Michigan Interviewed Kevin Sumlin In 2011, Decided To Hire Brady Hoke Instead
How different would the Michigan football program currently look if, back in 2011, the Wolverines' athletic department didn't hire Brady Hoke, and, instead, went with a young, up-and-coming coach like, say, Kevin Sumlin?
That's, of course, impossible to figure out, but Michigan fans were taunted with that possibility on today's edition of Fox Sports' "The Audible" podcast with college football insiders Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel.
On the podcast, Feldman said Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon interviewed Kevin Sumlin in 2011 when trying to decide who would replace recently fired Rich Rodriguez.
"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," Feldman said.
You can listen here, beginning at the 39:01 mark:
Back in 2011, Sumlin, then the Houston coach, had won 10 games in 2009, but was coming off a 5-7 2010 that was, in part, attributed to a number of injuries.
Hoke, meanwhile, was coming off a 9-4 year at San Diego State and was, of course, a "Michigan Man."
It also should be noted that while Sumlin has been more successful of late, Hoke has been to a BCS game at Michigan. Sumlin has yet to accomplish that.
