If Michigan coach Brady Hoke had his wish, the Notre Dame football program's nickname might instead be the "Chickening Irish."
Hoke on Monday said the Fighting Irish program "was chickening out of" their series with the Wolverines.
According to ESPN.com, the third-year Michigan coach was speaking to a pro-Wolverines crowd at the West Michigan Sports Commission luncheon in Grand Rapids, Mich. The report said that "Notre Dame, because of stipulations in the contract between the schools, had to give notice of termination of the deal three years in advance, due before kickoff of the game between the schools that year. The Irish gave notice to Michigan on the night of Sept. 22, 2012 -- just before the teams played."
The Wolverines and Irish were scheduled to play through 2017 but instead will play in 2013 and 2014 to conclude the series.
Hoke made his displeasure with Notre Dame public.
"We are fortunate to have unbelievable rivalry games at Michigan," Hoke told the crowd in a video made available by coachingsearch.com. "The Notre Dame, that rivalry, which they're chickening out of ... they're still going to play Michigan State, they're going to play Purdue but they don't want to play Michigan.
"I don't know how they made their decision," Hoke added before reversing course and saying "I really do (know how they made their decision)."
Notre Dame announced earlier last September that it had agreed to play five Atlantic Coast Conference teams annually, which preceded its notice to Michigan by 10 days.
"The decision to cancel games in 2015-17 was Notre Dame's and not ours," Wolverines athletic director Dave Brandon said in a release in September that ESPN reprinted Monday. "We value our annual rivalry with Notre Dame, but will have to see what the future holds for any continuation of the series."
Michigan holds a 23-15-1 series lead over Notre Dame, but the Irish won 13-6 last season in Ann Arbor, Mich.
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