Brady Hoke Continues to Change Culture at San Diego State

Filed under: Navy, San Diego State, Mountain West, Coaching, Bowl Games

Forgive coach Brady Hoke for taking every precaution while preparing for Thursday's San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. After all, it is San Diego State's first bowl berth in 12 years.

From keeping his players in a hotel for the week to educating the administration on bowl week procedure, Hoke has a plan in place to ensure his team's success against Navy and isn't about to deviate from it.

"This is a little bit foreign for us, playing in the postseason, probably for most of the people in this building from an administrative standpoint on," Hoke said. "So, I think to some degree we've got to be smart enough to understand the distractions that are related to a bowl game and how we handle ourselves and how we represent San Diego State."

Changing the thinking about San Diego State football is something Hoke has been doing since he arrived two years ago. The Aztecs' 8-4 record already constitutes the most wins for the program since 1996 and a ninth win would be the most since the team went 10-2 in 1977. San Diego State's third-place finish in the Mountain West is its highest finish in the league's 11-year history.

But Hoke isn't just content with going to a bowl game, he wants his team to win so he can continue the progress he's already made.

"There's a big education process that has to go on not just with our football team and our kids, but our administration and everything else," Hoke said. "The one thing that we've tried to do is we're treating this as if we are out of San Diego to some degree. We're going to practice at our place still, but everything, when we have meetings and film and everything, we're going to do in the hotel just like if you were playing away."

 

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