Will Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke Make It Through the 2014 Season?

Brady Hoke’s initiation as head coach ended with an epic thunderstorm that canceled the rest of the game. Another thunderstorm suspended Michigan’s 26-10 loss to Utah that may mark the symbolic end of his tenure.

Brady Hoke has fumbled his chance to rebuild Michigan and it will cost him his job.

Over the last three seasons, Michigan fans have resorted to an array of excuses to explain the team’s gradual slide under Hoke—he needed to restock the roster, the players needed to mature or his coaches (specifically offensive coordinator Al Borges) weren’t up to the task.

Sports Illustrated shared a tweet that alluded to the increasing uncertainty of Hoke's job security after the Utah loss:

But after a shocking 31-0 defeat to Notre Dame, a lackluster 34-10 victory over Miami University and an embarrassing 26-10 loss to Utah, the pressure is squarely on Hoke to beat Michigan State and Ohio State—or else.

Year	Record
2011	11-2
2012	8-5
2013	7-6
2014	2-2

The temperature rose last season as Michigan stumbled through a 1-4 November stretch followed by a disappointing 31-14 bowl loss to Kansas State. A 7-6 finish in Hoke’s third season was not what fans expected. Athletic director David Brandon may have pledged his support for Hoke, but it didn’t extend to his staff.

Offensive coordinator Al Borges was replaced by Doug Nussmeier, and the defensive staff was shuffled.

Despite the turmoil, prior to the season Brandon called continued speculation that Hoke was on the hot seat "nonsense" during a radio interview with Detroit Sports 105.1 FM, courtesy of MLive.com, via Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports:

"

That's websites and that's bloggers and that's social media and that's all part of the game that's played out there -- let's stir up controversy. This happens every year. I can't do very much about that, other than (say), that's nonsense. ... All this hot seat stuff, to me, is just nonsense. I don't pay any attention to it.

"

However, Hoke's tenuous position was described perfectly by Martin Rickman at SI.com, who listed him as one of the 10 coaches on the hot seat entering this season:

"

The bad news is Michigan just watched Michigan State win the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl while the Wolverines limped to a 7-6 season including a loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Michigan can’t finish barely above .500 again, not with the rest of the league getting better and Ohio State continuing to dominate the rivalry.

"

But with Michigan entering the Big Ten portion of the schedule after two nonconference losses, the program appears to be sliding even further behind its key rivals.

Hoke now needs wins over both Michigan State and Ohio State to save his job.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Under Hoke, Michigan is a paltry 4-6 versus Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State, and winless on the road versus those teams. The losses are bad enough, but Michigan has not been competitive in its two recent visits to East Lansing or this season versus Notre Dame.

Even before the loss to Utah, Bill Bender at Sporting News predicted that Hoke’s job would only be saved by wins over Michigan State and Ohio State:

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Michigan might have 10 games left this season, but Brady Hoke's job evaluation comes down to just two of them. Hoke has to beat either Michigan State or Ohio State on the road after last week's 31-0 loss at Notre Dame. Given that Michigan is 0-5 against the Irish, Buckeyes and Spartans on the road since Hoke took over, it's a fair test.

"

The team's struggles have also caused Hoke to draw ire from a prominent member of the Michigan football family. Braylon Edwards voiced the sentiments of many fans in a recent interview with 105.1 FM's Matt Dery, via Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com:

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

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It's year four, people want to see results in year four. The first couple years they'll give you excuses ... but in year four, you've got your own guys, your own players, your own staff and we want to see the results of your program. A lot of pressure is on Brady to win three [rivalry ] games. He lost one. He lost one of the three and there's a lot of pressure on him to win the other two.

And you know which one I'm talking about. If he doesn't perform well in those games, he's going to be facing a lot of questions at the end of the season and they might not be questions he wants to face.

"

Hoke's failure versus rivals is even more disappointing to fans in the wake of Michigan State’s ascendance. Michigan has long dominated its “little brother,” but the tables have turned since the retirement of Lloyd Carr.

Harry How/Getty Images

The Spartans have won the Big Ten twice (2010, 2013) while earning victories in their last three bowl games and climbing to No. 3 in the national rankings last season.

With Michigan now sharing the Big Ten East division with Michigan State and Ohio State, it will need to beat both to compete for the Big Ten championship—one of Hoke's main goals since returning to Ann Arbor.

After two losses where Michigan has failed to even get in the red zone, the task looks insurmountable, especially since both games are on the road. 

But Hoke remains undaunted.

"Our goal (of winning the Big Ten) is still out there," he said during his postgame press conference.

But now it's about more than just winning a conference title; it's about saving his job.

Phil Callihan is a featured writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations obtained firsthand.

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