Michigan and Kyle Whittingham have made one more addition to their coaching staff, as the Wolverines are set to add Larry Black as the new defensive tackles coach, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
The move to hire Black comes just over a week after
Michigan lost its previous defensive tackles coach, Lou Esposito, who joined Jesse Minter’s staff with the Baltimore Ravens.
Black comes to Michigan after working at Vanderbilt as the defensive line coach for the Commodores, a position he had held since 2022. Prior to that, he had been the defensive line coach at Toledo from 2019 to 2021. He has also worked at Carthage College and Notre Dame during his career. A native of Cincinnati, Black played his college football at Indiana from 2008 to 2012. He had a brief stint in the NFL as well, playing for the Cincinnati Bengals for one season.
Earlier this offseason, Whittingham and Michigan had hired former Utah assistant Lewis Powell to work specifically with the defensive ends. Instead of putting more on Powell’s plate or promoting from within to fill Esposito’s role, Michigan did well here to snag a defensive tackles coach from an SEC school that’s had quite the turnaround under Clark Lea over the last three years. Prior to taking the job at Michigan, Black’s role at Vanderbilt had been expanded, with him previously being named a co-defensive coordinator.
Black will have his hands full right away with the development of Trey Pierce and Enow Etta, who will be shouldering much more of the load up front this season, with Rayshaun Benny, Damon Payne, and Tre Williams all exhausting their eligibility.
