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Despite Departure Of Brandon, Hoke Not Concerned About His Own Job

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - Embattled Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon resigned Friday, and head coach Brady Hoke - who refused to discuss Brandon after the win Saturday - kept comments about his former boss to a minimum Monday.

"I think the one thing is I have a lot of respect for Dave," Hoke said. "From a reaction standpoint, he did a lot of good things for the university, and now I'm real excited to work with [interim athletic director] Jim [Hackett].

"We're moving forward; we've got Northwestern [on Saturday]," Hoke added later. "I'm not going to - it's not fair to anybody who's involved to say when we did do this or when we didn't do this."

Hoke said he spoke with Hackett briefly after Saturday's victory over Indiana but will sit down for a more formal discussion "sooner rather than later."

Speculation has been that the dismissal of Brandon means Hoke will be gone after the season concludes. Hoke said - as he has throughout the season - that he has not worried about that possibility.

"I've never been concerned about a job, ever, and I never will be, because if I get concerned about a job, then you get distracted from it," Hoke said. "For this, if I get distracted, then I'm not being fair to those kids, who haven't been distracted, so I've never, ever worried about employment."

Hoke said he did not believe Brandon's resignation took a weight off the shoulders of players, who have been forced to field questions about one mini-debacle after the next this season, from the Shane Morris concussion scandal to the stake-at-Michigan-State fiasco.

After the game Saturday, players declined to specifically address Brandon's resignation, but they spoke highly of him in general.

"Look around, look what he's done for the athletic teams, what he's done for the university," junior linebacker Joe Bolden said. "I think playing for a team gives you a different perspective on how he is. He's a great individual, I wish him all the luck, and I support him."

Fellow linebacker Jake Ryan echoed Bolden's positive sentiments.

"He was a great guy," Ryan said. "Great person. Can't say anything bad about him."

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