Michigan’s two coordinators are telling the same story in opposite ways.
On one side of the ball, Jay Hill has taken a roster stitched together from different backgrounds and made it fit. On the other, Jason Beck is still trying to force his offense into a shape that hasn’t quite worked for the Wolverines.
Hill said Wednesday that the challenge for any staff is to fit the scheme to the players, not the other way around.
“Good coaches fight like crazy to adjust the pieces you have and put them in positions to be successful,” Wolverines defensive coordinator Jay Hill said Wednesday. “That’s what we’re all doing right now.
I did have some really good pieces to try to puzzle together, and quite frankly, they might have been a little different than the pieces I had at BYU. But that’s great.”
That flexibility has shown up across Michigan’s defense. Hill didn’t hand-pick every part of it, but he has blended the group into something that looks increasingly natural. The structure has his fingerprints all over it, yet the best part is how smoothly the players seem to slide into different jobs without losing their footing.
The secondary is the clearest example. Graduate Zeke Berry and seniors Smith Snowden and Jyaire Hill have all been used in multiple spots, including free safety, strong safety and nickelback duties. Hill has leaned into that versatility rather than treating it like a complication.
“They’re a fun puzzle to piece together each week because you can use those guys in different ways,” Jay said. “And yeah, they’re playing at a really good level, especially last week. They just were outstanding.”
The results back that up. In 2025, Hill coordinated a Cougars defense that ranked second in the Big 12, allowing 15.6 points and 293 yards per game. Michigan has been even stingier in one category, giving up just 250.1 yards per game, while matching that previous pace in scoring defense at 15.7 points per game.
Beck’s side has been a different story.
Rather than tailoring the offense to the personnel in front of him, he has kept leaning on the same framework that worked elsewhere, even as the Wolverines continue to sputter. One of the biggest examples is the sixth lineman in the rhino formation. Beck remains committed to it, but the production hasn’t matched the idea.
Junior offensive lineman Manuel Biegel, Beck’s preferred rhino option, returned from injury Saturday, but the outing did not go the way Beck wanted. According to Pro Football Focus, Biegel was Michigan’s lowest-rated offensive player against Indiana, with a PFF grade of 43.6.
The ground game has run into similar problems. Beck keeps trying to steer the backs toward the perimeter instead of letting the offense hammer downhill, and the numbers against Indiana showed how little of that edge game actually paid off.
Of Michigan’s 38 run plays, 10 went left end, four went right end and one was a jet sweep to the right. Those 15 plays produced just 20 yards.
Michigan hasn’t exactly been dominant running downhill either, but it also hasn’t gotten enough of that style to build any real rhythm. Beck’s approach has brought results before at previous stops, but it hasn’t translated here.
“Last year Jason was exceptional,” Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham said. “And we had exceptional results. So I’m not going to say that he’s struggling, but we’re trying.”
Both coordinators come in with strong resumes. Only one, though, has found a way to make his group click with this version of Michigan. Hill’s willingness to adapt to the personnel around him appears to be the difference.
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