The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545685
80 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY CHRIS BALAS J ay Hill had an idea what the call was about before he even picked up the phone in late January. The BYU defen- sive coordinator's friend and former coach and boss, Kyle Whittingham, was on the other end of the line, having just left Utah for the Michigan head coaching job. "I said 'Yes' before he even asked the question," Hill quipped to a group of do- nors at an event in Ann Arbor shortly after his arrival. That question, of course, was, "Would you leave BYU to become my defensive coordinator at Michigan?" "The Michigan brand, the Michigan name, being able to recruit in that logo was a big deal to me," Hill said. "They just won a national championship a couple years ago with one of the best teams in the history of college football. The ability to do that, to do it on the Big Ten stage was appealing, and to do it with the players that I knew were com- ing back to this place." But Whittingham might have been the biggest reason of all. Hill talked about his relationship with the coach and more in this exclusive Q&A. The Wolverine: When Kyle Whit- tingham was announced as the Mich- igan coach, did you expect a phone call from him asking you to join him? Jay Hill: "I had an idea. You hear ru- mors and rumblings. I knew he'd retired and knew the Michigan job was open. It did cross my mind if this happens, is it something I would do? Yeah. "At the same time, I had a job to do where I was [at BYU]. I had to get that done and do it well." The Wolverine: How much of com- ing to Ann Arbor was following Coach, and how much was it "be- cause it's Michigan?" Hill: "It was both, 100 percent. It had to be Coach Whitt, and there were only a couple jobs that could have lured me away from the one I had, because it was such a good job. "But Michigan coupled with Coach Whitt was something I can get behind. I believed big time in that." The Wolverine: What makes Coach Whittingham a good fit at Michigan, and why are you so convinced he'll be successful here? Hill: "His toughness, his discipline. I think he's a perfect fit for what Michi- gan football's always been known to be. "Coach Whitt is that exact person- ality. He instills toughness; he instills discipline and culture. He recruits play- ers that do things right. All those things are exactly what Michigan needed, in my opinion." The Wolverine: How have you ac- climated to Ann Arbor, and have you had time to enjoy it at all? Hill: "I haven't been here long, but every day I love it more and more. I like the city; I like the restaurants. I've just started to hit some of the golf courses, but I really like Ann Arbor. It's a cool place. "We [coaches] can usually slip out a little bit in the evening in June, and then July. We don't get a lot of time to golf. Hopefully, I get to see more of the good courses here." T he Wolverine: What were your impressions of your defensive posi- tion coaches this spring? Hill: "I love my assistant coaches. I knew when I took the job that there was DEFENSE Q&A A NEW MINISTER OF DEFENSE Q&A With Michigan Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill Hill was the defensive coordinator at BYU from 2023-25 and previously head coach at Weber State, where he led the Wildcats to the FCS playoffs in six of nine seasons. PHOTO COURTESY MGOBLUE TV