Michigan coach Brady Hoke, who led the Wolverines to an 11-2 season and a Sugar Bowl title in his first season at the helm, has received heaps of praise for his turnaround job. Former coach Lloyd Carr went on The Huge Show Tuesday, and added his own compliments.

"I thought he did a remarkable job," Carr said. You can hear the audio by clicking here. "When I coached with Coach [Bo] Schembechler - and I believed this as well - we all measures our team, to some degree, on how they finished a season. Of course, when you look at Brady's team beating Nebraska, Ohio State and Virginia Tech to end the season, it gave great momentum to recruiting. It gave great momentum to their program. I think he did a wonderful job."

Carr lauded the coaching staff's ability to play to Denard Robinson's strengths, instead of trying to force the dual-threat quarterback to play a more traditional, pro-style set.

But, according to the coach, the key to the Wolverines' quick success was on the other side of the ball.

"The big difference was certainly on defense," he said. "The staff took a group of players that had not had much success the previous three years and molded them into a team that really fought and got better and better. And I think their kicking game was also much better. That's what I saw."

The Wolverines cut their average points per game from 35.2 in 2010 to 17.4 last year.

With Michigan's sudden rise back to the top of the Big Ten ranks, all eyes are on the program in 2012 - several national pundits are picking the Wolverines to win the Big Ten for the first time since 2004.

Carr isn't worried about Hoke's ability to manage the team through heightened expectations.

"He certainly has enough experience at Michigan [as an assistant] to know what the expectations are at Michigan - and those aren't going to change. If anything, they're going to get higher," Carr said. "That's why there are no off days for a coaching staff, and you have to have players who are motivated, are team-oriented people, who play for their school, a group of people that can really buy into being the best team they can be and be willing to achieve that. That's what it takes.

"He has a coaching staff that's very motivated. They're young, in some instances, but they're a veteran group with him. He brought basically his entire staff here from San Diego State. They will know this fall, because they played so well and had such a wonderful season a year ago, that the expectations will be very high."

As Hoke continuously reminds his players, the goal at Michigan is Big Ten Championships.

And Carr said he has "great confidence" in Hoke to achieve that goal.

"In my judgment, what he did last year was really special," Carr said. "He came in and took a group of kids he hadn't recruited and he earned their trust and respect. You could see the way they played. That team played hard from start to finish, and I think that's the mark of a coach: do your kids play hard; do they hustle and play with great enthusiasm; are they disciplined? All those things, you develop before you ever get to the stadium. You develop them in the offseason and training camp, and of course, he did a great job a year ago."

Carr Keeping Busy: Although Carr is retired, he isn't just sitting around the house.

"I'm having a good time. I'm busier than I'd like to be sometimes. But it's going well, and I have had so many players over my period at Michigan. I've had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with some of those guys, and that's great fun. Plus, I have 12 grandchildren now, so that keeps me going, too."

Carr was also honored as an inductee in the College Football Hall Of Fame earlier this summer. He was announced as a member of the Hall last November, and the official induction ceremony took place in July.

"I've been very fortunate to coach at a place like Michigan, a great school, phenomenal tradition, a great program that had everything you needed to be successful," Carr said. "I had great players. Growing up, and in my coaching experience, I had great mentors and people who took an interest in me. I'm a product of the people who surrounded me and the place I had an opportunity to coach. I had the great pleasure to coach here for 28 years. I worked for two other guys, in Bo and Mo. I've been very, very fortunate and I'm appreciative of the opportunity I had at Michigan."

Carr on Paterno: "I was as surprised as anybody could be. There are no words to express what happened there. There has been so much written and said, but I don't think anybody has been really able to express the deepness of the tragedy there. All of us, our hearts go out to those victims, and there are so many people that have had life-changing experiences because of it. There are no winners there. It's a sad thing, and that's not the way any of us wanted to see it end."