Michigan coach Brady Hoke doesn't wear red and has his entire team calling the Buckeyes "Ohio."

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

CHICAGO — Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson looked familiar at last week’s Big Ten media days, with his flowing dreadlocks and, yes, untied black dress shoes.

But he sounded different — particularly when talking about Ohio State.

"It's bigger than Florida-Florida State," the Deerfield Beach, Fla., native said of the Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry. "Michigan versus Ohio is, like, way bigger. It's the border. We fight for Michigan, and they fight for Ohio."

Ohio? As in, like, Ohio State?

"We don't say that anymore," Robinson said.

Like coach, like players, it seems.

Since the day Michigan coach Brady Hoke was hired in January, he has emphasized his program’s rivalry with “that school in Ohio.”

He refuses to say Ohio State, refuses to wear red.

“It’s easier that way,” he said. “I’ve been doing it that way since I was a kid.”

Hoke grew up a Michigan fan in Dayton, Ohio; has been an assistant with Toledo, Ball State and Michigan; and got his first head coaching gig at Ball State. He knows what this rivalry means to the respective schools in particular and college football in general.

It just will have a different feel this time around when the teams meet in Ann Arbor on Nov. 26.

Dawn of a new era
For the first time since 1929, The Game will feature a pair of new coaches in the same season. Hoke, who replaced Rich Rodriguez in January, will face off against Luke Fickell, who took over this summer after Jim Tressel was forced to resign for an alleged memorabilia-for-gifts scandal that involved several current and former players.

New Ohio State football coach Luke Fickell: "We truly believe we're going to get better throughout this whole process."

Associated Press

Fickell is a lifelong Buckeye. He’s from Columbus, worked at Ohio Stadium’s concession stand as a kid, played for Ohio State and married his college sweetheart.

Now he has a one-year contract to coach the Buckeyes — without four players for five games apiece, and without his starting quarterback for the whole season after Terrelle Pryor bolted for the NFL rather than take his suspension.

Pryor later was banned from associating with the program for five years for his role in the gifts scheme, which included taking free tattoos and other benefits in exchange for memorabilia and tickets.

Nothing like being thrown into the fire.

“Honestly, the best part about all of this is that it’s happened so fast, I haven’t had time to think about it, and I think that’s made things easier,” Fickell said.

“We truly believe we’re going to get better throughout this whole process. I think the one thing we have seen is how good our compliance department is, but there’s always ways to get better, and we’re going to continue to focus on that.”

How comfortable is Fickell with the maelstrom that surrounds him in Columbus

“Hey, it’s a part of what it is,” Fickell said. “You have to take the good with the bad.

“If you want to (coach college football), there’s a lot of different things involved with it. It’s not always the most exciting or most interesting thing, which is being around those guys.”

Big Ten reaction
The Buckeyes’ plight was a common refrain throughout the Big Ten media days last week. In fact, the first two questions for Illinois coach Ron Zook, who kicked off the event, concerned Ohio State.

“I think you cringe,” he said about them.

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema was next to speak, and had even sharper words for the malfeasance in the sport, although he later said he wasn’t specifically referring to Ohio State.

“If I had a dream world, I would say hammer the guys that don’t do things right,” he said. “People are willingly and knowingly abusing the rules and breaking things. To me, when you are consciously aware of abusing a rule, there’s no excuse for that.”

Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio was much softer on cheating, calling Tressel, a longtime friend and colleague, a “tragic hero.” He received criticism for the characterization, but affirmed his stance when asked about the matter Friday.

He’s in the minority.

Even league commissioner Jim Delany chided the Buckeyes, as well as Michigan, for damaging the Big Ten’s brand.

“Michigan had a problem with out-of-season practice. That was an embarrassment," Delany said. "This year, we have Ohio State getting ready to go in front of the infractions committee on Aug. 12th. That's embarrassing.

“It not only has reflected poorly on them, it's reflected poorly on us."

Where they go from here
Now, the two schools known for their tradition move forward with new football coaches.

Michigan already seems to be winning on the recruiting trail, netting 10 prospects from Ohio for 2012.

Two of the Wolverines’ past three commitments were five-star offensive tackle Kyle Kalis and four-star defensive end Chris Wormley. Both are from Ohio. Both were highly interested in Ohio State (Kalis once was committed there).

Both now have verbally committed to the Wolverines.

Back in Ann Arbor, Hoke has installed countdown clocks in Schembechler Hall to remind his players how many days remain before the Michigan-Ohio State game.

There’s also a clock counting up. It’s at 2,810.

That’s the number of days since Michigan last beat Ohio State.

“It’s eating at me, man,” Michigan tight end Kevin Koger said.

Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.