I agree with everything DeadMan Just said. To extrapolate just a little bit more, I'll say that I essentially see Hoke as a transition man and I would say most would agree.
For the most part, I think '06 was the last "Michigan" team I've seen. Since then, I've seen players wearing the uniform, but I don't think I've seen a team that truly feels like a Michigan Wolverines team since that '06 season. But I think Hoke is getting it back to where the program used to be.
That game against App. State in '07 was a microcosm of Michigan Football from 2007-2011. The team just didn't care to win, or to live up to the name of the program. I remember reading a story about how a player on the team in '07 came out and said a solid chunk of guys got high before the App. State game, thinking it was going to be an easy win. They went in overconfident with a sense of entitlement based on the name of the program. They didn't go into the game with that fight in them or with that fire in their belly (just call me corch with these buzzwords/phrases). And I didn't see any fight at all during the DickRod years.
I think Hoke is bringing back that fire. Yeah, the team sucks. Flat out. They sucked last year too, and they weren't much better the year before that. But, they try. They go out there and they look like they actually give a shit and that they are trying. Sadly trying won't win games, but Hoke is doing what he can to bring back the effort rather than simply coasting on the laurels of the program name.
When I left the program in '07, I left it in kind of a lull. The program seemed to just be content with the status quo, lacking the desire to actually compete with the Alabama's, Auburn's, Georgia's, LSU's, etc.. of the college football world. But I think Hoke is changing that feeling. Like DeadMan said, I don't think he's going to be the guy to bring Michigan back to excellence, but he'll be the guy to grease the gears to get the program running again.
Michigan is still a huge name in college football, so you're going to get good recruits regardless. But you aren't going to get the National Championship caliber recruits, especially in cold-ass Michigan, when your program looks lackadaisical about winning/competing, given you can go to just as prestige of a program in sunny Florida/Alabama/Texas/California/Georgia/etc.. where there's the possibility to actually compete and get to show what you've got in big games (to increase your draft stock in the NFL). So while Hoke isn't going to win a 'ship, he's building up that competitive spirit again to actually make kids want to come to the program again. And that's essentially the best thing you could expect after the shit the program endured from 2007-2011.