Brady Hoke: Devin Gardner starting QB for Michigan, for now

Brady Hoke doesn’t want to address the rumors that he is on the hot seat after a seven-win season but the Michigan Wolverines head coach must solve he quarterback conundrum he has entering fall camp to give himself some job security.

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Michigan has a quarterback competition between incumbent starter Devin Gardner and true sophomore Shane Morris who started the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in place of an injured Gardner and showed some flashes of great play.

However, Hoke gave some clarity to the quarterback picture on Thursday saying if the season started today, it would be the veteran Gardner under center.

"“Going in (to camp, there will be a competition),” Hoke said according to mlive.com. “We’ve got great competition. (But) if we opened the season today, Devin would start for the Wolverines.”"

That’s quite the catch as we all know the season is still a month away, but it does signal that Morris has a ways to go in the open competition to unseat the experienced Gardner who has some outstanding moments last season (Indiana, Ohio State) that were overshadowed by some low moments (Akron, Connecticut and Michigan State).

Gardner’s health will be crucial to him securing the job as well as limiting turnovers, he had 11 interceptions in 2013, but rarely does an experienced and productive player not come out victorious in these competitions which are designed to make all parties involved better–and they have.

Ultimately, Michigan needs Morris to push Gardner and vice versa for the position to be as strong as possible if Michigan is to get to the Big Ten Championship Game and beat rivals Ohio State and Michigan State.

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Brady Hoke names Devin Gardner starting QB at Michigan, for now

By Patrick Schmidt | Jul 31, 2014