Michigan football hire Jay Hill from BYU to join Kyle Whittingham’s staff

The fallout from Kyle Whittingham taking the job at Michigan will change BYU’s staff.

BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill is on his way to succeed his former head coach.

Hill heads to Ann Arbor to be Kyle Whittingham’s defensive coordinator at Michigan, ESPN college football player Pete Thamel reported Thursday morning. The former Utah player and assistant coach will reunite with his old boss to help lead the Big Ten program.

Hill spent the last three seasons in Provo, overhauling BYU’s defense and quickly establishing himself as perhaps the best coach in the state.

Kalani Sitake made Hill the associate head coach and BYU became the winningest program in the Big 12 the past two seasons. The Cougars went to the conference title game this year, just their third season in the Power Four.

Under Hill, BYU went from one of the worst defenses in the country to a top 30 offense.

Notably, Hill began recruiting at a much higher level. Most of BYU’s top prospects came on the defensive side of the ball, with recruits listing Hill as their top recruiter. Hill flipped some of BYU’s top players from Whittingham, including star safety Faletau Satuala.

Replacing Hill may be difficult. Sitake’s last defensive coordinator was longtime friend Ilaisa Tuiaki, who was fired after 2022, with his defense allowing over 30 points per game.

Hill was the head coach at Weber State for ten years before coming to Provo. At Weber, Hill oversaw the best years in program history as the Wildcats won double-digit games and made big runs in the FCS playoffs.

He has long had aspirations of becoming a Power Four head coach.

Hill thought he would be in line to take over for Sitake as head coach when the time came. But that timeline was extended when Sitake signed a long-term extension this month instead of heading to Penn State.