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OR hires former MI head coach Brady Hoke as defensive coordinator

He was 31-20 overall as head coach of the Wolverines.

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Hoke worked his way up the ranks mostly as a defensive line coach from 1983-2002, including a five-year tenure at Oregon State from 1989-94.

The last time Hoke was a coordinator was in 1982, when he was coaching at Yorktown High School. And he has been excellent at coaching solid defense. The Wolverines were a ideal 8-0 at Michigan Stadium in 2011 and 6-0 at the Big House in 2012.

The Ducks ranked 117th in total defense this past season (485.3 yards a game) and 116th in scoring defense (37.5 points a game).

Hoke hasn’t been in college football since being fired by the Wolverines after the 2014 season. Devin Funchess also earned Big Ten Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year honors in 2013. Helfrich called Yost and Hoke “unbelievable recruiters”, whose track record includes, for Hoke, signing a pair of Rivals-rated top-seven classes at MI and, for Yost, landing former national No. 1 recruit Dorial Green-Beckham while at Missouri. It produced 2015 All-America selections Jake Butt (TE) and Jourdan Lewis (CB). Collectively, Hoke is 78-70 in 12 seasons as a head coach. He was awarded the Mid-Atlantic Conference coach of the year in 2008 and the Mountain West Conference coach of the year in 2010.

OR has been using a base 3-4 defense, but that could change to a 4-3.

Helfrich said it will be nice to have a former head coach on staff.

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This won’t be Hoke’s first job in the state of Oregon.

Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports