Ball State coach disingenuous about commitment to team, school

"This school is my alma mater, and to be able to continue to see this program grow is
very special," said Brady Hoke, once
upon a time.

Very special.

"This is my school, and I am very excited to be the head football coach at Ball State
University,"  once upon another time.



Very excited.

"I take a great amount of pride in being a Ball State Cardinal," said Brady Hoke
once upon yet another time.



Oh, the pride. Since returning to his beloved alma mater in 2002, Hoke has all but sung the Beach Boys’ song when it came
to BSU.

You know, be true to your school … rah, rah … rah, rah … sis-boom-bah.

Or sis-boom-blah-blahblah, as it turned out.

When it came down to it, Brady Hoke’s loyalty was only to a situation that could lead to a larger paycheck and what he sees
as a bigger stage — if San Diego State University and the Mountain West Conference are really all that.

The former Ball State team captain turned his back on the players who bought the bilge that he was a BSU guy there for the
long haul. He allowed a sportswriter inside his personal circle and used the scribe — Ball State alum and Kansas City
Star columnist
Jason Whitlock — to become his mouthpiece in blasting the administration and setting up President Jo Ann Gora and Athletics
Director Tom Collins as scapegoats when the inevitable departure came.

So welcome to the world of big-time college football, BSU alums. You got what you wished for — one magical season (albeit
a
not-so-magical conclusion) — and a coach who began packing his bags about a month ago. The only question was where to
eventually
ship the furniture.

Castigate Gora all you want. In my humble opinion (and as a parent who paid for and believes our daughter received an outstanding
education at BSU that prepared her well for her profession), Gora has been an exceptional leader in terms of campus capital
improvements, fund raising, innovative programming and elevating Ball State’s overall stature in its mission to provide meaningful
education and research.

But then, those accomplishments really pale in comparison to failing to keep a football coach with a career record of 34-38.

Despite his claims of undying loyalty to BSU, Hoke-like virtually every other major college coach — was an opportunist
looking
for the next opportunity. Last year, he entertained overtures from Washington State University and the University of Michigan.
Just a couple of weeks ago, he denied he was talking to Auburn University even as he was talking to Auburn University.

Here’s a thought. If he ever appears again (doubt it) on "The Late Show with David Letterman," it ought to be to
read, "The
Top 10 Most Disingenuous Things Coaches Say."

Don’t believe the media — and blog-inspired smoke screens, especially those coming from cheerleading blowhards. This
wasn’t
about inadequate office space for the coaching staff or Hoke’s playing martyr in a failed attempt to extract more money for
his assistant coaches. This was about Brady Hoke doing what he thought was best for Brady Hoke. And if it wasn’t last year,
if it wasn’t this year, it would have been next year.

And seriously, I wish Hoke all the best. I’m guessing that even as he is professing his newfound loyalty to San Diego State,
he’s hoping he can parlay success there into the next step up the ladder. After all, Urban Meyer left a MAC school (University
of Toledo) to go to a Mountain West school (Utah State University) and is now coaching in the national championship game at
Florida.

So damn that Toledo administration for not doing all it could to keep Urban Meyer.

At the same time, perhaps this was about Ball State’s doing what was best for Ball State. Perhaps Gora and the board of trustees
are comfortable with the role of making higher education the higher calling of the university. Perhaps they are willing to
engage in the athletics arms race only to the point where it no longer makes sense, fiscal or otherwise. After all, they offered
Hoke a 62.5-percent raise that would have earned him $400,000 a year with other incentives built in, and that wasn’t close
to being enough.

Or perhaps they believe they already have a capable replacement on board. Stan Parrish has been a terrific offensive coordinator,
knows the state (he was a hugely successful head coach at Wabash College) and the Midwest, and has major-college head coaching
experience (Kansas State University).

In the meantime, Hoke was introduced in San Diego Dec. 16. I didn’t see the transcript, but I’m betting he is very excited
to be an Aztec.

___

Benner is director of communications for the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association
and a former sports columnist
for The Indianapolis Star. His column appears weekly. Listen to his column via podcast at www.ibj.com. He can be reached at
bbenner@ibj.com. Benner also has a blog, www.indyinsights.com.