National Signing Day 2011: Brady Hoke Makes an Effort to Help Michigan's Defense

Brady Hoke has already set his regime at Michigan apart from that of Rich Rodriguez in a huge way on National Signing Day 2011.

Hoke is a self-proclaimed “Michigan Man”, but, to be honest, that would mean jack-squat if he came out with the same recruiting attitude as Rich-Rod.

Rodriguez obviously had a “thing” for his offensive scheme, and he made it clear that defense really wasn’t his cup of tea.

So, even though his offense soared this past season, Michigan’s defense was epically bad. In fact, the University of Michigan had one of the worst defenses in all of college football.

Let that phrase wash over you.

I’m sure Brady Hoke has been mulling it over for the past few weeks.

Hoke obviously knows the holes that his current defense possesses, and he seems to be doing everything in his power to change the philosophy on that side of the ball at Michigan.

Hoke hasn’t knocked one out of the park just yet on National Signing Day 2011, but he is making a noticeable push for defensive players.

Thus far, 15 players have signed with Michigan, and 11 are defenders.

Granted, Hoke is signing a bunch of 3-star recruits, but even a 1- or 2-star player is better than that ragtag bunch Michigan was throwing out on the field under Rodriguez.

Hoke has acquired two 4-star defensive players—defensive end Brennen Beyer, out of Plymouth, MI and defensive back Blake Countess, from Owings Mills, MD.

With Greg Mattison taking control of the defense, things are already starting to look up for Michigan football.

However, there is still much work to do, and Hoke needs to somehow steal a 5-star player on the defensive side of the ball in order to secure a truly impressive first National Signing Day.

Mattison can only play with the hand he is dealt, so it is up to Brady Hoke and his recruiting team to equip Michigan’s defense with the players they need to work out of this mess.

They always say defense wins championships.

If Hoke begins to build a defense that can win a few Big Ten games, then we might just see things start falling into place.