Photo Gallery - Brady Hoke on Michigan's 2014 Signing Day

Michigan head coach Brady Hoke takes questions during 2014 Signing Day at the Junge Family Champions Center in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. Hoke will be taking questions again this week at the Big Ten's annual football media days.

(Patrick Record | Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- For many college football writers around the Midwest, summer ends Monday.

The Big Ten's annual two-day media days event takes place Monday and Tuesday in Chicago, an event that's always looked at as sort of a ceremonial kickoff to the college football season.

Michigan will be in Chicago, represented by Jake Ryan, Frank Clark, Devin Gardner and -- of course -- head coach Brady Hoke.

These events often feature coaches and players standing before firing brigade of out-of-market reporters asking the same questions over and over and over again to coaches and players.

It's a chance for media members from other markets to get a grasp on what's happening with Michigan football at the moment, and -- of course -- as chance for us local folk to get some questions in there, too.

But, that said, there's always a handful of questions each head coach is sure to face every year -- given the present state of his program.

Hoke's no different.

In advance of media days, here are five questions Hoke is sure to be asked at some point -- in some variety.

Something about a hot seat ...

Hoke's already been asked -- a number of times -- if he feels pressure to succeed right now at Michigan. And his answer is usually the same. He says he felt pressure the day he told Dave Brandon "yes" in 2011.

That's just part of the deal here.

But after back-to-back seasons of 8-5 and 7-6, it's safe to say Hoke's honeymoon has ended -- or, it's at least been put on hold for the time being.

Fans want results. Michigan struggled to do much of anything on offense last year. The locker room leadership wasn't great. Student ticket sales are down. The Wolverines had a rocky offseason off the field with the Brendan Gibbons situation, followed up by Graham Glasgow's drunken driving arrest.

The past 12 months haven't been a smooth stroll across the pond for Hoke and company, there's really no two ways around it and there's no sense in sugar coating it.

Hoke will continue to be reminded that Michigan hasn't won a Big Ten championship since 2004 and he'll be asked -- again -- what he plans to do about it.

Until that trend changes, that question probably isn't going anywhere.

Something about a quarterback ...

Ah, the quarterback competition everyone loves so much.

Plenty of people saw this as a farce, others (me) thought it was a good idea.

But whatever side of the fence you're riding on, it's a topic of conversation and one Hoke will surely be asked to discuss. Michigan has not named a starting quarterback yet, and while he probably won't name one at Big Ten media days, he'll be asked to talk about it.

Hoke said earlier this month both he and Doug Nussmeier want to have a starter in place through the first few weeks of fall camp and go from there.

Is Shane Morris ready? Is Devin Gardner improved? What does Gardner have to do to reach his ceiling as a player? Can Nussmeier get him there? If Gardner does win the job, does he have a short leash?

Michigan doesn't have a quarterback controversy, so don't get that twisted. It has a competition -- and it should. If you go 7-6, every position should have competition.

Something about Doug Nussmeier/Al Borges ...

Speaking of Nussmeier ...

Michigan's biggest offseason news came in January when Hoke announced that Borges would not be back with the program. The next day, Nussmeier was hired away from Alabama and the Wolverines had a new face on offense.

It's no secret -- Michigan's confusing/confounding/frustrating/whatever offense was the absolute biggest reason why it only won seven games a year ago. Over three years, the only identity Borges' offense ever seemed to generate was "Denard right, Denard left, Denard up the middle."

And while that's not all bad -- Denard was pretty good -- it's not enough, and it certainly doesn't work once he's gone.

Nussmeier will be asked to bring stability, consistency and a steady hand to an offense that simply couldn't get out of its own way a year ago.

And, as always, Hoke will probably be asked about his role in the offense. For the most part, he let Borges run the show over the past three years. Will that change with Nussmeier? Will Hoke be more involved? Or will he let his coordinator do his job?

Something about his offensive line ...

This, of course, is the piece that the entire season seems to hinge on.

What, exactly, is Hoke going to do with his offensive line?

When spring practice ended, Hoke said he really wasn't that close to figuring out who his top five players would be. Which is about the same stance he had at the start of spring. Every job -- across the board -- seems to be wide open.

The Wolverines started a freshman (Mason Cole) at left tackle during the spring game. Last year's starting center (Graham Glasgow) spent a lot of time playing tackle. Multiple players played more than one position.

The only common theme? They're all really young.

Michigan's offensive line has to be better this season. Period.

Nussmeier has done his best to simplify the blocking schemes both in the passing game and the run game, but bottom line, the five players Hoke selects have to be able to gel together as a unit and develop into serious college football players.

Otherwise. Well, you know the otherwise. You saw 2013.

Something about his new defense ...

If the offense underwent major surgery this offseason, the defense went through a mere facelift.

But, change happened nonetheless.

Hoke shuffled around his defensive staff across the board. Every staffer now has a new role.

Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is now teaching linebackers instead of defensive ends. Mark Smith moved from inside linebackers coach to the defensive line. Curt Mallory dropped the title of defensive backs coach and is now focused only on the safeties.

And Roy Manning left his spot with the outside linebackers to take on a new role as the team's cornerbacks coach.

Michigan returns a number of players with starting experience on a defense that was sound for about 10 games a year ago before falling apart in the final weeks of the season. The total effort wasn't good enough, and Hoke made some tweaks.

He also shuffled up his linebacking corps, highlighted by the move of Jake Ryan to inside linebacker.

Can this defense return to a top 15-level unit -- as it was in 2011 and 2012? And, more importantly, can this group carry a transitioning offense during the first few weeks of the season?

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