Michigan Football: 5 Reasons for the Wolverines' Return to Prosperity

The Michigan football team was practically left for dead after last year's 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

It wasn't long before coach Rich Rodriguez was given the gate and athletic director Dave Brandon began searching the country for a new football coach.

Still fresh in the minds of Michigan fans was the botched attempt at hiring LSU's coach just three years earlier. This time around, Les Miles and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh were the leading candidates.

But waiting in the wings was Brady Hoke, a former Michigan assistant, and the head coach at San Diego State.

Hoke may have been a surprise selection, but within minutes of accepting the post, a chain of events began that has brought the Wolverines back to life.

Let's take a quick look at why Michigan is on the eve of playing in its first BCS bowl game since the 2007 Rose Bowl. 

Job One: Keep Denard Robinson in Town

Even before the press conference introducing him as the new Michigan coach, Hoke was already convincing his starting quarterback to remain a Wolverine.

You see, Robinson had just won the Big Ten MVP as a read-option quarterback and many thought he'd want nothing to do with Hoke's new pro-style offense.

“We’ve got a special guy in Denard,” Hoke said at the introduction ceremony. “He can do an awful lot for your football program, and I know he loves the University of Michigan. I’ve already spent about 15 minutes with him, and we’re going to spend a little more time together.”

A compromise was inevitable. 

“When you have a talented player, it’s your job as a coach to mold (the offense) into what’s best for your football team,” Hoke said.

Hoke Surrounds Himself with Nationally Respected Coordinators

Hoke wasted no time choosing his coordinators. Both had outstanding resumes and both had worked closely with Hoke.

Bringing Al Borges along from San Diego State was a no-brainer. Borges had just spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator with the Aztecs and previously held the same position with such outstanding programs as Boise State, Oregon, UCLA, Cal and Auburn.

His 2004 Auburn team finished 13-0 but was forced to watch Southern Cal defeat Oklahoma 55-19 for the national title. 

Greg Mattison came over from a three-year stint with the NFL Baltimore Ravens, where he served as defensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010. Both seasons Baltimore finished third in scoring defense, allowing fewer than 16 points per game.

Prior to his profession experience, Mattison served as defensive coordinator at Florida, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Michigan. While coaching the Wolverines, Mattison worked with Hoke, who served as a defensive line coach. Mattison was the DC under Urban Meyer in 2006 when the Gators won the BCS national title. He will now stare across the field at Meyer, who recently took the head coaching job at Ohio State.

Recruiting: Kyle Kalis Leads Ohio Exodus

New head football coaches waste little time jumping into the recruiting battle, and Hoke was no exception. During the initial five-week period, Hoke and his staff secured the commitments of 12 prospects. Four of them—K Matt Wile, CB Blake Countess, CB Raymon Taylor and RB Thomas Rawls—have seen considerable playing time. Wile and Countess, of course, are starters. 

Partially because of Ohio State's problems with the NCAA, the Wolverines have assembled a banner 2012 class thus far, grabbing nine of the 24 recruits from Ohio. 

Kyle Kalis, a 5-star (scout.com) offensive lineman, decommitted from the Buckeyes in July to join the Wolverines. Kalis, a 6'5", 306-pound tackle, cited Hoke's involvement and Ohio State's NCAA troubles for making the switch.

While it was beginning to look like Michigan was making serious inroads into Ohio, Urban Meyer was named the new Buckeye coach just the day after Michigan beat Ohio State.

Meyer will now be battling Hoke, Mattison and the rest of the Michigan staff for many of the same recruits. Ironically, Meyer called Mattison "the best recruiter in collegiate football" while working for ESPN last December. 

Resiliency a Trait in Six Comeback Wins

You can't exactly call them the Cardiac Kids, but imagine what might have been if Denard Robinson avoided the fourth-quarter sack at Michigan State and if the last-second touchdown pass were allowed at Iowa. 

Michigan would still be playing in New Orleans, but six days later. 

Even without those two, Michigan come from behind in six of its 10 wins. The Wolverines actually trailed WMU, Notre Dame, EMU, Northwestern, Purdue and Ohio State.

The credit for this year's resiliency could be given to the offense's explosiveness or the vastly improved defense.

But when anyone asked a Michigan player, there would usually be a standard response. After the exciting win over Notre Dame,  Robinson offered this version:  "Every time you see a University of Michigan team, you're going to see a team that's going to play together and fight until the end until there's two zeros on the clock."

Wonder if we'll get a chance to hear it again after the Sugar Bowl.

Taking Care of Business: The Three-Game Streak

After Michigan lost its second Big Ten road game in three weeks, the critics began comparing Hoke's first team to the previous three coached by Rich Rodriguez. 

All three of those teams (2008-10) had very little success in conference games late in the season. Collapsing down the stretch was now the norm for Michigan football. 

Sure, the Wolverines were going to face a stern test at Illinois (even though the Illini were imploding themselves) and a pair of tough customers at home named Nebraska and Ohio State.

But no one must have told Fitzgerald Toussaint, who was giving the Wolverines another offensive weapon. No longer would the Wolverines have to depend on Robinson by himself to move the chains.

All season long, Coach Borges searched for that one running back who could shine.

Toussaint, who just happens to be blessed with speed, elusiveness and strength, left a hint of things to come during the 36-14 win over Purdue. The 5'10", 195-pound redshirt sophomore scored a pair of touchdowns and finished with 170 yards on 20 carries.

After a tough day at Iowa, Toussaint and the Wolverines silenced the skeptics at Illinois and continued the good fortune against Nebraska and Ohio State. Toussaint piled up a total of 450 yards in the three games, finishing the regular season with 1,011 and a per-carry average of 5.8.

Add Robinson's 1,163 yards to the mix, and Michigan had its first pair of 1,000-yard rushers since Gordon Bell (1,388) and Rob Lytle (1,030) in 1975.

Not only did that three-game winning streak quiet the naysayers, it gave Michigan its first Big Ten win over Nebraska and the first win over Ohio State since 2003.