CHARLOTTE –When most football fans hear the name Brady Hoke, they have visions of maize and blue and his recent stint as head coach at college football power Michigan. But Hoke has been blue collar for long stretches of his long-stretching coaching career, working with the defensive line and Michigan and Oregon but also at Western Michigan and Oregon State.
Now Hoke has been hired to again work with those charged with doing the dirty work up front – this time on the biggest of stages.
"I'm more formally trained as a defensive line coach," said Hoke, whose 37th season as a football coach will be his first as an NFL coach.