You have to win at Michigan. It’s that simple. Brady Hoke just didn’t win enough.
Sure, his record at Michigan is 31-20. But his winning percentage dropped every year he was a head coach in Ann Arbor. That’s the primary reason why interim athletic director Jim Hackett let Hoke go on Tuesday.
Hoke’s firing brings us to nine head coaching openings on the 2015 FCS Coaching Carousel, and three of them are marquee programs — Florida, Michigan and Nebraska.
Technically there was a tenth coaching move, as UAB’s Bill Clark is out of a job. But since the school is doing away with the football program entirely, the UAB job will stay off the carousel.
Speculation at Michigan will immediately center on Jim Harbaugh, the former U of M quarterback who is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. There is speculation that the Niners are talking about trading Harbaugh after the season.
Finally, Florida may be closing in on a deal with Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain. Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman reports that a deal could be in place by late Tuesday.
We’ll keep you apprised on all of the head coaching openings as the offseason picks up steam next week.
2015 FBS COACHING CAROUSEL
| SCHOOL | OUT | IN |
| Buffalo | Jeff Quinn | Lance Leipold |
| Florida | Will Muschamp | TBD |
| Kansas | Charlie Weis | Clint Bowen (interim) |
| Michigan | Brady Hoke | TBD |
| Nebraska | Bo Pelini | TBD |
| SMU | June Jones | Chad Morris |
| Troy | Larry Blakeney | Neal Brown |
| Tulsa | Bill Blankenship | TBA |
| UNLV | Bobby Hauck | TBA |
