football

Brandon

National search - went to five cities in six days.

Interviewed several candidates.

Had never really met BH before this search.

Received feedback from former coaches, players and opposing coaches.

BH

"We would've walked to the University of Michigan."

Football teaches young men life skills.

Thanks RR.

Thanks his mentors.

Grew up in Ohio, but was a UM fan.  Wouldn't say "OSU" or anything like that.  "That team in Ohio."

"This is about a team."  And "character" and "toughness."

A few tears.  Ends with "Go Blue."

Questions

Don't want divides.

Our staff will understand that we have a special guy in Denard.  We know he loves UM.  We will spend more time with him.  If you have talented players you have to mold that to what's best for your team and most of the time that's what's best for the players.

Re rivalries "You want to win them.  They are front and center for the program."  We have three rivalries.

Lifeblood in recruiting is midwest so have to win.  "That school in Ohio."  Won't say its name.

Hard to leave SDSU.

My players are like my sons.

Re recruiting and retention: meeting today, will meet with seniors, will meet again with team on friday and certain players individually.  Will call all commits.  Will make all decisions as is best for the program.

"Is this where you want to be forever?" --- "Yes."

"Recruiting is a people business."  We have something special to give recruits.

"This is an elite job.  This is Michigan for godsakes.  This is Michigan"

"There's great kids in this program."  "Everyone who works with these kids will have a fanatical love for the Univeristy of Michigan or they won't work here."

"We're not a gray area program."

OSU: (banging table) "It is the most important game on that schedule.  It's almost personal"

There will be no recruiting visits this weekend.

As if we didn't have enough to cry about right now:

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/u-says-tate-forcier-not-enrolled-cl...

He's got until January 25 to enroll but has not done so yet. Does this mean he's on his way out, or is he slacking on picking his classes, or what?

Thoughts?

FWIW: Very classy of Hoke to thank Rodriguez and staff for their dedication to the school for three years.

Can't help but feel he's extremely nervous. Speaking a bit loudly, lots of "uh"

I have club seats at Michigan stadium and I haven't sent in my check yet for next season.  Last year was my first year in the premium seating, so I'm not sure if this is the usual practice or not but this AM I received a call from an athlete thanking me for my support of the athletic department.  This seems like one hell of a coincidence given yesterday's events.

I was curious if any other season ticket holders/ boosters received similar calls and/ or if this is the usual protocol.

Go Blue!

So this is how DB plans to pay for those new score boards...This must be why Hoke was our #1 all along...

I’ve been a huge Michigan fan for as long as I can remember. I live on MgoBlog and live for the Maize and Blue. Since Brady Hoke has been hired I have been disgusted with the behavior and posts of some of my so called Michigan fans. Now I am not saying Brandon handled the coaching search well but we don’t know whatsoever what was happening behind the scenes. What I do know is he hired Hoke. Now Hoke does not have the so called sizzle factor like Les Miles but FWIW all the former players love him to death so that should count for something. This guy didn’t play for Michigan or go there. All he did was coach for a bit for Michigan and you know what…HE LOVES THIS PLACE AND WHAT IT IS ABOUT. So much so he told SDU that he would leave in a heartbeat if Michigan came calling. Now in my opinion that is a “Michigan Man” and he loves the Maize and Blue. I’m disgusted that people are hating on him before he has even coached a game here. Give the guy a chance. We need to unite behind him. Yeah fan support doesn’t get people fired or hired but a united fan base is a powerful thing. At the tailgate, and at the game. He is our coach. A ESPN writer wrote that Auburn fans threw a fit when they hired Chizik because of his record. Well I think they are doing pretty good now even though they pay for players.Just because he doesn’t have the “sizzle” doesn’t mean he will be terrible. He brought with him a O coordinator with a lot of experience that had a SD offense outperforming ours as far as stats. Yeah they play in a weak conference but we didn't exactly perform well againgst teams that were actually good. All I am saying is we don't need to have a fractured fan base and have factions against the guy from the start. Let us please give this guy a chance to coach the team before passing opinions on him. Let us please give the negative comments a rest. In my opinion anyone that is bitching about this guy is a "bandwagon" fan.  I'm just excited to go to the first game and see the student section dressed in Maize hokeamaniac T shirts with blue bandanas on and golden lochs.