Michigan Wolverines, Kyle Whittingham suffer first major loss of the offseason, and they’ll need to fill big shoes left behind
Lou Esposito’s departure leaves a massive void for Kyle Whittingham to fill.
The Michigan Wolverines have benefitted from some elite defensive line play over the last two seasons, courtesy of defensive line coach Lou Esposito. Esposito turned out to be former head coach Sherrone Moore’s best hire, developing Michigan’s defensive line into the best position room on the team (by far) for two straight seasons.
Now, Esposito begins the next stop on his journey, joining Jesse Minter’s inaugural staff with the Baltimore Ravens in the same capacity. For new head coach Kyle Whittingham, Esposito’s departure leaves behind some big shoes to fill.
What Esposito’s departure means for Michigan
Esposito was inarguably Michigan’s best recruiter and just pulled off a heater for the Wolverines in the class of 2026. Esposito added five-star edge rusher Carter Meadows along with four top-100 recruits in Alister Vallejo, Titan Davis, McHale Blade, and Tariq Boney all in one class.
This, to go along with his tremendous development of Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Derrick Moore, Rayshaun Benny, Enow Etta, Damon Payne, Cameron Brandt, and TJ Guy over the past two seasons, has made Esposito one of the best overall position coaches in the country.
Now, Michigan will have to figure out a way to replicate his success on and off the field.
Who will replace Lou Esposito for Michigan?
Whittingham hired Lewis Powell, bringing him along from the Utah Utes, to coach defensive ends alongside Esposito. We’ll see if Powell ends up taking over the whole position room.
If he doesn’t, however, the Wolverines have options. David Denham was Esposito’s defensive line coach at Western Michigan and spent the 2025 season as the assistant defensive line coach for the Wolverines, and was retained by Whittingham. A promotion makes sense, especially given Denham’s work developing Braden Fiske and Marshawn Kneeland.
Current BYU defensive tackles coach Sione Po’uha was a star player for Whittingham with the Utes and spent the 2019-2021 seasons at Utah as their defensive line coach before going to work for current Michigan defensive coordinator Jay Hill at BYU. He was recently promoted to assistant head coach/defensive line coach for the Cougars, but there are plenty of connections to the Wolverines’ staff and we know Michigan can spend for him if they choose to.
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