Michigan DL coach Lou Esposito on transfer portal: 'You’re always looking to upgrade the roster'

The NCAA transfer portal is open until April 30, meaning players across the country will enter and wind up at another school for the 2024 season. Michigan Wolverines football still has to wrap up spring practices this week, but the staff is always mining for talent.

On the defensive line, the Wolverines have a strong starting four with senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart, junior EDGE Derrick Moore and junior defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham. However, building depth is one of the top priorities, seeing as the Wolverines thrived by having a deep rotation on the front line during last year’s national championship run.

“It just goes into recruiting,” Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito said of the transfer portal. “It just opened up today, and it’s like anything else: We have really good players here, so we’re fortunate in that way, but you’re always looking to upgrade the roster, in recruiting at any level, whether it’s a high school kid or a transfer kid. If you feel that he’s going to help you win, and there’s room for them, you want to upgrade your roster as much as you can.”

Coaches have more on their plate now than at any point in college football history. Their focus goes from watching film, planning practice and working with players on the field to perusing the transfer portal and making recruiting calls (and those are just several examples of their daily tasks).

“You gotta balance it,” the Michigan assistant coach said. “[Michigan head] Coach [Sherrone Moore] does a great job. We schedule, we have defensive meeting times, we have position meeting times, we have recruiting times.

“And our recruiting staff is working 24/7, so I’ll walk back here after this thing and they’ll be like, ‘Hey, did you see this kid? Did you see this kid?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t get to see him yet.’

“So you try to do as much as you can. And we do a great job here of organizing recruiting and times that we actually get to physically sit down and watch it. If there’s a kid that’s going to help us win, we’re gonna go try to get him.”

Recruiting isn’t just for the transfer portal or high school players. College coaches, including at Michigan, are also recruiting their own roster — especially while the portal is open, knowing players can file their paperwork to depart at any moment.

Esposito explained that the conversations with the players are easy because of the strong culture in place.

“They love this place,” Esposito said. “Michigan is unlike anywhere else in the country, and I truly believe that. And they believe it, so I feel like that’s something that speaks for itself. As far as the open conversations, I’m a big body, so anyone that wants to talk to them, they gotta get around me.”

Lou Esposito: ‘I am the luckiest person in the world’

Esposito was hired as Michigan’s defensive line coach March 29, replacing Greg Scruggs, who resigned earlier that month following an OWI arrest. He’s had to get up to speed quickly, admitting

“To me, I think at the end of the day, it’s always feedback,” Esposito said of his energetic and vocal coaching style. “And all I can be is who I am. I’m not anybody different. My father and my mom raised me — ’be who you are.’

“I do think different kids respond differently. It’s like being a teacher. Some people you have to put your arm around, some people, you have to hoot and holler at, some people you have to show, some people you walk through, you put it on video. 

“I just think, for me, I’m always going to be the first person they look at, because I’m their position coach, so they’re going to feed off my energy. And I’m a big believer that if you put positive out, you get positive back. So, I’m going to be positive. I am the luckiest person in the world. I got four great kids, I got a great wife, I’m coaching at the best school in America. I am the luckiest person in America.”

Added the Michigan coach: “I’m going to portray that to our players, so there will be a time when they get eight plays in a row and it’s 4th and 1 and they just converted and now we gotta put our back against the wall a little bit. And when they see that positive attitude from me, now all of the sudden I hope that makes it a little bit easier for them. So, again, positive feeds on positive, that’s what I try to portray.

“Now, not all of the gestures are positive — I promise you that — but it’s all coming from a good place, all my heart.”