Brady Hoke was the first coach out at the San Diego State football practice field on Monday afternoon.
As he often is.
Hoke crisscrossed the field before practice, picking up debris.
As he often does.
He gathered pieces of paper and broken shoe strings and empty cups discarded over the weekend on a field used by countless others in addition to a Division I college football team.
Hoke always comes off the field shaking his head as he tosses the trash.
“Take some pride,” he says.
He then walks back to the northwest corner of the field, where he coaches the defensive linemen.
Hoke followed this routine just like any other Monday.
Only this one was different. SDSU released a statement Monday morning saying that Hoke is retiring.
“It is emotional, because you love what you do,” Hoke said as the sun set after practice. “I’ve got the greatest job that you could ever have, coaching young men and help develop them and the culture that we want to have.
“You’re competitive, so you love the game also. It’s time. Believe me. I’ve done 42 years (of coaching), so it’s time to move forward.”
Sources have told the Union-Tribune that the 65-year-old Hoke was forced out. Hoke reportedly informed staff Sunday evening that he had been fired. He had three years remaining on his contract and is owed nearly $5 million, though sources said a negotiated buyout for an undisclosed amount was still being finalized.
Hoke will coach SDSU’s remaining two games — this week at San Jose State and at home next week against Fresno State. San Diego State’s players learned of Hoke’s pending departure on Monday morning, when they arrived on campus for their usual weight-lifting session.
“It’s time for me to retire, but you’re not going to get rid of me yet because we’ve got two games to win,” Hoke said he told them.
Asked if this was completely his decision, or if it was a mutual parting of the ways, Hoke said: “It was time to move forward. I think if I stayed doing it too long, I don’t think I’d ever leave. So it was just the right time to do it.
“I’m doing the right thing,” he said. “I get to spend more time with my bride (Laura). We started dating in seventh grade, so now I can pick up on some time lost with our daughter Kelly. So it’s going to be awesome.”
Asked what he will miss most, Hoke pointed to the field and said: “Being out here. The kids in general. The coaching on the field, developing guys. I think that’s my strength as a coach is development of defensive linemen.”
The search for a new head coach will begin immediately, with an eye on making a hire by mid-December. Hiring a new head coach quickly is a priority because the NCAA’s early g period, when the Aztecs typically have signed the majority of their 25-man recruiting class, is Dec. 20-22.
San Diego State will honor the contracts of offensive coordinator Ryan Lindley and defensive coordinator Kurt Mattix, both of whom are in the first year of two-year deals. SDSU’s other coaches work year-to-year.
“I am proud of what we accomplished at San Diego State,” Hoke said in a news release. “I am grateful to all the great student-athletes I’ve had the chance to work with, molding them into men, husbands, fathers and pillars in the community. I will always cherish my time leading this program. I’d also like to thank the wonderful staff I’ve worked with and wish them the best in the future.”
Said athletic director John David Wicker: “I am very appreciative for the work Brady Hoke has done with our football program at San Diego State both on and off the field. Brady set the standard in 2009 when he first arrived on The Mesa that we now hold ourselves too. However, it’s more than wins and losses. Brady created a culture, led our program thru COVID, played two entire seasons in Carson, including a 12-win campaign, and takes seriously the development of young men off the field as well as on.”
The Aztecs lost 22-19 at Colorado State over the weekend, dropping their record to 3-7 on the season. It marked the first time since 2009 that they are not bowl eligible. They also dropped to 1-5 in the Mountain West, tied for last place with New Mexico.
How much did this season play a part?
“I don’t know,” Hoke said Monday night. “There’s all kinds of ‘what would you do’ — if, but — and all that. I only know the circumstances. It was something that I had been thinking about for a while, obviously. It was the right time.”
Hoke guided SDSU to a school-record 12 wins in 2021, earning Mountain West Coach of the Year honors for the second time, but the Aztecs slipped to 7-6 last season and had lost seven of their past eight games this season when the decision was made for a change in leadership of the program.
Hoke, who returned for a second stint as SDSU head coach when Rocky Long left in January 2020, is 39-31 (.557) across six seasons (2009-10, 2020-23) with the Aztecs. He is 104-89 in 16 seasons as a head coach, including stops at Ball State (2003-08), his alma mater, and Michigan (2011-14).
In Monday morning’s appearance on San Diego Sports 760-AM, SDSU’s flagship radio station, Hoke was reflective. He was serious, but also relaxed enough to joke with the hosts that they should come help him box up things in his office.
It’s “very emotional, in a lot of ways,” Hoke began, “because you think back to all of the teams that you’ve coached and the thousands of young men that you’ve been a part of their lives and, hopefully, helped them understand life and what the real world is.
“We’re going to finish out the next two games. That’s what Aztecs do. We’re preparing for San Jose and we’ll go out and practice and get ready to go.”
Hoke added: “There’s things that we’re really proud of. Obviously, 12 wins here two years ago, the most wins of any season, is kind of a neat thing.”
“There’s special things about every class. I’m getting texts from guys that I coached a long time ago (as an assistant coach) at Western Michigan and have been part of our lives and we’re really touched that they’ve been part of our lives.”
Asked if his retirement will include fishing, Hoke said, “If it is, it will be on Lake Erie, and do some walleye fishing. We’ve done a lot of that when I was going at Western and Toledo and Michigan. Used to go at least four weekends in the summer and in the spring.
“One thing, as a coach, you spend more time with other people’s children than your own. Our daughter Kelly, who means the world to us, we’re going to spend some time and really, really appreciate what we’ve had and what we’ve done.”
Hoke picked a profession in which one rarely gets to chooses how it ends. He appreciated the fact that he has two more games remaining to complete the season, and his career.
“That’s the only way I’d want it,” Hoke said Monday night. “To be with these kids. That’s important. From that standpoint, it’s exactly like I’d like it.”
