After his introductory press conference in Orlando, new Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham revealed that he would be bringing a spread offense with 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) as the base offense. And given what offensive coordinator Jason Beck was able to do at Utah and New Mexico with that scheme, it was rather effective.But what about the defense?Appearing on the Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday, Whittingham revealed what his base defense and the core tenets would be, and while it is a slight departure in some aspects from what Wink Martindale and the two previous coaches from his tree ran, it’s not altogether different.”Four-down front, a 4-2 nickel setup, which is what 90% of the people base out of these days,” Whittingham said. “It’s geared towards 11 personnel. If we go to 12 personnel, then we go ahead and jump into a 4-3 and we substitute with the offense, but it bases out of that 4-2-5 scheme.”Perhaps one of the biggest differences is that Jay Hill, the former BYU defensive coordinator, will be running the show. With Hill leading the charge, there will be some changes, particularly on the back end. But Whittingham is supremely confident about what he brings to the table and shared more about why.”A lot of pressure, a lot of man coverage, mixing some zone pressures,” Whittingham said. “A little bit of split safety look, and there you have it. And Jay Hill, our coordinator — I recruited him at Utah — was an outstanding player there. Finished playing, wanted to become a GA. We hired him on as a GA, finished his GA stint, and we had a full-time spot. Hired him for that, and he just kept working his way up through the ranks his last three years.”He was down in Provo at BYU and did a phenomenal job with their defense, and he’s from my tree and played in our scheme, and the scheme has been tweaked a little bit along the way. But the real essence of it has stayed intact.”The entire defensive coaching staff has been set, as of Monday, so now the goal is player retention and then supplementing through the transfer portal.This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham outlines Michigan’s 4-2-5 defensive identity
