Indiana Hoosiers Should Target Brady Hoke

Though there are still a few games left in the college football season for the Indiana Hoosiers, it’s time for the program to start looking towards the future. I’m personally hoping that future involves Michigan head coach Brady Hoke.

That’s right the current head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Clearly I expect this to be Hoke’s last year in Michigan, and IU would be smart to pounce on the opportunity to land him as their next head coach.

I’m also hoping this will be Kevin Wilson’s last year at Indiana. Wilson is in his 4th year at IU, and has posted records of 1-11, 4-8, and 5-7 leading up to this year. The Hoosiers are highly likely to finish below .500 this year, and I believe it’s once again time for another coaching change.

IU did show improvement under Wilson last year when finishing 5-7, while having one of the top offensives in the nation. However, the offense seems to have taken a step backward this year (even before injury to quarterback Nate Sudfeld), and the defense is still far behind.

The Indiana running game behind Tevin Coleman, has been one of the few bright spots for the Hoosiers this year, but that alone won’t get the job done in the Big 10 conference.

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Brady Hoke hasn’t been great at Michigan based off expectations. 11-2 was a really good year one, and those were followed by 8-5 and 7-6 seasons. The Wolverines are hovering around .500 again this year, and that’s unacceptable at Michigan….but at Indiana?

Hoke would receive nothing but praise if he could lead the Hoosiers football program to 8-5 and 7-6 records.
Hoke has Indiana ties, starting his coaching career in Yorktown, IN at Yorktown high school. Brady Hoke has also coached at his alma mater, Ball State University, leading the Cardinals to a 12-0 regular season record and top 25 ranking (as high as #12) in 2008, before losing to Buffalo in the MAC Championship Game.

Returning to Indiana could be of interest to Hoke. He would stay in the Big 10 conference (a power conference), and have a chance to get back at Michigan if they do go another direction. Hoke could also bounce back as Rich Rodriguez did when he left Michigan, now in Arizona with a top 25 program.

There’s still football left to be played and a lot of decisions left to be made, but if the Hoosiers are serious about getting their football program back to relevance….they should target Brady Hoke if he is, in fact, fired from Michigan.