Hoke On Domestic Violence: 'I've Told Our Guys Since Day One That It Won't Be Tolerated'

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - Michigan head coach Brady Hoke spoke Monday about the domestic violence arrest of defensive end Frank Clark and his subsequent release from the football program.

"What was reported ... is unacceptable, is not what we want here, associated with our program," Hoke said. "Domestic abuse is tragic. It's tragic on a national scale ... We all need to do something about it. Being a husband, being a father, having two sisters, it's a message I send strongly to our football team about how we will handle ourselves with women.

"We speak about it constantly, believe me, at least four times a year," Hoke added. "We have people from the university come in. I've told our guys since day one that it won't be tolerated. It won't be tolerated in this program. All you have to do is think about I have a daughter who's 29, I've got a wife, I've got two sisters, so that's always been probably one of the first things I talk about with our team."

Hoke found out about Clark's arrest around 8 a.m. Sunday. He said his first reaction was to get both sides to the story since there would invariably be conflicting accounts of what happened. The coach said he has not spoken with Clark yet but looks forward to talking with him at some point.

"Obviously Frank's going to deal with significant consequences, but at the same time, I'm going to support Frank to get back on his feet and to keep growing as a man," Hoke said.

Clark has been in legal trouble before; he pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony charge for home invasion after he stole a laptop from a dorm room in 2012. Hoke said that, while disappointed in Clark, he did not feel that he got burned by taking a chance on Clark.

"I don't feel burned by anything," Hoke said. "I feel it's something that just can't be tolerated. I think you've got 18- to 22-year-olds, and maybe we all played better decisions than they do, I don't know, but I know we all, they, there's a standard that we believe in and what I believe in in how you represent yourself and more importantly how you represent this program. That's one of the things we talk about is I'm going to make decisions that are best for this program - not a person, not for a coach, what's best for this program. I don't feel burned, no. That's part of mentoring, and you feel like you failed a little bit, let's put it that way.

"You're disappointed. Disappointed," Hoke continued. "The lessons as a teacher and as a mentor and as a coach, that's what you're trying to do, and that's why I got into coaching. That bores you when I talk about that, but that's why I got into it, to help develop kids, because I had a coached who cared about me - cared about me, not just the player."

Hoke expressed confidence in his decision to dismiss Clark, a starter for the Wolverines.

"I do know we're doing the right thing for these kids in this program," Hoke said. "The harsh reality of it is I did the right thing today."