With a year under their belts and a win over the National Champions, Michigan's coaches are becoming quite the prize within the coaching ranks. Another year of similar success, and some of these coaches will be getting non-stop calls about new opportunities at different stops. Here are four names that will be due more money if Michigan football keeps winning at a rapid pace.
1. Wink Martindale-Defensive Coordinator
The rewards from winning convincingly at such a rich school has its risks. Franchises want to poach you to run their organizations in the big leagues. Coach Martindale almost bailed for the NFL this time a couple of months back, but didn't obtain an offer. Next year he will be on the short list for defensive coordinators if he continues his record-setting success at Michigan. This time it would be Martindale following in the footsteps of his pupils, Mike MacDonald and Jesse Minter, to return and potentially work for them.
Martindale is the first name that will come up when you discuss contract extensions. He was getting crucified for the Texas and Oregon losses. However he turned a negative into a positive and enjoyed the last laugh by making Ohio State's offense look pedestrian and Alabama incapable of moving the football without four starters on the field. MacDonald and Minter couldn't even hold the Buckeyes to 10 points during their brief stints as coordinator.
Four Michigan football defenders were taken in the first three rounds of Martindale's defense last week. That's more than Macdonald and Minter had during their tenure. Michigan fans seem content with one more year of Martindale. The belief is he'll go pro, as long as he humbles the Buckeyes again. Martindale is definitely worthy of being the highest-paid coordinator in all of college.
2. LaMar Morgan-Defensive Backs
Morgan's guys blossomed right before our eyes in the latter part of the season without Will Johnson. Morgan coached Aamir Hall into a reliable starter after transferring from the FCS. Mason Curtis contributed as a freshman. No one could have predicted that outside of Morgan.
These athletes, with the help of others, completely shut down Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams to put a stamp of approval on Morgan's coaching abilities. He also helped gain a commitment from Shamari Earls, who drew some rave reviews this spring and will likely see the field early in September. Jyaire Hill is being considered as a first-round pick in 2026, too.
Morgan is on pace to be a very popular name for a high-level defensive coordinator job in the future, just like Jesse Minter envisioned, but will it be at Michigan or somewhere else? The athletic department has to pony up and keep this rising star at Michigan for the long haul.
3. Lou Esposito-Defensive Line
People are gushing over the job that Esposito did in year one at Michigan. He developed two of the most gifted defensive tackles in Michigan football history, left behind from what Mike Elston started. Metaphorically speaking, