Hoke denies falling asleep at De'Veon Smith's house

Former Michigan coach Brady Hoke keeps ending up in the news and, this time, it wasn't his fault.

U-M running back De'Veon Smith said on Monday's "Inside Michigan Football" show that Hoke fell asleep at his house, presumably on a recruiting visit.

"Coach (Brady) Hoke's a great coach, he meant a lot to me," Smith said. "He came over to my house one day and, literally, just fell asleep on the couch."

Hoke denied that on his SiriusXM radio show tonight, after the story was picked up nationally on many news outlets.

"No, never happened," he said. "I went to his house. Greg Mattison and I went to his house. ... No, I absolutely didn't. I have never fallen asleep. You're so excited to get in there and recruit and talk to (them). Maybe De'Veon fell asleep. He's a great kid."

Co-host Mark Packer continued to press on the topic, in a light-hearted way, but Hoke wanted to make sure he was understood.

"Never did, never happened," he said. "It did not happen. Call Greg Mattison, he'll let you know. No, neither of us did. We were glad that De'Veon ended up at Michigan."

Hoke coached at Michigan for four seasons, compiling a 31-20 record before being fired last December. He recruited and signed Smith out of Warren, Ohio in the 2013 class.

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder.

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