Jay Hill Describes What Michigan Football's Defense Will Look Like Under Him

After two years of Wink Martindale being the defensive coordinator at Michigan, the Wolverines are moving on to Jay Hill to coordinate the defense. Hill comes to Ann Arbor after having four stellar years at BYU.

At BYU, Hill was the Cougars’ associate head coach while serving as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The defense scored eight defensive touchdowns during his tenure in Provo. Under Hill, BYU achieved several led BYU to a couple of the NCAA’s top statistical units the past few seasons, listing No. 13 in total defense in 2024 and currently ranking No. 35 in 2025.

The Cougars have been among the top 20 nationally in scoring defense the past two seasons, as well: No. 18 in 2024 (19.6 ppg) and No. 21 in 2025 (19.1).

Weber State Wildcats head coach Jay Hill reacts during the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils. — Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Prior to his time with BYU, he was the head coach at Weber State for nine seasons and also coached under Kyle Whittingham at Utah for 12 seasons. Hill is as experienced as they come and he has a vast history of running a defense.

On Wednesday, Hill spoke with Jon Jansen on In The Trenches to discuss what his defense is going to look like in Ann Arbor.

“Attacking. And that means so many different things," Hill said. "First and foremost, you got to stop the run. But we want to stop the run by being in different spots that the offense doesn't know where we're at. I don't want O-linemen teeing off on our D-linemen. So we're going to play straight up sometimes.

"We're going to stun. We're going to blitz. And we want to attack weaknesses of players.
We want to attack weaknesses in scheme. But I don't want [the] quarterback sitting back in the pocket knowing where we're at. I don't want them run checking and getting their best runs always to where we're weak.

"I just I don't believe in that. I think we need to make it hard on the offenses for what we're doing schematically and what we're doing with our personnel.”

Most complicated scheme in the country

Michigan Wolverines linebacker Cole Sullivan (23) celebrates. — Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Hill also noted that his defense is arguably the most complicated to learn in the country. Hill says it will take all offseason for the players to learn the scheme and to know what to do. The Wolverines are going to hit the ground running to become the most disruptive defense in the Big Ten.

“Well, I would say we run the most complicated scheme in the country," said Hill. "We have more calls. We do more things with fronts and coverages. So this is not something that they just pick up in a day. We're going to need all spring. We're going to need all summer. We're going to need all fall camp to have us ready to go for the first game. And by then, we'll be ready to go.”