Michigan Football DC Jay Hill Names a Few Wolverines Who Are Standing Out

Jay Hill was hired to bring his 'attacking' defense to Ann Arbor for the 2026 season. Kyle Whittingham immediately targeted the former BYU and Weber State head coach to come run the Wolverines' defense — for what he hopes is the foreseeable future.

Hill, as most of the coaches, is new to Michigan and they have to learn their roster. However, speaking to Jon Jansen on a recent episode of In the Trenches, Hill mentioned a few players who have immediately stood out to him.

On the defensive line, both Enow Etta, Trey Pierce, Cameron Brandt, and Dom Nichols have all emerged, along with Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry in the secondary — Hill also knows getting Rod Moore back fully healthy will be a key.

Michigan S Rod Moore tackles USC WR Makai Lemon. — Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

"Well, so I believe we have two of the best defensive tackles in college football right now. Enow Etta, Trey Pierce, those guys can play," Hill told Jansen. "And I think they’ve been very well-coached. Cam Brandt, really, really good defensive end. Dom Nichols. So there’s some guys in the front I’m excited about.

"I see young talent in the linebacking group, and not a lot of experience. So I’m excited to see how that group continues to grow. And then I think we’re going to be good in the secondary. We need to get some guys back, like Rod Moore helps us drastically.

"We need [Jyaire Hill] Shug to play. What I see in him in runs and conditioning right now, I think that guy could be elite, elite. And Zeke Berry, obviously, having those two corners back is a big deal. So I think there’s a lot of really good pieces. We need to build depth, and we need to continue to get our philosophies ingrained."

Learning a complicated defense

In the same interview, Hill said he believes they run the most complicated scheme in the country. He said the players will continue to learn it, but it will take all Summer and Spring — along with fall camp. Hill will disguise his defense so the opposing quarterback has no idea what to expect.

“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.”