Hoke returns to Aztecs as defensive line coach

Former San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke is returning to the Aztecs as a defensive line coach, the program announced Wednesday.

Hoke most recently was the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers last fall, but he was fired in December with four games remaining in the regular season. It was his first NFL job after spending the previous four decades in college football.

Hoke will now work under San Diego State coach Rocky Long, who succeeded him in 2011 and has gone 71-35 in the past eight seasons.

While with the Aztecs in 2009 and ’10, Hoke was considered a rising star in the college head-coaching ranks. He went 13-12 in his two seasons, including the Aztecs’ first bowl game appearance in 12 years at the 2010 SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl. Hoke earned Mountain West Coach of the Year honors that season.

He went on to Michigan, where he compiled a record of 31-20 record and never quite lived up to the expectations of Wolverines fans. He was fired in 2014. After Michigan, Hoke worked for a year at Oregon as defensive coordinator in 2016 and then as a defensive line coach at Tennessee in 2017.