Brady Hoke Brady Hoke ( born November 3 , 1958 ) is currently the head football coach for the Michigan Wolverines football team where he has served since the 2011 season . He grew up in Ohio and attended Ball State University where he played linebacker from 1977 to 1980 . He began his coaching career in 1982 and held assistant coaching positions at Grand Valley State ( 1983 ) , Western Michigan ( 1984 – 1986 ) , Toledo ( 1987 – 1989 ) , Oregon State ( 1989 – 1994 ) and Michigan ( 1995 – 2002 ) . Hoke left his assistant coaching position at Michigan in December 2002 to become the head football coach at his alma mater , Ball State . In six years at Ball State , Hoke was credited with turning around the football program . In 2008 , he led the Ball State football team to a 12 – 1 record and the first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 ( peaking at No . 12 ) in school history . In December 2008 , Hoke was hired as the head football coach at San Diego State University . He led the 2010 San Diego State Aztecs football team to the school ' s first nine - win season since 1971 and a victory over Navy in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl . He returned to Michigan after he was hired to be the program ' s 19th head football coach on January 11 , 2011 . In his inaugural season with the Wolverines he led them to a 11 – 2 , taking Michigan to their first BCS Bowl game since the 2006 football season , where Michigan defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2012 Sugar Bowl . Early years . Hoke graduated from Fairmont East High School in Kettering , Ohio , in 1977 . While at Fairmont East , Hoke played linebacker / defensive end and was also on the school ' s wrestling squad . His father , John Hoke , played for future Ohio State coach Woody Hayes at Miami University , along side future Michigan coach Bo Schembechler . Despite his father ' s association with Hayes , Hoke recalled that , while he was growing up in Kettering , he was a Michigan fan . He went on to play football as a linebacker at Ball State University , where he was a four - year letterman from 1977 to 1980 . He helped the Ball State Cardinals win the 1978 MAC championship . He tallied 99 tackles as a sophomore , 95 as a junior and 150 as a senior . He was the captain of Ball State ' s 1980 team and was selected as a second - team All - MAC player . Coaching career . Assistant coach . Hoke began his coaching career in 1982 as the defensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Yorktown High School in Yorktown , Indiana . Hoke began his college coaching career as the defensive line coach at Grand Valley State University in 1983 . The following year , he joined Jack Harbaugh ' s staff at Western Michigan University . He was Western Michigan ' s defensive line coach from 1984 to 1986 . Also on the coaching staff were current Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh , current Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison , and current Michigan special teams coordinator Dan Ferrigno . Hoke next served as the linebackers coach at the University of Toledo from 1987 to 1989 . Hoke served as an assistant coach at Oregon State University from 1989 to 1994 under head coaches Dave Kragthorpe and his successor Jerry Pettibone . He was the Beavers ' defensive line coach in every season except 1990 , when coached the inside linebackers . The Beavers went 4 – 7 – 1 and 1 – 10 in Hoke ' s first two years in Corvallis , resulting in the firing of Kragthorpe . Hoke was retained in 1991 by Oregon State ' s new head coach , Jerry Pettibone . The Beavers had consecutive one - win seasons in 1991 and 1992 and back - to - back four win seasons in 1993 and 1994 . Despite the team ' s struggles , Hoke later credited Kragthorpe with teaching him many lessons : " One of the big things coach Pettibone instilled in me was the recruiting process , and the work ethic that it takes to recruit , and the other factors , as far as trying to get a team ready every week , coming off a couple of lean years , and the intenseness of the rivalry with Oregon . " In February 1995 , Hoke was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan under head coach Gary Moeller . He was the defensive end coach in 1995 and 1996 and defensive line coach from 1997 to 2002 . In May 2002 , Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr named Hoke as associate head coach , the only member of the staff with that distinction . At the time , Hoke told the press , " Every year you learn more and more what the head coach has to do . I ' m very honored to represent this school . I grew up a big Michigan fan , and I think it ' s a place that ' s special in a lot of ways . " During Hoke ' s eight years at Michigan , the Wolverines compiled a 75 – 23 record , went to a bowl game every year and won the national championship in 1997 . While at Michigan , Hoke was assigned to recruit in California . One of the players Hoke recruited to Michigan was Tom Brady . Hoke recalled : " Tom wasn ' t the greatest athlete , with those skinny legs , but there was something about him . " Although Hoke was an assistant under head coaches Moeller and Carr at Michigan , Bo Schembechler remained at Michigan in the early part of Hoke ' s tenure . Interviewed in 2009 , Hoke recalled the example set by Schembechler : " When I was at Michigan , Bo Schembechler ' s office was five doors down from mine . Having the opportunity to talk with him on a daily basis was something that transferred those values that are most important if you ' re going to be successful . " Ball State . In December 2002 , Hoke was hired as the 14th head football coach at his alma mater , Ball State University , signing a five - year contract at $ 125 , 000 per season . Hoke told reporters that the moment he heard the vacancy sign was out at Ball State , he