KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — They met by happenstance at a Michigan football camp more than 20 years ago.
Brady Hoke and Butch Jones were both assistant coaches at small schools. Hoke said back then, Michigan would hire 60-70 coaches from all levels to work its camp. “We developed a relationship,” Hoke said.
That relationship lasted for many years and through many stops for both Hoke and Jones.
When Hoke got his first head-coaching job, at Ball State in 2003, one of the first calls he made was to the pal he met at Michigan’s camp.
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Jones was an assistant at Central Michigan, and Hoke said he offered Jones the job as Ball State’s wide receivers coach.