Posted August 24, 2011
Alumni want to know where new head football coach Brady Hoke plans to take the team this season. He spent eight years on the U-M football coaching staff and returns this year as head coach, after serving in that position at Ball State (his alma mater) and San Diego State. See how he answers these questions submitted by Alumni Association members via Facebook and e-TrueBlue.
This information is adapted from the spring issue of Michigan Alumnus magazine. The current and archived issues are available to members online.
Additional content—View Brady Hoke in a special alumni interview, hosted by Michigan football radio broadcaster Jim Brandstatter.
Michigan Alumnus: What’s your most important goal for this year?
Brady Hoke: To win the Big Ten championship, and that will never change. We’re not going to make any apologies for that.
What’s your style of football?
I would describe it as physical football and a team that plays with a fanatical effort every time they’re on the field. That goes for practice also—a team that’s going to be accountable to each other, knowing what to do and how to do it, and doing it with aggression. That’s an expectation. We’re going to run the power play and have a defense that’s going to be physical at the line of scrimmage. But it’s got to start with both fronts.
What type of offense are you going to run?
We’ll be a pro-style, West Coast offense because of offensive coordinator Al Borges and what he’s done over multiple years. We’re also smart enough to implement an offense that is going to take advantage of the playmakers that we have. Obviously, there’s a quarterback around here who’s a pretty good playmaker, Denard, and other guys within that offensive cast. So we’re not going to put a square peg in a round hole, but we are going to get to the type of offense that we want to have, a pro-style with multiple formations and personnel groups. And we want to run the football.
It’s interesting that you mention quarterback Denard Robinson. Obviously, he was brought in for a different kind of offense. You know, Denard played a pro-style offense out of high school, and so it’s not new to him. And that’s one thing he said when he and I chatted. He said, “Coach, I’m taking the snap from under center.” That’s a big deal. That’s something because when you have a guy who’s been strictly a shotgun quarterback, there are some new mechanics involved.
Of course, alumni wonder about defense. That was an issue with a lot of fans last season.
Working with Greg Mattison and watching his defense, here and at Western Michigan, we’re going to be an aggressive 4-3 defense. Again, I think, on both sides of the ball in the game of football, the playmakers have to be identified, whoever they might be. We’ll see what we have as we develop through the spring, in spring practice, and try to put the guys in the best situations where they’re going to be successful.
*Can you think of any good advice you got from coaches when you were
an assistant coach at Michigan?*
When I was at Michigan and taking the head coaching job at Ball State, Bo told me, “Be yourself—you can’t be anybody else.” And that’s always stuck with me. You may have some of the same philosophies as some of the other guys, either in recruiting or mentoring kids,
but you have to do it within the confines of who you are.
Bo Schembechler was no longer head coach when you were an assistant here, but it sounds like you have memories of him.
He would love to talk about sports; he loved to talk about the kids. You know, even though he wasn’t the head coach, he wanted to talk about how this guy was doing or how that guy was doing. Anytime, I could just walk into his office and say hello. He used to call me “big guy” or “Hokie.”
When we asked alumni to submit questions, some asked how alumni can support the team. Your thoughts?
These kids, student athletes, are awfully special—their commitment level is driven by the expectations we have in the classroom and the expectations we have when they’re out practicing. It’s hard, and it’s not for everyone. So when you ask me that question, I say support those kids, because those kids are out there representing the University.
Edited by Sharon Morioka, ’84, MA’86.
