Everything DL coach Lou Esposito said during fall camp presser

Michigan Football defensive line coach Lou Esposito met with the media on Wednesday. Here’s what he had to say.

Thoughts on Derrick Moore and TJ Guy

Those guys have had a great summer. I think the biggest thing is you talk about the people you surround yourself with. Those guys work in the way they’ve worked with Coach Phee (Pernell McPhee), T Mac (Ty Martindale), Coach (David) Denham. They’ve done a great job with those guys in the summer. I think Coach Phee does an unbelievable job with those guys and really teaching them how to watch film and be a pro from having so much experience doing it. So it’s been really, really good. They’ve had a good camp so far. So we’re excited about them. A lot of good, a lot of good guys in that room. And I think competition breeds success. Iron sharpens iron. And I think what you’re starting to see is you’re starting to see competitive active practices, guys getting after each other, helping each other up, getting after each other again, helping each other up, and there’s a little bit of back and forth, which has been really good.

Finding Tre Williams in the Portal

The one thing we had was a connection with his brother being here, Q (Quinten Johnson). And I think the biggest thing, you watch him on film, he was extremely stout and explosive. Those are the guys that we want. He’s not a gap-and-attack, just run up the field and create horizontal lanes. He fit what we wanted on the field. And then obviously you have to sit down with him and meet him. His personality is electric. I think it was a win-win for us. He’s a team guy and whatever it takes for us to be successful, that’s what he wants to do. So he fit right into the culture.

Nate Marshall’s Game

He is an unbelievable athlete. You could just line the ball up right now and say go pass rush, go win, and he could do that. He’s learning how to play. He’s doing a great job with those guys. T-Mac is doing a good job. David Denham is doing a good job with him. He’s in the bridge program, so he’s with some class stuff. He is learning every day because he was one of the guys who didn’t come in at semester. He just came in earlier this summer. So he’s learning through a fire hose, and every day he learns something new, and he’s like, oh man, I get that now. Athletically, he’s really good. He’s going to physically get better as he’s in the program longer, but he’s super explosive, super twitchy. You can see he was a basketball player. We’re super excited about him. He’s going to be a great one right here.

Preparing for Road Games

I think the biggest thing, honestly, is—Wink hit it on the head in our first meeting—it’s going to be different. The way we’re going to have to win on the road in different venues, different circumstances, different times. So we’re going to have to prepare in a way where we bring our own juice and bring our own focus. I think that’s something we’ve talked about all camp so far. Wink brings it up all the time. Wink is great talking situational football. He’s the best coach I’ve ever been around when it comes to situational football, and that’s not just on the field—that’s going on all these road games, playing at different sites, different times. He’s getting our guys ready, and Coach Moore does a great job with when we’re practicing, how we’re practicing. So I think it’s coming along really good for where we are right now.

On Juan Castillo

He’s been great. He’s a very emotional loves loves his guys. Loves watching his guys develop.So it’s good. It’s really good being around.

Deyvid Palepale and Benny Patterson progress

We’ll start with Deyvid. Deyvid’s done an unbelievable job in the offseason. He’s trimmed down. He’s put his body in a situation where he can be totally effective. He’s had two really good practices—the last practices. He’s still a work in progress there, but you’re starting to see him become more vocal.

Then Betty Patterson—he’s heavy-handed. He came in early. He’s not a bridge kid. He reported in January at 240, and he’s 274 right now. So he’s steadily getting bigger, and he’s a heavy-handed kid. Super explosive. Still makes some freshman mistakes with his eyes, but he’s another one where you could just line him up and say, it’s fourth and two, go knock this guy in front of you back. He’s been doing a really, really good job with him.

Cam Brandt as “Third Starter”

Cam is a guy who could line up and play inside if we needed him. He is physically tough. He’s a very underrated athlete. He has an unbelievable knack to get out of his hips and play with a square, strong stance, great footwork, and he’s a student of the game. He just wants to get better consistently. He’s always in there watching film. He’s always asking questions. I think this will be a big year for him to really take off. It’ll be fun. He’s like a third starter for us.

How Fun This Group is

I am not aware of any celebrations or things that they said are going to get penalties. Once again, I’m not aware of that. But it is a good group to be around. I think when you’re around a bunch of unique personalities, it makes it fun, right? It’s not stagnant. There’s always something going on in the room. We’ve got a bunch of great guys in there, a bunch of good dudes that want to work. They’re trying to get better. They know what it is to play D-line here at the University of Michigan. I think that’s important, and that’s really important to those guys and why they came here.

Comparing DLs 2024 to 2025

I think everybody’s different, right? The production of the guys that were here last year was awesome. Sometimes it doesn’t show up in stats. It’s knockbacks, it’s bouncing plays to somebody else. But I do think it’s maybe new roles for them. Same Michigan—that’s the message I told them. New roles, same Michigan. New roles, same D tackles. New roles, same edges. I think that’s part of it. Each guy is different. Each guy is unique. Each guy is unique in their own way that they play. But the system is the system. Wink is the best guy I’ve ever been around at maximizing a guy’s potential. If you do this really, really well, we’re going to get you to do that as many times as we can within the game plan. He works it that way. That’s what’s made him so good. I think that’s what we do with our guys. Again, new roles, same Michigan. Same deal for those guys.