knew he wanted to be the school ' s next head football coach : " There is no doubt . " Hoke added , " It is great to return to the school that enabled me to get an education and play football . I am looking forward to representing a great university with integrity and pride . " Michigan ' s head coach Lloyd Carr praised Hoke : " Brady has done a tremendous job at Michigan . He is a great recruiter . One of the things I try to do is hire people that have the potential to become head coaches . He is goal - oriented and has a great motivation to be the best that he can be . " Hoke took over a Ball State football program that had not had a winning record since 1996 . Hoke ' s teams won only 10 games in his first three seasons as head coach . Hoke began to turn this around in his fourth year as the team finished 5 – 7 ( 5 – 3 ) in 2006 . In 2007 , the team improved to 7 – 5 in the regular season , as sophomore quarterback Nate Davis passed for 3 , 376 yards and 27 touchdowns . The 2007 Ball State team nearly upset the Nebraska Cornhuskers , but a late touchdown gave Nebraska a 41 – 40 win . The team was invited to play in the International Bowl in Toronto , losing to Rutgers , 52 – 30 . During the 2008 season , Hoke led the Cardinals to the most wins in school history , finishing the regular season with an undefeated record of 12 – 0 . The 2008 season marked the first time the Ball State Cardinals won a game against a BCS - conference opponent , a 42 – 20 victory over Indiana . And in October 2008 , Ball State was ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in the school ' s history . After his team achieved its top 25 ranking , Hoke told the media , " It ' s flattering obviously , but there ' s so much season left to play . You have to evaluate the season at the end . We ' ve got a lot of big games ahead of us . " The Cardinals were ranked as high as # 12 during the 2008 season . After concluding an undefeated regular season , Hoke ' s 2008 team lost to the Buffalo Bulls in the 2008 MAC Championship Game . Ball State ' s rise to prominence led to Hoke ' s December 2008 appearance on the " Late Show with David Letterman " where he read a special " Top Ten List " of the " Highlights of the Ball State Cardinals Season , " topped by " The Drunk 3 A . M . Coaching Tips from ( Ball State alumnus ) Letterman . " While at Ball State , several football players were caught in a scheme to sell textbooks for classes they were not enrolled in . The NCAA cut three football scholarships and put the University on two years probation . Nine other sports were involved in the scheme . San Diego State . In December 2008 , Hoke was hired as the 17th head football coach at San Diego State University . Hoke signed a five - year contract with a guaranteed payment of $ 3 , 525 , 000 , plus incentives for hitting revenue marks and bowl berths . San Diego State was also required to pay $ 240 , 000 to buy out the remaining two years on Hoke ' s contract at Ball State . At the press conference introducing Hoke as the Aztecs ' new coach , Hoke told reporters , " Number one , this program is going to be a program that ' s based on toughness . To play football at the Division I level , to compete academically at the Division I level and balance both , you have to be tough - minded . You have to be physically tough and mentally tough . " San Diego State compiled a 2 – 10 record the year before Hoke arrived . A sports writer for the " San Diego Union - Tribune " described the challenge facing Hoke : " It ' s going to be difficult for [ Brady Hoke ] , because with the Aztecs , we ' re basically talking about a sea change in everything from A to Zed . This isn ' t Urban Meyer taking over at Florida , where the cupboard already was full of epicurean delights . State has rotting skeletons in its closet . The Aztecs haven ' t had a winning season since 1998 , just seven since 1980 . " Hoke won a reputation for recruiting at San Diego State . His brother Jon Hoke , an assistant coach in the NFL , noted : " I don ' t care where it is , whether it ' s San Diego State or anywhere else , if there ' s one thing he can do it ' s recruit . He ' s as good at it as anybody . He ' s relentless with recruiting . He has a great feel for parents and a great feel for players . As long as you give him the budget to ( recruit ) the way it needs to be done , he ' ll be fine . " In 2009 , Hoke led the Aztecs to a record of 4 – 8 . During the 2010 season , Hoke ' s team improved to 9 – 4 . Two of the Aztecs ' losses in 2010 came in close matches against ranked opponents . The Aztecs gave the undefeated , # 2 TCU team its closest game of the regular season , losing by a score of 40 – 35 . Hoke ' s team also lost a close game against No . 12 Missouri by a score of 27 – 24 . The team concluded its season with a convincing 35 – 14 win over Navy in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl . Prior to the 2010 season , San Diego State had not won nine games in a season since 1971 and had not played in a bowl game since the 1998 team lost in the Las Vegas Bowl . After the 2010 season , a reporter for the " Orange County Register " wrote that Hoke had given San Diego State " swagger . " Michigan . Following the firing of Rich Rodriguez as Michigan ' s head football coach , Hoke ' s name was discussed prominently as a replacement along with Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles . Fox Sports analyst and Ball State alumnus Jason Whitlock wrote an impassioned column calling Hoke " the perfect coach for Michigan . " Whitlock observed : " Brady Hoke loves hard . He loves his family , his players , his assistant coaches , Ball State football and Michigan football . You think winning 12 games and getting into the BCS conversation is difficult at Stanford ? Try doing it at Ball State . . . . Jim Harbaugh ' s 12 – 1 can ' t