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Michigan enters fall camp needing to bounce back after last season’s 7-6 record and facing a brutal schedule that has it playing all three of its key rivals on the road.
The prospect of playing Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State away from Michigan Stadium (where Hoke’s teams are 7-11)doesn’t bode well for a squad that is retooling its offense.
Brady Hoke welcomes his team to fall camp this weekend. Michigan is looking to forget last season’s 7-6 finish that forced Hoke to shuffle his defensive staff and hire a new offensive coordinator. The changes have stopped the grumbling in Ann Arbor for now, but pressure is mounting for Hoke to deliver a Big Ten title.
The first question lobbed at Brady Hoke after he finished his opening statement at Big Ten media days was about a player who had yet to play a down at Michigan.
Given a tumultuous offseason that saw the hiring of offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, the arrest of offensive lineman Graham Glasgow and a potential quarterback controversy, the question might have surprised Hoke if he hadn’t been fielding questions about top recruit Jabrill Peppers since signing day.
The history and tradition that come with playing at Michigan can either motivate or stagger those who play in the shadow of past greats. Quarterbacks face a special burden—being to compared to arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, three-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
On one side is athletic director David Brandon, who has been nationally lauded for his business acumen and overseeing the transformation of the University of Michigan’s athletic department.
On the other is the Michigan Board of Regents, who thus far have been willing accomplices to Brandon’s dramatic reinvention of Michigan football tradition.