Thoughts on Offensive Line

I feel like the biggest thing is they’re playing cohesive. There’s no letdowns. Even when it’s not a great play, they’re still cohesive. I feel like the physicality is there. They’ve done a great job in the weight room. I think Gio (El-Hadi) has been a guy for me that I notice a bunch who has really taken his game to another level. He’s gotten a little bit bigger, stronger. The point of attack is there for him.

The other thing is those young kids. It’s just a matter of time. They’re special. They’re going to be really, really good players. So I’m excited to see those guys, but I think they’re playing as a cohesive group. And those are tough offensive lines. We’ve played really good offensive lines here. The best ones you’ve played are guys that play together. And that’s what they’re doing at a really, really high level right now, which is exciting.

Babaloa and Haywood are going to be extremely talented. The (Avery) Gach kid—all those young guys are going to be really, really good. And what it’s done is forced other guys to up their game. (Nate) Efobi and those guys are playing better than they’ve played since I’ve been here. It’s been really, really fun to see.

Depth at Defensive Tackle

I think the biggest thing with the depth is those guys have to continue to keep getting better. They can’t just assume that, hey, I’m going to be the starter. There are guys in there that are all very, very close, that all bring a unique aspect to what they do. I think there will be times where you see a lot more of them, and there will be games where we’re in a bunch of different packages and maybe not as much.

The biggest thing with those guys is they all have to be physical. They all have to play with knockback, and they all have to play with great effort. We’ve got to keep working that in camp—keep bringing that in, bringing that in—so it just becomes second nature for those guys. But we’re excited about them.

Resonating with Recruits

I feel like the biggest thing here is, once you get a guy to come here and see this place and be around the people, it doesn’t compare to anywhere else. And that’s the truth. There are great places everywhere, but it’s just different here. The Block M is different. Michigan is different. The people we surround you with are different. The opportunities you’re going to have after football are different here.

Some places might have really, really good football, really, really good academics, and people who will help you in your career afterward. But the combination of all three—there aren’t many schools that do that, and we’re one of them.

I think the biggest message for us is: look at the tradition. Look at the tradition of guys that play up front at the University of Michigan and where they go—whether it’s playing in the NFL or being ultra-successful outside of football. There’s a tradition of successful people that play that position here because it’s hard. It’s not natural. You don’t see normal people run into 300-pound people all day, try to knock them back, and take them where they don’t want to go. A lot of guys want to be part of that. It’s special here.

Playing for Coach Wink in a defensive system that’s D-line friendly, being surrounded by great coaches—you’ve got Phee, T-Mac, myself, Coach (Lamar) Morgan, Coach BJ (Brian Jean-Mary)—you have all these guys that all have one common goal, and that’s for Michigan to be great. I think that’s the biggest thing. When you’re around the people, the people sell it.

House Settlement Impact

No, and again, when it comes to that stuff, I’m not—it’s really Coach (GM Sean) Magee who’s involved in that—but no, it hasn’t. Not right now. We’ve got a great plan, and Coach Moore and Coach Magee have done a great job getting those guys what they need.

Linebackers Meshing with DL

I think the biggest thing has been—we’re going on day six—and I think every day those guys do some type of meeting together, the linebackers and D-line on their own. There’s a text that’ll go out, and all of a sudden we’ll be in the office watching film, and you see all these guys just rolling in. I think that’s been really good.

What they do in the summer—all that summer work together—Coach (Justin) Tress does a great job of trying to build that bond, and that’s where teams are made. It’s not on Saturdays. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve got to go out and make plays, but the lead-up into fall camp, the lead-up in the summer, the dog days of summer training when you’re running 150s and it’s 100 degrees out and everybody’s going through the same thing—that’s what bonds the team. You get forged in that fire, and I think that’s important for us. That’s where I think it’s been good. But those guys have been awesome.

Pecking Order at DT

I think it’s early, and right now it’s day by day. Whoever practices better is going to move into that spot. There have been days where Damon Payne’s been good, days where Tre Williams has been good, days where Trey Pierce has been good, Ike (Iwunnah) has been good, and Enow (Etta) has been good. We move them throughout the periods, so we’re mixing and matching guys to get the best out of them.

That’s the good thing when you have depth. If guys aren’t getting it or aren’t doing what you need them to do, you can move guys around. The other thing is you reward guys for what they’re doing. It’s been really, really exciting. We’ve still got a long way to go—we’ve got a long way to go to be where we want to be—but we’re excited about where we’re going.

Defense Facing Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall

They’re good, man. They get in the open field—they’re fast, they’re powerful, they’re strong. I think the biggest thing with those two guys is they’re both low-center-of-gravity guys that, if you give them a little bit of space, they make you pay for it. I remember breaking down Alabama last year, and you’re watching the explosive tape, and he just shows up in it, shows up in it, shows up in it. This was before we knew he was leaving, so it was pretty good.

Then we watched Marshall all year. We knew what he’s about. Not only are they athletic and fast—they’re rugged. They’re physical. For guys that aren’t like, you know, Sue—they don’t walk through the door and you’re like, oh my God, that’s a big tailback. They’re stout, but they love contact, and that’s what makes them good.

When you have that combination of contact presence, being able to run through a block, being able to run around somebody, and being able to go the distance, you’ve got a shot to be pretty special—and that’s what those guys are.