Brady Hoke’s coaching record
Michigan
2011 11-2
San Diego State
2010 9-4
2009 4-8
Ball State
2008 12-1
2007 7-6
2006 5-7
2005 4-7
2004 2-9
2003 4-8
Michigan football coach Brady Hoke was prepared to have some of his decisions critiqued by the Wolverines’ legion of fans last season, but he wasn’t spared the second-guessing even when he was alone with his own family.
His father, John Hoke of Kettering, played football at Miami University and was a coach himself for years. He was a regular at Michigan games last year along with his wife, Pat — even making the trip for the Sugar Bowl win — and always would think of ways the staff could get more out of the players.
“He would coach you up after a game, I can tell you that: Why’d you do this? Why’d you do that? Or, that guy didn’t play very good. Or, who’s coaching that? And I’d say, ‘That would be me,’ ” Brady Hoke said. “He was a coach until the end.”
Win or lose, Hoke always knew his father was on his side. And the Fairmont East High School graduate will carry an ache in his heart as he opens his second season with the Wolverines against Alabama on Saturday knowing he won’t have the support of his biggest fan.
John Hoke passed away on March 26 at age 80 of lung cancer, leaving behind his wife of 59 years and four children, including son Jon, a defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears.
“He had a great season. He had a great Sugar Bowl. I’m happy he had that. It was a good year for him and my mom,” Hoke said, speaking at a Big Ten media event in Chicago last month.
“He was a great father, great mentor, loved football,” Hoke added before having to stop to keep from choking up.
Always a family man, one of John Hoke’s happiest days was when his son landed his dream job at Michigan in 2011 after turning around programs at Ball State and San Diego State. The family sat in the first row at the press conference and cried unashamedly.
“It was emotional. We’re all big criers,” said Terre Manning of Kettering, Brady’s older sister who accompanied her parents to the announcement in Ann Arbor, while younger sister Heidi Thomas made the trip from Perrysburg, Ohio.
“He was proud,” she said of her father. “When your kid accomplishes his dream, there’s nothing that makes you prouder.”
After deciding on its next coach, Michigan set the press conference for the following day, giving the Hoke family little time to make arrangements to get there.
“I never in my life dreamed it would be like that,” Terre said. “You found out the day before. My husband and I picked up my parents at 8 in the morning. We get up I-75, and my mom’s like, ‘I think I left my purse at home. I have my gum and Kleenexes and mints (in there).’ My husband stopped at a gas station and got every piece of gum, Kleenexes and mints he could find.”
The family had much to cheer during Hoke’s first season as the Wolverines returned to their winning ways, including putting an end to a seven-game losing streak to rival Ohio State.
John and Pat usually sat in Brady’s private box for games. For the wild win over Notre Dame — which ended with the teams scoring three TDs in the final 72 seconds — they rode up in a rented RV, parked it in Brady’s driveway and celebrated until 3 a.m.
But John Hoke’s health was in steady decline. After the Sugar Bowl, he wanted to attend the Maxwell Awards where Brady would be named national coach of the year but was too sick to make the trip. Instead, he and Pat watched the ceremony on a computer in Terre’s basement.
After he was treated for about one month locally, Michigan officials flew him by helicopter to University Hospital in Ann Arbor. As he grew worse, the four children each carved out time individually with him one day to say their good-byes.
Asked about the life lessons her father imparted, Terre pointed out how he took just as much interest in her dance career as her brothers’ football pursuits.
“I think him and my mom did a great job raising us. My brothers — you know how that coaching profession is with divorce and 20-hour days. But they’ve stayed connected with their wives and children,” she said. “I think that’s something they learned from their father — how important it is to be at everything because our dad was at everything. No matter what. Even if it was dance.”
John Hoke was a people person, and Terre sees the same thing in Brady, whose genuine nature and interest in others have been a hit with the Wolverines.
“That’s what I love. Who doesn’t love ‘what you see is what you get?’ ” star quarterback Denard Robinson said. “He’s not going to change. He’s going to show you he cares about you and loves you.”
When John Hoke died, the team felt the loss, too.
“We were there for him. Everybody on the team was there for him. We’re family here, so that was our father, too,” Robinson said.
The team was going to charter a bus to the funeral at Faith Lutheran Church in Dayton, but the coach nixed it. Several players still attended, along with school officials, and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison was one of the speakers.
“Everybody knows if somebody on the team loses someone they love, we’re going to be around that person and show them we love them,” said Robinson, who didn’t make the trip but was part of a group that sent flowers. “It’s a family. It’s not just a football team.”
The Hokes still feel the void. On what would have been their father’s 81st birthday on Aug. 20, the children held a conference call so they could commiserate together. And Brady phones to check on his mother every day.
“He lived a good life,” Terre said, “but it’s never long enough.”
About the Author