The Michigan Wolverines hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham to be their new head coach after firing Sherrone Moore with cause in December. Whittingham stepped down as coach of the Utes after 21 years at the helm at the end of the regular season, before taking the Michigan job.
Despite being on the Utes’ side of the intense “Holy War” rivalry with BYU, Whittingham hired Cougars defensive coordinator Jay Hill as the Wolverines’ new defensive coordinator two weeks ago.
Kyle Whittingham Praises New D.C. Despite BYU Connection
During Monday’s segment of “The Triple Option” podcast, Whittingham discussed hiring Hill to his staff, despite Hill’s connection to BYU.
“So a lot of familiarity with the offensive staff brought my strength staff, Doug Elisaia. I had the strength staff from Utah,” Whittingham said. “He’s been with me 21 years.”
He added, “And then of course, as you mentioned, Jay Hill, who did such a great job for us in Utah, before he went over to Weber and resurrected that program, then he went down to BYU and did a great job coordinating that defense. Guys I trust and believe in.”
Hill began his coaching career at Utah as a graduate assistant in 2001, was promoted to an administrative assistant under Urban Meyer in 2004, and later became the special teams coordinator under Whittingham.
He departed to become the head coach at Weber State from 2014 to 2022, before serving as the defensive coordinator for the BYU Cougars under Kalani Sitake in 2023. In three seasons as Cougars’ D. C, Hill’s BYU allowed 19.4 points per game in the Big 12, earning a B grade in the PFSN College Defense Impact metric.
Whittingham Fired Up About His Michigan Staff
During Monday’s episode of the “Triple Option,” Whittingham was enthusiastic about the composition of his new staff at Michigan, including the coaches who followed him from Utah.
“First of all, fired up about what they bring to the table,” Whittingham said. “I mean, the offensive staff, we finished fourth in the nation last year in scoring at Utah and second in rushing, fifth and total offense. Jason Beck is the architect of that offense. It’s a user-friendly offense. With the portal, you’re getting 40-50 new guys in your team.”
He added, “You’d better have an offense in the defensive scheme. These guys can adapt really quickly and plug and play type of situation. We brought Micah Simon, receiver coach, Koy Detmer, the QB coach, Jim Harding, a real key piece to our staff, one of the best offensive line coaches in the country.”
Despite rebuilding his staff at Michigan, Whittingham retained three coaches from the Moore era at Ann Arbor to ensure continuity with the players. He retained running backs coach Tony Alford, defensive tackle coach Lou Esposito, and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs.
