ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If you’re a Michigan football fan, it’s exciting news that new defensive coordinator Jay Hill, formerly of BYU, sees his defensive scheme as being awfully similar to the 2023 defense that the Wolverines ran when they won the national championship. After watching his fair share of tape (though he recognized the similarities in 2024 when preparing BYU for Wyoming), he noted that there are a lot of things that Jesse Minter would run that look like his preferred style of defense.
“Probably the year I’ve seen the most of that in last year’s 2025 team, just trying to understand what the personnel was coming back,” Hill said. “But I would say we resemble a lot more that ’23 team. We do run simulated pressures. We run all-out pressures. We run two-high pressures. We run one-high pressures, man pressures. So, you’re going to see it coming from different directions. I just don’t want quarterbacks to ever just sit back and know exactly what’s coming. So, we’re going to give them a bunch of looks.”
Scheme is one thing, but getting the players to execute said scheme is another.
Hill described how he’s building more than just a defense, and with trust between each other, there are bigger and greater things that can be accomplished. Sure, trust can pay dividends when it comes to on-field results, but there’s more on the table than simply playing football.
“Coaching is about relationships and getting players to trust you. Then I’ve got to be able to trust them,” Hill said. “Trust goes both ways, right? So, I’m putting my arm around these guys and saying, ‘Hey, I want you to do this,’ to see if they’ll really do it. Then there’s times out on the field where — like today it happened, where I yelled at the free safety and I said, ‘Hey, I want you to cheat this way.’ He cheats this way and gets an interception. I need those players to be able to trust what I see, and it’s through those interactions and those opportunities that you actually gain the trust of those players.
“I was once a player a long time ago, but I understand how important that relationship was with my coaches and with Coach Whittingham, who was the defensive coordinator at that time. Those relationships last a lifetime, and I’m trying to build those with these young men. That’s my philosophy. I’ll treat these guys like they’re my own sons, and I’ll push them, but I’ll be the first one to kick them in the butt, and I’ll be the first one there to give them knuckles when they do the right things.”
Even so, Hill says that he’s working to have at least three players at every position coming out of spring ball who could be counted upon in games. Though that’s not necessarily realistic, having at least a two-deep that are starting caliber would be the most optimal.
“Ideally, a really good three-deep, but you have to be great in your two-deep in the Big Ten,” Hill said. “There’s going to be injuries that occur. There’s going to be guys who have to go in the game. You have to rely on backups the way college football is, so that’s the first and foremost.
“We’ve got to develop depth, and then we’ve got to own this defense. We’ve got to know the scheme inside and out. We’ve got to know what I’m saying. Like today, what I told you, if I’m bumping the free safety to the boundary, they’ve got to know why, and that comes with time. That comes with trust. But I would say that just ownership of the scheme and what we’re trying to get accomplished. And then building a great three-deep is a big deal to me.”
Spring ball will continue through April 18, when the Wolverines hold the annual spring game at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football’s Jay Hill on defense and trust
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