Michigan Wolverines Football July 2011: Why Brady Hoke Looks to Be the Right Man

The July 4, 2011 holiday is rapidly approaching and the anticipation in Ann Arbor, Michigan is at an all-time high for the 2011 football season season to begin.

The past three seasons have been a very humbling experience for Michigan fans and they are eager for the Wolverines to be respected once again in college football.

When Rich Rodriguez was hired to take over the program in 2008, he was one of the hottest coaching commodities in college football ranks having previously turned down the head coaching job at the University of Alabama. 

Unfortunately, things did not work out for either Rodriguez or the Michigan program and after three tumultuous seasons of football in Ann Arbor which culminated in an embarrassing loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, Michigan fans quickly realized that grasping a shiny new commodity does not always lead to instant success.

David Brandon, Michigan's new Athletic Director and former football player under the legendary coach Bo Schembechler knew that Michigan needed a different type of leadership.

When Rich Rodriguez and his entire staff was fired from Michigan in January 2011, Athletic Director David Brandon was heavily criticized for waiting until January to do what was so inevitable for the Michigan football program.

At the time, former Michigan quarterback and Stanford head coach, Jim Harbaugh had become the new hot coaching commodity in the world of college football.

Thus, Brandon set his sights on hiring Harbaugh to resurrect a program which had quickly plummeted.

Michigan fans overwhelmingly wanted Harbaugh to return to Ann Arbor, however, his goal was to become a head coach in the NFL instead of returning to his alma mater. 

Therefore, Brandon sets his sights on another former Michigan player, LSU head coach, Les Miles.

This was the second time Michigan had courted Miles for the job and the result would be the same.

Once again, Miles decided to stay in Baton Rouge.

By this time, Brandon was being heavily criticized for both waiting so late to conduct the search and striking out on both Harbaugh and Miles.

The next move took Brandon to San Diego where San Diego State coach Brady Hoke was offered the job.

Hoke, a former Michigan defensive assistant with head coaching stints at Ball State and San Diego State quickly accepted the job.

Brandon was criticized even more. After all, Hoke did not have an overall winning record and had shown only moderate success as a head coach.

How could he possibly lead a program like Michigan back to the top of the nation's elite?

He was not a flashy candidate and he was certainly not the favorite hire among the Michigan fan base.

He did, however, want the job and quickly indicated that coaching Michigan was his dream position. In fact, money did not appear to be the motivating factor and that is rare item in the business of college coaching today.

At this point in his short career, it appears that Coach Hoke was the exact hire that Michigan needed to make and even though he has only been on the job for six months, he has made some excellent decisions for the program. 

As a defensive minded head coach, he hired Greg Mattison as Defensive Coordinator which was an excellent move for a defense that has been completely ignored over the past three years.

On the other side of the ball, Hoke also made the right move by bringing along his San Diego State Offensive Coordinator Al Borges. 

Borges has been an offensive coordinator since 1986, however, his most notable stint was at Auburn compiling a 41-9 record including a 13-0 record in 2004.

Coach Hoke has also placed a great deal of emphasis upon the special teams unit which was also largely ignored over the past three seasons.

The hiring of an experienced special teams coordinator in Dan Ferrigno will certainly help this unit. Ferrigno has coordinated the special teams at Southern Cal, California, and Oregon State throughout his career. He will also coach the tight ends at Michigan.

The retention of Coach Fred Jackson  as running backs coach was also an excellent move and Jackson is an outstanding recruiter with both in state and southern recruiting connections.

Coach Hoke must also be credited with convincing Michigan Quarterback Denard Robinson to stay with the program instead of transferring in January.

There is no doubt that Robinson is an excellent player, however, both Hoke and Borges will look to make him a more effective player against the top tier defenses on the schedule by utilizing multiple offensive formations which involve the running backs, tight ends, and receivers more.

Coach Hoke has made his biggest impact in the area that matters the most and that is recruiting.

Even though he was faced with time matters upon taking the job, he was able to convince at least six four star players to come to Michigan in the midst of a rapid coaching change.

At this point, he is compiling one of the best recruiting classes in many years to come to Ann Arbor in 2012.

This class is currently ranked sixth nationally and it looks to break into the top five before National Signing Day in February 2012.

The most important factor in his recruiting efforts is the fact that Michigan appears to have gained the upper hand with in state recruiting which severely suffered under the leadership of Rich Rodriguez.

It is also important to note that Hoke is having a major impact in the state of Ohio with his recruiting efforts which is already affecting arch rival Ohio State. 

In conclusion, Michigan has not played any games with Brady Hoke at the helm, however, it is easy to tell that the coaching decisions he has made this far will certainly bring the Wolverines back into the elite ranks of the college football scene.