Brady Hoke Says Depth Will Make A Difference For Michigan This Season
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - The University of Michigan endured another disappointing football season in 2013, losing to rivals Michigan State and Ohio State and also losing in the lowly Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Head coach Brady Hoke, trying to bring the program back to the heights of its past dominance, said at Big Ten Media Day that the team's current depth will help Michigan get back to its winning ways.
"It's as competitive a team as I've been around at all positions," Hoke said. "That is exactly what, as Michigan, the leaders and the best, we should have, and so the way they've come together, the things they've done, we're very excited about.
"[Competition has] always been part of it," Hoke added later. "We had a very good year in 2011, 11-2, we played in a Sugar Bowl. But because of depth, Mike Martin played 82 plays as a nose tackle. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy because that's playing a lot of snaps, and that's taking a lot of hits. But if it was today, Mike Martin would play 50 plays. That's what we have now."
Michigan made several significant changes in the offseason, including firing offensive coordinator Al Borges and hiring Doug Nussmeier along with rearranging the responsibilities of several defensive coaches. After spring football and summer workouts, Hoke likes how the moves have turned out.
"[Nussmeier] came in with a pedigree of molding quarterbacks, and what I've seen and his track record speaks for itself, but it's not just something that speaks for it - he's doing it on a daily basis," Hoke said. "The moves that we made on secondary and on defense, allowing Coach [Greg] Mattison to be more involved from the middle of the defense instead of up front only has been very positive. The movement of Jake Ryan to the inside of our defense has been very positive. I think Roy Manning coaching our corners and Curt Mallory coaching the safeties, because of the variables with the offenses you face, I think has been something very positive for our football team and positive for our players."
One of the secondary players whom fans might most look forward to seeing is five-star freshman Jabrill Peppers. Hoke said that for now the team still plans on using Peppers at nickelback versus cornerback or safety.
"The plan hasn't changed," Hoke said. "I think we've got to be careful about anointing any true freshman starting their college career, but that's where he will start."
Hoke also spoke about a few other players who will be new to the Michigan roster this season - freshman wide receiver Drake Harris and transfer running back Ty Isaac. Harris pulled a hamstring in spring football, but Hoke said he is fine. Isaac, who transferred to return to the Midwest and get closer to his mother, who is ill, is waiting to see if the NCAA will grant him a hardship waiver that would allow him to play this season instead of waiting a year.
"As far as the hardship and everything, we don't know of anything," Hoke said. "We expect Ty to report on August 3, but we're still going through the hardship with compliance and those things."
With the ascent of Michigan State happening as Michigan has slipped, the pressure is on for the Wolverines to get back to relevance in the Big Ten. Hoke, however, said the pressure he feels has nothing to do with what happens on the field.
"Why do you coach? Why do you really coach?" Hoke said. "And if we're doing everything we can for 115 guys' sons on our roster, from the graduation - since we've been there 69 of 69 seniors have graduated. That's important because football's only going to last so long, so the only pressure is every day preparing those guys for life after football. Competition, hard work and all that, that's part of it, but socially and academically, that's a big part of it.
"So when you talk about it, that's the only pressure, as a coach, that I've ever felt," Hoke concluded, "making sure we're doing it for those student-athletes."
