Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon didn't waste any time shooting down blossoming rumors about head coach Brady Hoke's future.
A day after five-star recruit Jabrill Peppers, who has committed to
Michigan, tweeted that he was visiting more schools because of the
uncertainty over Hoke's future, Brandon came out with a strong defense
of Hoke.
Writing in his blog on the Michigan athletics website, Brandon said that Hoke will be back for 2014 and beyond.
"Brady Hoke is our coach and will be leading our football program
well into the future," he said in the opening paragraph. "There is no
question about it. Brady has done a great job rebuilding the program and
reshaping the culture to the level it was under
coaches Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr.
"Anyone making
efforts to stir up a coaching controversy at Michigan is ill-informed
and is likely promoting a personal agenda that is not in the best
interest of Michigan Football."
Brandon acknowledged that the 2013 season hasn't been what was
expected, with Michigan losing four of its last six games and going into
Saturday's rivalry game as heavy underdogs against Ohio State.
"Is our program where we want to be? No. We want to consistently
compete for championships," he wrote. "That is the expectation at
Michigan and that has been Brady's stated expectation from day one.
"When
we don't meet those expectations there's disappointment
-- and that starts with Brady, the coaches, players and everyone else
that represents our football program."
Brandon pointed out that during Hoke's first season -- where
Michigan won the Sugar Bowl and he was named coach of the year -- he was
using a roster mostly made up of seniors recruited by Carr in addition to juniors.
Brandon doesn't mention who recruited those players
-- it was Rich Rodriguez -- but makes sure to mention that they had
been "under performing" before Hoke arrived.
Now, he adds, Michigan is playing with a young team mostly
recruited by Hoke, and they are going through understandable growing
pains. That leads into a vote of confidence for defensive coordinator
Greg Mattison that says a lot by what it doesn't mention.
"I'm really proud of how the players have bought into the new
direction," he said. "Our coaches are changing schemes, and that
requires a different recruiting philosophy and asking current
student-athletes to adapt to a different style than previous years.
The transformation and improvement of our defense under the leadership
of coach Greg Mattison has been outstanding."
Offensive coordinator Al Borges, who is also putting in a new
system, is never mentioned in the lengthy blog post, falling into the
same void as Rodriguez.
Brandon finishes with another clear message that no one needs to worry about a coaching change in Ann Arbor.
"I know that Brady Hoke will finish his career at Michigan as one
of the most successful coaches in our program's storied history."
