Let's start with transparency. I personally love Brady Hoke. He played football at Ball State a decade before me. He was the third-leading tackler on one of the greatest Ball State teams in history. Five years ago, he coached one of the greatest teams in Ball State history.

I jumped on the Brady Hoke bandwagon in 2003 when he left an assistant job at Michigan to be the head coach at our alma mater. During his six years at Ball State, we were close. I regularly attended practices and games. I had a six-year, all-access pass to watch him evolve from inexperienced rookie head coach to one of the country's best by the time he pushed the 2008 Cardinals to a top-15 ranking and 12 straight regular-season victories.

When it comes to Hoke, I'm invested and biased. After his two successful seasons at San Diego State, I publicly campaigned for him to replace Rich Rodriguez at Michigan. I worked in Ann Arbor for two years, covering Michigan football and basketball in the early 1990s. My Ball State head coach, Paul Schudel, was a hard-core Michigan Man, a Bo Schembechler loyalist. Schudel preached the gospel of Bo and was the first to hatch the Ball State-to-Michigan dream. I know the program. That's why I believed Hoke, hired by Michigan in 2011, was a better fit than Jim Harbaugh.

As disappointing as Michigan's performance at Michigan State was on Saturday, as troubling as Michigan's six victories this season have been and recognizing my low expectations for the rest of this season, I've lost none of my faith in Brady Hoke. None. I still believe he is the right coach for the Wolverines.

That does not mean Hoke is blameless and free of error. He is not. What it means is Hoke is self-aware and humble enough to correct course. I've seen him do it firsthand.

Let me offer one more piece of transparency before I detail Hoke's errors. I have not spoken to Hoke this season. I've been busy with my own career and my move back to ESPN. In addition, early in the season, after watching the Notre Dame game, it was my sense this season would be a disaster. Michigan's offensive and defensive lines looked mid-major. Low mid-major. You can't correct the line deficiencies exposed in the Notre Dame game during the season. It takes an offseason of strength and conditioning work and a full spring practice to address what was obvious in a lucky victory over the Irish.