best player in Ohio and, according to MGo's TomVH, is already recruiting for Michigan.

Ouch.  That's gonna leave a mark.

This comes on the heals of 4-star Akron DB Jarrod Wilson committing on Friday.  Wilson is ranked as the #13 DB in the country by Rivals.

Yeah, I know Tosu* was gonna take a huge hit recruiting-wise after they were finally busted for cheating, but what Hoke is doing is nothing short of spectacular at this point.  I've heard of coaches "putting a fence" around their own state, but who knew Hoke's extended all the way down to the Kentucky border. 

Wallpaper Wednesday - This is MICHIGAN

Q: People nationally have said that this isn't an elite job anymore. Why in your mind isn't this an elite job?

COACH HOKE: Who says that? (laughter) And I'm being serious.

Q: ESPN --

COACH HOKE: God bless them. They have a job to do and they have an opinion that they might have. But this is an elite job and will continue to be an elite job. This is Michigan for God's sakes. It's what this is all about. You know, people can say what they want to say, and people are going to have opinions; shouldn't have hired him, he doesn't know what he's doing. Doesn't mean a thing. All it means is when we get together, those 115 kids and we start our preparation and we start the things that we have to do as a football staff, as a team, then we'll decide. But it baffles me how people with make a comment like that, and I'll probably get bashed in the press from it, but they are wrong. This is Michigan.

Go Blue!

Know Your Coach: Brady Hoke

Usually, this post topic is reserved for Know Your Foe, detailing the non-X's and O's things you might not know about Michigan's weekly opponent.   But with the hiring of a new football coach this week - on the 19th in Michigan's 131 seasons of playing intercollegiate football - we thought you, the loyal MZone reader, would like to get to know your new coach just a little bit more.


HOKE'S PLAYING DAYS

Born in November, 1958 in Dayton, OH, Hoke graduated from Fairmont East High School in Kettering, OH and went on to play linebacker for Ball State where he was a four-year letterman.  He was the captain of his squad senior year and a second-team All-MAC selection.  He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice, something that will come on handy when discussing the Ohio State team with his players.

According the Wikipedia link above, his dad played for Woody Hayes at Miami of Ohio but Brady always was a Michigan fan growing up which much have led to some interesting discussions around the dinner table.

EARLY COACHING DAYS

According (again) to Wikipedia (let's face it, there aren't a whole hell of a lot of other Hoke sources out there...yet!), Hoke began his coaching career in 1982 as the defensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Yorktown HS in Yorktown, Indiana.

Hoke's college coaching career started as the D-line coach for Grand Valley State in '83.  The following year he took the same job at Western Michigan where the coach was a guy by the name of Jack, father of Jim, Harbaugh.  Hoke stayed at Western until '86

Hoke then went to the University of Toledo and Oregon State before joining...

MICHIGAN

As you probably know by know, Hoke was part of the Michigan coaching staff from '95 until 2002.  But what you might not know, which I didn't, was that Hoke was hired, not by Lloyd Carr, but by Moeller in February of '95.   When Moeller was fired, Carr kept Hoke on his staff.  He was defensive ends coach in '95 and '96 and D-line coach from '97 until 2002.  That final year, Hoke was also Michigan's assistant head coach.

During those years, Michigan won 5 Big Ten titles and 1 NC.  Hoke still wears his NC ring each day and, to the best of our knowledge, has not sold any of his Big Ten title rings nor traded them for tats.

While at Michigan, Hoke was known as a great recruiter and was in charge of recruiting California.  One of the players he recruited was some QB you might have heard of: Tom Brady.

BALL STATE AND SDSU

In December, 2002, Hoke left A2 to coach his alma mater, Ball State for $125,000 a year (or as they call that in the SEC, "Back-up tight end money").  Taking over a team that hadn't won since '96, Hoke's first three teams struggled as well.  But in his 4th year, they went 5-7, then went 7-6 and finally 12-1 when Hoke was hired to coach San Diego State.

At San Diego State, Hoke signed a 5-year contract worth a guaranteed $3.5 Mil (or as they call that in the SEC, the waterboy's buy-out amount).  He took over a 2-10 team that hadn't had a winning season since '98.  They went 4-8 his first year and 9-4 this past season with a Poinsettia Bowl victory over Navy.  This was the Aztecs' first bowl victory since the Beatles were still together.

COACHING POTPOURRI

Coach Hoke was one of 10 finalists for the 2008 Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year and was named Mid-American Coach of the Year in 2008 and American Football Coaches Association Football Bowl Subdivision Region 3 Coach of the Year.

His overall coaching record, as all the folks already bitching will tell you, is 47-50 (of course they always neglect to mention he took over two corpses and brought them both back to life).

PERSONAL LIFE

Hoke is married to the former Laura Homberger, who is also a Ball State alum, and they have one daughter.  His younger brother, John, is the secondary coach of the Chicago Bears.

He is said to look like Fred Flinstone, Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Steve Schirripa from The Sopranos, and a tad like the deceased Penn brother.

His Facebook page is pretty empty and he is not (yet) a Tweeter.  He got his dream job, pounds the podium when he speaks and refers to Tosu as the most important game on Michigan's schedule and "that school from Ohio."

Those who worked with him and played for him say he's a great guy and one heck of a coach.

Hell, yes: I'm excited!

Go Blue!

(Hoke Hope pic on the right via HSR)

And for cryin' out loud, if you haven't watched it yet and want to get pumped about both Michigan football and our new head coach (to hell with the naysayers), watch his introductory press conference:

Wallpaper Wednesday - Denard = B10 Player of the Year

I made this wallpaper a couple of weeks ago, but the events associated with the program over the last few weeks have created a gap in this weekly feature.

It is important that the collective Michigan fan base continue to show the love and admiration to Denard Robinson. Of all the potential negative effects of this coaching change, Denard's choice to stay or go could be the most important in the short term success of the program. From my perspective, the single largest failure of the Rich Rodriguez experiment was the absolute refusal to adjust the scheme to the abilities of the players. This cost us the seemingly very valuable skills of Ryan Mallett and many others. I can't imagine that Brady Hoke and his new assistants will throw away the talents of the Big Ten Player of the Year. At least I hope not.

Denard, if you are reading this... PLEASE STAY !!!!! Michigan is a very special place and you are an important part of this program.