Tennessee Athletic Director John Currie confirmed on Sunday night that the Vols’ defensive line coach Brady Hoke would be the interim head coach for Tennessee for the remainder of the 2017 season. And Hoke spoke to the media on Monday during his introductory press conference as the Vols’ interim coach.
Here’s everything you need to know about Hoke and what he brings to the table as Tennessee’s interim coach.
Hoke has been a full-time head coach at three different schools. He started his head coaching career at Ball State in 2003 and took the Cardinals to some very successful seasons. He had losing seasons in his first fours years there, got them to 7-6 in his fifth season, and he led them to 12-1 in his sixth and final season. He then moved on to San Diego State in 2009 and went 9-4 in 2010.
Then after that, Hoke took the head coaching position at Michigan.
Hoke started out with a bang at Michigan, going 11-2 in his first season. But it only got worse from there. He went 8-5 in his second season, 7-6 in his third, and he was fired after a 5-7 season in 2014.
After that, Hoke was hired as Oregon’s defensive coordinator prior to the 2016 season. But he didn’t have success there, and he wasn’t retained after the season. And that’s when Tennessee came in and hired him to coach their defensive linemen.
Hoke is known for his recruiting, and he’s picked up plenty of tips and tricks throughout his stops as a coach at various schools. He’s a three-time coach of the year as well. He was voted the MAC Coach of the Year in 2008, the MWC Coach of the Year in 2010, and the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2011. He’s also been an assistant at Michigan, Oregon State, Tolego, and Western Michigan.
It’s highly unlikely Hoke coaches at Tennessee beyond these last two regular season games. If Tennessee can pull off the upset over LSU and defeat Vanderbilt and make it to a bowl game, Hoke is unlikely to even coach the bowl game because Tennessee would have their next coach hired by that point.
But for now, Hoke is the Vols’ interim coach, and he brings with him a lot of experience as a head coach in his past. Tennessee should be in good hands for the final few games of the 2017 season.