touch Brady Hoke ' s 12 – 1 . . . . Michigan is his destination job . He has no interest in auctioning himself off to the highest bidder . He loves Ann Arbor . He ' d crawl on hot , broken glass to work inside Schembechler Hall as the head coach . . . . He has an uncanny ability to get kids to believe in him and believe in themselves . He doesn ' t do it with smooth words . He ' s not smooth . He does it by being the same genuine person day after day . . . . He connects . The kids hang on his words , respond to his tough love and accept his discipline . " Writing in " The Detroit News " , Lynn Henning noted : " ( Hoke ) is straight from the Bo Schembechler - Lloyd Carr schools of football control : Practices are closed . Media are to be kept far behind the moats . His preference is football over just about anything else planet Earth offers . And his players love him . Not because he ' s soft or cuddly or sympathetic to the tackle they just missed . Rather , it ' s because they believe in him and the football he coaches . " Hoke had reportedly long considered the head coaching position at Michigan to be his " dream job " . San Diego State University president Stephen Weber revealed that when Hoke interviewed for the Aztecs ' head coaching position in 2008 , Hoke told Weber that he saw the Michigan job as his " ultimate career goal " . On January 11 , 2011 , Hoke was named the 19th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team . Michigan athletic director David Brandon described some of the factors that influenced his selection of Hoke : " The reason I wanted him to be prominent in this process was simply the combination of turning around two programs , being known as a terrific recruiter , and being a defensive - minded coach with a lot of experience . Everybody that I ever talked to just raved about the quality of person he is and how much he loves Michigan . " Although many speculated that Hoke had been a third choice behind Harbaugh and Miles , Brandon stated , " The job was never offered to them . " Hoke has placed a renewed emphasis on beating Ohio State , a rivalry that Hoke claimed was " almost personal " . Hoke refuses to refer to Ohio State by name , calling it " that school in Ohio " or simply " Ohio " . Though each of the two schools Hoke previously coached at used red as a team color , Hoke wore black or white polo shirts on game days because red reminded him of Ohio State . Hoke has installed clocks inside the locker room that count down to both the Michigan State game and the Ohio State game . On November 26 , Hoke ' s Wolverines defeated Ohio State in Hoke ' s first season as the Wolverines ' head coach , clinching Michigan ' s first 10 - win season since 2006 . Hoke ' s 2011 team also held Michigan ' s first winning record in Big Ten conference play since 2007 . Michigan ' s win over Ohio State in the long - standing rivalry was its first since 2003 . Following the 2011 Big Ten Conference football season , Hoke swept the Big Ten Coach of the Year awards , earning the Hayes - Schembechler Coach of the Year , as selected by conference coaches , and the Dave McClain Coach of the Year , as picked by the media . Hoke won his first bowl game as the head coach of Michigan in an overtime contest against Virginia Tech by a score of 23 – 20 . It was Michigan ' s first BCS bowl victory since the 2000 Orange Bowl , and its 20th bowl victory overall . Hoke focused on the seniors after the game saying " I ' m just real proud , real proud of our seniors . Real proud of how they took this football team last January and molded it and did a tremendous job , " Hoke also referred to the point that only 5 teams in Michigan history had won 11 games in a season . Hoke always referred to this group as team 132 and said " We always have a tremendous legacy of Team 132 that a lot of teams are going to have to try and match up to . " Brady Hoke ' s 2nd season in Ann Arbor started off with Michigan losing 41 - 14 to the defending national champions , the Alabama Crimson Tide . The Game was played at Cowboy Stadium on a neutral playing field , being broadcast to a nationally televised audience . Hoke said after the game " Obviously , we didn ' t play Michigan football , and that ' s something that bothers our team , bothers the coaches ; " he continued " Win or lose your first game , you learn a lot . " Michigan has gone 8 - 3 overall and 6 - 1 in conference so far in the 2012 - 13 season with undefeated Ohio State on Saturday for the biggest game of the season against their biggest rival . The Game against Ohio St . will mark the first game between Hoke and Ohio St . ' s new coach Urban Meyer . Hoke spoke about his relationship with Meyer “ I ’ ve known him probably 10 - 12 years . When Greg ( Mattison ) was at Notre Dame , Urban was there , and I used to meet him on the road in recruiting and all those kind of things . He ’ s a nice guy . " Hoke would go further go on to talk about hows Michigan ' s incentive to win will not diminish if Nebraska wins their early game on Saturday and wins taking the spot in the Big Ten Title Game " “ This game needs no extra motivation . When you play Ohio and the respect the two schools have , the traditions , this will be the 109th meeting . Yes , we want to win the championship , but this is Ohio . This that last game in November that we talk about all year long . Hoke is 0 - 1 against Meyer . " Family . Hoke is married to Laura ( Homberger ) Hoke , who is also a Ball State graduate . Hoke and his wife have a daughter , Kelly , who was born in 1986 and was also a Ball State graduate . Brady is the younger brother of Jon Hoke , who is the secondary coach of the Chicago Bears . Jon ' s son , Kyle Hoke , played for his uncle at Ball State and is currently a graduate assistant coach for the Western Michigan Broncos football team . Head coaching record .