The Ravens are building a dominant coaching staff, and Jesse Minter just landed another tough, hard-nose coach on the defensive side of the football. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports that the Ravens are nearing a deal to hire University of Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito to the same position.
Esposito just completed his second season as defensive line coach for the University of Michigan in 2025, and the expectation was that he’d remain on the new coach, Kyle Whittingham’s staff. He was named to the position on March 29, 2024, and is in his 22nd year of collegiate coaching. Esposito was hired away from the University of Memphis after Michigan’s initial choice for the job, Greg Scruggs, was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
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In Esposito’s first year with the program in 2024, the defensive line was the Wolverines’ strength. All-American defensive tackles Mason Graham (consensus first team) and Kenneth Grant (third team) were finalists for the Nagurski and Outland Trophies. Graham (first-team, 7.0 TFL), Grant (second, 6.5), and edge Josaiah Stewart (second, 13 with 8 sacks) were All-Big Ten picks. Nine different defensive Wolverines linemen recorded stops in opponents’ backfields. Michigan finished fifth in the nation in rushing defense and held eight opponents under 100 yards on the ground. Overall, the unit ranked 10th in total defense and 20th in sacks.
Prior to joining the Michigan staff, Esposito was named co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of Memphis (spring 2024), after spending the previous 14 seasons at Michigan. Esposito served as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Western Michigan for seven seasons (2017-23), working with the defensive line (2017-19) and ends (2020-23). It was his second stint with the Broncos (2010-12).
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens nearing deal to hire Lou Esposito as defensive line coach
