Derrick Moore had to stop and think for a moment as he recalled the revolving door of position coaches who have passed through Michigan’s defensive meeting rooms since the season ended.
Mike Elston, Michigan’s defensive line coach the past two seasons, left to join head coach Jim Harbaugh with the Los Angeles Chargers in February.
Greg Scruggs had the job for a few weeks before resigning after his arrest on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Lou Esposito, Scruggs’ replacement, arrived midway through spring practice and immediately got to work.
“It’s been a crazy couple months,” said Moore, a junior edge rusher. “Coach Scruggs was here. He was a great coach, a great guy.
Just being with him the couple days I had him here, he taught me a lot. Then we had our new coach. He’s also a great guy.”
The identity of Michigan’s coaching staff is still taking shape under first-year coach Sherrone Moore, both on the sidelines and in recruiting.
The Wolverines landed their first commitment of the spring last week, four-star edge rusher Nate Marshall, and have a busy stretch ahead to fill out their 2025 recruiting class.
Here’s a rundown of Michigan’s assistant coaches and their recruiting profiles.
It’s hard to get the full effect from a spring game, but Martindale’s defense should be menacing. He has NFL-ready players in Will Johnson, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and lots of options to generate pressure on the quarterback, a calling card of his career as a DC.
As a recruiter, well, who knows? Martindale last coached in college football in 2003, so it’s unlikely he’ll be leading the charge in recruiting.
Michigan will need to reload on defense sometime soon, but as a play caller, Martindale should be able to get the most out of the players already in the program.
