Jay Hill Outlines Michigan's 2026 Defensive Blueprint, Recruiting Philosophy

BYU's defense was statistically better than Michigan's in the past two seasons and Hill looks to add his blueprint to the team.

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Michigan has had a good enough defense the past two seasons under Wink Martindale, but it's also factual that the Wolverines had taken a step backwards once both Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter left for the NFL.

Entering 2026, Kyle Whittingham brought Jay Hill over to coach the Wolverines' defense. Hill spent the last four seasons as the Cougars' defensive coordinator, and BYU has been above Michigan in both 2024 and 2025 in scoring defense.

Playing in the Big 12, it's usually a high-scoring affair, but BYU mixed up its looks and forced turnovers. In 2024, BYU ranked third, forcing 29 turnovers, and in 2025, the Cougars were 24, which was tied for 14th.

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Entering 2026, Hill expects this Michigan team to force a lot of turnovers an fly around on defense.

"I think we'll fly around as good as anybody," Hill said. "We'll have speed. We'll have toughness and physicality, but we give more looks than the big majority of the defenses out there. That's in the front. That's in the secondary. We're used to getting lots of turnovers, so I would anticipate that that continues."

How Hill recruits for his defense

Hill has a philosophy when it comes to recruiting players for his defense. He wants to find players who love the game of football, are hard-working, and intelligent. Those are the questions he asks the coaches and teachers of the players they are looking at.

When it comes to Michigan itself, Hill notes that he is looking for game-changers in the secondary, along with keeping the Wolverines' tradition alive of great defensive tackles. Just in recent years, fans have seen Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Kris Jenkins, among others, come through Ann Arbor.

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Hill hopes to emulate that 2023 Michigan defense and get the Wolverines back toward the top of the nation.

"I want to coach players that love the game," Hill said. "They're energetic in their personalities. I want to coach guys that are intelligent, hardworking leaders. Those traits are things that when we're out recruiting, we ask coaches and counselors and principals, and we try to get to as many people as we can to just see what kind of people they are behind the scenes and what kind of passion they play with on the field.

"We want guys that are going to change the game at corner and at safety. The game's changed a little bit to where those guys get in space a little bit more than they used to, and we need to have guys that can get out there and run. We got to continue to keep that trend of big-time defensive tackles here at the University of Michigan."

"Smile. Life is pretty good and we're just living the dream."

Leading the Blue » @CoachJayHill#GoBlue | @UMCreditUnion pic.twitter.com/cusCZfRvrP

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) June 12, 2026