One small chapter of Brady Hoke’s football biography takes place in northwest Ohio.
The University of Toledo to be exact.
It actually started at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg on a Sunday evening in 1987. UT football coach Dan Simrell met with Hoke and his wife, Kelly, at the hotel to discuss Toledo’s vacant linebackers coaching position.
Hoke, a former Ball State linebacker, had been the defensive line coach under John Harbaugh at Western Michigan for three seasons before the staff was dismissed. Harbaugh gushed about Hoke, which led to the interview — and a job offer.