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STORY UPDATED: HOKE TO ND MAY BE A FALSE ALARM, SEE BELOW.
As National Signing Day rages on today a bomb nugget of news was dropped on the Notre Dame community shortly before 9:00 AM ET. According to a report from CoachingSearch.com former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke will be taking a job with the Fighting Irish as an assistant.
CoachingSearch has learned that Brady Hoke will join the Notre Dame staff. http://t.co/vZgFaSBldj
— CoachingSearch.com (@coachingsearch) February 4, 2015
Story on Brady Hoke heading to Notre Dame: http://t.co/YWJbghG8af pic.twitter.com/0wlfx9J9yU
— CoachingSearch.com (@coachingsearch) February 4, 2015
Lost in all the Brady Hoke jokes: He's a good football coach (maybe not HC) and players seem to like him. Could be a smart move.
— Tyler James (@TJamesNDI) February 4, 2015
After getting past the shock of Brady Hoke joining Brian Kelly's staff, you've got to wonder if there are a few more moves coming.
— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) February 4, 2015
http://t.co/5HK9TZgrhd reports former Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke will join the #NotreDame staff as a defensive coach.
— Darin Pritchett (@Sportsbeat960) February 4, 2015
Sufficiently shocked?
The rumors are that Hoke will be coaching defensive line for the Irish, which probably isn't good news for current DL coach Mike Elston. As noted above in the tweets there is likely to be more staff shuffling, firings, and/or hirings coming after National Signing Day.
Although it may not sit right to hire a Michigan head coach just months after his firing it's certainly possible that Hoke is a big upgrade for Notre Dame in the assistant coach department. While he struggled controlling an entire program in Ann Arbor he is a terrific defensive line coach and very good recruiter.
But yeah, this is weird. We'll update this story when more news comes out.
NEW UPDATE: HOKE MAY NOT BE COMING TO NOTRE DAME
Just got word from Brady Hoke on the Notre Dame rumors via text. He said, "NOT HAPPENING"
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) February 4, 2015
Brady Hoke on CBS Sports Network: "I am not going to South Bend. It's time to go South a little bit. Not South Bend."
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS) February 4, 2015