Michigan Wolverines passed on Kevin Sumlin when Brady Hoke was hired
Kevin Sumlin wanted to be the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines in 2011, according to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman, but athletic director Dave Brandon didn’t want him and instead hired former Michigan assistant coach Brady Hoke who is in grave danger of being fired.
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Feldman shared this nugget on Fox Sports’ “The Audible” podcast which you can listen to here. Around the 39 minute mark, Feldman points out that Michigan could have avoided their current dilemma had they hired the then Houston head coach who had gone 23-16 in his first three seasons with the Cougars before a 12-1 season in 2011 that netted him the Texas A&M Aggies job.
"“At this point I think I should point something out when we’re talking about Brady Hoke and coming from San Diego State,” Feldman said. “I don’t know how many people know this, but when Dave Brandon was interviewing to replace Rich Rodriguez, one of the guys he interviewed was (current Texas A&M coach) Kevin Sumlin. He (Brandon) turned down Sumlin and ended up taking Brady Hoke, the Michigan guy.”"
The Wolverines are in a state of crisis with Hoke driving the football team right into the ground, but all their trials and tribulations could have been erased had Brandon not rejected Sumlin who has quickly become one of the best head coaches in the country and an ace recruiter.
Sumlin has a 25-6 record with the Aggies in the ultra competitive SEC with a perfect 2-0 record in bowl games, a win over No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in 2012, coached a Heisman winner in Johnny Manziel, seen four of his players drafted in the first round, currently owns the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class, according to 247Sports and last year signed a lucrative extension through 2019.
Meanwhile, Hoke has a 28-16 record, 15-10 Big Ten record, a 1-3 bowl record and finished outside the top 25 last season after a 7-6 season and 3-5 mark in the conference.
Even worse is Hoke is 1-8 in Michigan’s last nine games against teams from the Power 5 conferences and their lone wins this season have come against Appalachian State and Miami (Ohio) who has not won a game since 2012.
As Hoke’s future is murky at best, Brandon’s decision to pass on Sumlin for Hoke could result in both of them looking for new jobs by the end of the season, if not sooner, all the while Sumlin has Texas A&M competing for a berth in the College Football Playoff and NFL teams coveting him.
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