Michigan Football: Flavor of the Day Brady Hoke May Be Lukewarm Tomorrow

When Stanford was putting the finishing touches on its 40-12 destruction of Virginia Tech Monday night, most of us were assuming Jim Harbaugh would become Michigan’s next head football coach.

Within a few hours, however, rumors led many to believe Harbaugh was either headed to the NFL San Francisco 49ers or remaining at Stanford.

Current coach Rich Rodriguez was still expected to be shown the door.  In fact, several news organizations reported that Rodriguez was indeed fired after his meeting with Michigan AD Dave Brandon Tuesday afternoon.

At the dinner hour, Brandon and Rodriguez were still meeting and a 7:00 pm players meeting was moved to 4:00 pm tomorrow.

So who’s going to end up with the head-coaching job? Harbaugh, Rodriguez or how about the most popular candidate of the day, Brady Hoke?

Hoke, in his second year as the coach at San Diego State, is fresh off a 35-14 Poinsettia Bowl victory over Navy.

The former Michigan assistant is in his eighth year as a head coach, first leading Ball State from 2003 through 2008.  His teams suffered four losing seasons before getting bowl invitations his final two.  In his final season at Ball State, Hoke posted a 12-1 (8-0) mark but moved on to San Diego before coaching the bowl game.   

After a losing season in his first year at San Diego State, Hoke just completed a 9-4 campaign (including 5-3 in the Mountain West).

Both San Diego State AD Jim Sterk and university president Stephen Weber think they have a winner.  “Brady has done a great job,” Sterk told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“There is no question that Brady is worth keeping,” added Weber.  “The very reason we want to keep him is the reason why Michigan wants to have him.”

These are no doubt glowing recommendations but Hoke’s resume may not be enough to satisfy everyone in the Michigan family.

After the last hire, Brandon is expected to bring home the total package.

Sure there is the argument that both Bo Schembechler and Jim Tressel also came from smaller schools.

Schembechler, however, was a perennial winner at Miami (Ohio) and also worked on the Ohio State staff with Woody Hayes.  In fact, Schembechler never had a losing season.

Tressel won four I-AA championships at Youngstown State and had a solid Ohio background.

Hoke would be eager to accept the Michigan job, but the Michigan community may have another top contender tomorrow.

In the background are Les Miles at LSU, Chris Petersen at Boise State, Kyle Whittingham at Utah and Mike Bellotti, Oregon’s previous coach.  Even Mississippi State coach Dan Mullin has been mentioned.

Assistant coaches with Michigan backgrounds include Cam Cameron, Chuck Heater, Mike Trgovac and Erik Campbell.