Michigan coach: Wolverines have 'one of the best players in the country' on defense
Michigan Wolverines football senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham is a quiet player off the field, but he plays loud — with violence and physicality — on it.
The 6-foot-3, 248-pounder is one of Michigan’s starters at middle linebacker alongside classmate Ernest Hausmann. However, Barham is a versatile piece who lined up on the line of scrimmage — almost like an edge rusher — for 76 snaps last season. His pass-rushing ability is more advanced than most off-ball linebackers, with his 20 pressures in 2024 ranking fifth among Big Ten players at the position, which is why defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has discussed exploring playing him more on the ball.
However, Michigan’s NFL-style defense, orchestrated by a longtime pro coach in Martindale, allows that versatility to shine without making Barham switch positions.
“The beauty of this defense — and I said it because Coach Wink talks about it all the time — is it’s a positionless defense,” Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito said. “So because he’s walked down on the edge and playing, it doesn’t mean he’s playing end. It’s just in that set. If you watch how many different sets and how many different fronts we do, it’s complicated for the offense but it’s easy for us; it’s just a word, and now he’s walked down or he’s rushing from here.”
Regardless, Michigan plans to use Barham’s unique skill set as much as possible, wherever it fits best for given situations.
“He’s one of the best players in the country,” Esposito said. “There’s no doubt about it. He might be the most physical player I’ve ever been around. And he is going to do the things that he does as many times as he can.
“It’s always been and always will be about players, so put them in positions for things that they do really well, and do that as many times as you can. And that’s what we’re gonna do with him.”
“One of the best players in the country” is high praise, and Esposito was asked to elaborate on that.
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“He sets the tone because of how physical he is,” Esposito explained. “And he does that because of his training — how he trains and what he does. He’s electric.”
A player who is a defensive lineman — Michigan sophomore EDGE Dominic Nichols — is starting to learn multiple positions, as well. Esposito said he’s playing both the ‘RUSH’ and ‘SAM’ spots entering his second year with the program. Nichols was one of the most talked about freshmen last season, and he earned playing time as the year went on. Nichols forced a fumble that was recovered by Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl victory.
“Really good,” Esposito said of Nichols’ development. “His progress has been great. And now it’s to the point where, mentally, we’re flipping him from a couple different positions.
“You can just watch him, and you know he’s a great pass rusher. His biggest thing is getting strong enough, physical enough, mature enough, confident enough to play the run game like how he plays the pass game. And he’s starting to do that, which has been really good.”
“Coach ‘Phee [Pernell McPhee] has done a great job with him and [graduate] TJ [Guy] and D-Moore [senior Derrick Moore] and all those EDGEs. He takes them for a lot of the time, and he does an unbelievable job with those guys.”
