Football
- Title:
- Head Football Coach
Brady Hoke was named the 19th head coach in University of Michigan football history on Jan. 11, 2011, and ended his tenure on Dec. 2, 2014, after four seasons.
A former assistant coach at U-M (1995-2002), Hoke guided the Wolverines to a 31-20 record (18-14 Big Ten) in his four seasons as head coach. Hoke led the Wolverines to an 11-2 record (6-2 Big Ten) and Allstate Sugar Bowl victory in his first season at the helm, while U-M finished the 2012 season with an 8-5 (6-2 Big Ten) mark following a bid to the Outback Bowl and 7-6 record (3-5 Big Ten) in 2013 after an appearance in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Hoke had previous head coaching stints at San Diego State from 2009-10, where he earned a 13-12 record, and his alma mater, Ball State, where he went 34-38 from 2003-08. Collectively, Hoke is 78-70 in 12 seasons as a head coach.
Hoke's first-season success in Ann Arbor was acknowledged across the country. He was named the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year and was named a finalist for three other national Coach of the Year honors: Bear Bryant, Eddie Robinson and Liberty Mutual. The Big Ten Conference's coaches voted Hoke as the inaugural recipient of the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year award, while the Big Ten media named him the Dave McClain Coach of the Year.
With four wins more than the 2010 squad (7-6), Hoke and the Wolverines tied Fielding Yost's 1901 team as the only two teams with a four-win improvement from the previous season. Yost's 1901 team went 11-0 following a 7-2-1 1900 season.
Only the legendary Yost precedes Hoke as a Michigan head coach to win 10 games in his first season. Hoke also became the fifth Big Ten coach to win at least 10 games in his first season as head coach, and became the third U-M coach to win his first six games (Fielding Yost-1901, Bennie Oosterbaan-1948). Nationally, Hoke became one of eight coaches to direct a team to a BCS bowl in his first season, while he became the third coach to direct a team to a BCS bowl victory in his first season.
In 2012, Hoke became the first Michigan head coach to go undefeated at home in his first two seasons since Fielding Yost in 1901-02. The Wolverines were a perfect 8-0 at Michigan Stadium in 2011 and 6-0 at the Big House in 2012.
Hoke's defense improved from a unit that in 2010 ranked 108th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring defense and 110th in yards allowed to one that ranked among the top 20 in the country in scoring and total defense in 2011 and 2012.
Twenty-one Wolverines earned All-Big Ten distinction in four seasons under Hoke, including back-to-back-to-back Big Ten Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year winners in center David Molk (2011) and left tackle Taylor Lewan (2012-13). Devin Funchess also earned Big Ten Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year honors in 2013.
The 2010 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, Hoke guided the Aztecs to a 9-4 record, marking the most victories since 1996 (8) while earning the program's first trip to a bowl game in 12 years, a 35-14 victory over Navy. Six of his players earned All-MWC first team honors in 2010, including running back Ronnie Hillman, the league's Freshman of the Year. Seven additional players earned second team (4) honors and honorable mention (3). In 2009, Hoke's first season at San Diego State, five players were named to All-MWC teams, while 11 were MWC All-Academic selections.
As head coach at Ball State, he mentored players to 35 All-MAC selections in six years en route to a pair of bowl game appearances in 2007 and '08. The 2008 season marked the best season in program history, recording a school-record 12 wins and completing an undefeated Mid-American Conference regular-season campaign.
Collectively, Hoke has 30-plus years of collegiate coaching experience beginning with assistant positions at Grand Valley State (1983), Western Michigan (1984-86), Toledo (1987-88), Oregon State (1989-94) and Michigan (1995-2002). A defensive line coach at U-M, Hoke was part of three Big Ten champion teams (1997, '98, 2000), including the 1997 national champion and Rose Bowl winning squad.
A 1982 graduate of Ball State University, Hoke earned four letters (1977-80) with the Cardinals. He was part of the only two teams in Ball State football history to post undefeated conference seasons: as a player in 1978, and as the head coach in 2008. Hoke led Ball State to the 1978 MAC championship, and as a team captain in 1980 earned All-MAC second-team honors. He graduated from Fairmont East High School in Kettering, Ohio, in 1977.
He and his wife, the former Laura Homberger, have one daughter, Kelly.
Brady Hoke's Year-by-Year Coaching Record
| Year | School | Record | Conf. Record |
| 2014 | Michigan | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| 2013 | Michigan | 7-6 | 3-5 |
| 2012 | Michigan | 8-5 | 6-2 |
| 2011 | Michigan | 11-2 | 6-2 |
| 2010 | San Diego State | 9-4 | 5-3 |
| 2009 | San Diego State | 4-8 | 2-6 |
| 2008 | Ball State | 12-1 | 8-0 |
| 2007 | Ball State | 7-6 | 5-2 |
| 2006 | Ball State | 5-7 | 5-3 |
| 2005 | Ball State | 4-7 | 4-4 |
| 2004 | Ball State | 2-9 | 2-6 |
| 2003 | Ball State | 4-8 | 3-5 |
| Total | 78-70 | 52-43 | |
