I agree. Hoke would be an intriguing hire to say the least. To be offered the coaching job at Michigan you have to have had a bunch of success and he certainly did. He failed at Michigan. There's no doubt about that. If he were named the head coach at ISU he'd have to prove himself relatively quickly because many people would have the opinion that if he can't win at Michigan there's no way he would win at Iowa State. He definitely recruited well at Michigan though, and aside from his time there he's been a very good coach.
In my opinion, he's a very likable guy too. Pollard said whomever he chooses needs to be a good fit for the program and I think Hoke's personality would win people over. It's not like he failed miserably at Michigan. He just couldn't get the team to play well enough to live up to their standards. It didn't help that he never really had a QB who fit the type of system he prefers to run.