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WATCH: Michigan assistants Lou Esposito, Tony Alford discuss their position groups pre-Illinois

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•10/16/24•

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Lou Esposito
Michigan Wolverines football defensive line coach Lou Esposito previously coached at Western Michigan and Memphis. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football defensive line coach Lou Esposito and running backs coach and run game coordinator Tony Alford met with the media Wednesday afternoon ahead of their team’s Saturday matchup at Illinois. Watch video of their press conferences below.

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DL coach Lou Esposito

Michigan elevated senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart to captain, after he served as an alternate captain the first half of the season. Esposito discussed the Big Ten sack leader’s impact so far.

“He’s one of the toughest dudes on the team, first off,” Esposito said. “He’s vocal, he does everything you want. He’s one of those guys that gets the guys going. If you see the guys when they’re in the huddle. He’s a guy talking, and everybody listens.

“I think it’s a huge accomplishment. For me being the first year in the program and seeing a guy that transferred in become captain at the University of Michigan, it’s pretty special. And in order to do that, you have to be a special person. He’s like the spark plug in the engine, man.

“He gets us going, he does an unbelievable job of motivating guys, of talking to guys. All different ways — he’s like a coach out there. Some guys, he puts his arm around, talks to. Some guys, he’s in their face like a coach. He’s a special man.”

RBs coach Tony Alford

Michigan has been without freshman running back Jordan Marshall, who earned a role on special teams, over the last four games, but he’s not dealing with a season-ending injury, per Alford’s response.

“Yeah, so he had a lower extremity, lower body, extremity deal that was going on,” Alford said. “Continuing to rehab that. He’s gonna be fine. He’ll hopefully be cleared here pretty soon, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Michigan graduate running back Kalel Mullings, meanwhile, has been one of the nation’s top rushers. He began the year as a backup but has risen to starter status.

“He’s kinda stayed even-keeled with things,” Alford noted. “He’s just gotta make sure he continues to take care of his body, because he’s getting more reps than he’s used to.

“We just gotta be very diligent about how he’s taking care of his body off the field, away from the field and during his off time and things like that.

“But he’s been great. He’s been great in the meeting room still and practicing his tail off, and very pleased with the way he’s handling his business.”

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