Preparing To Coach What Could Be His Final Game, Hoke Keeps Focus On Ohio State
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Brady Hoke will coach what will likely be his final game as the head coach of Michigan this Saturday at Ohio State. Hoke has declined throughout the season to discuss his job status, and he did so again Monday at his weekly press conference.
"They can speculate and do all of that," Hoke said. "Honestly, if we get distracted and I get distracted in what we are doing, that is not fair to those 115 kids. From that piece alone - I think I have said it - I have never been worried about a job. I am worried about the job we do for those kids."
After losing to Maryland at home Saturday, the Wolverines (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) will not qualify for a bowl game unless they beat the Buckeyes (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten), a feat that would probably be considered the upset of the year. That the game will be at Ohio State makes Michigan's quest that much more difficult.
"Going in to the Horseshoe, there nothing like it," Hoke said. "The question about rivalries earlier, the Civil War in Oregon is a pretty good rivalry, 50 miles apart between the two schools, but when you look at the stadiums and the crowds that are in those stadiums in Michigan and Ohio, that is where the difference is."
Hoke has repeatedly referred to the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry as the greatest in college football. Last season the Wolverines played the Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium and lost, 42-41, in a game that was much closer than anticipated. Hoke said that game has no bearing on this season's game.
"I do not think [there is] carryover from year to year," Hoke said. "In a lot of ways they are two different teams. There are different individuals on the teams. There are different leaderships and attitudes on the teams. Every team is different. What happened last year was a group of guys went out, played awfully hard together and executed and made some plays when they had to.
"Either team, whether it is Ohio or it is Michigan, winning that last game always means a lot," Hoke added. "I do no think there is ever a time, with any senior class going out or any football team in my experiences in this game, where it has not meant something. You want to be able to go back and say my senior year we beat Ohio."
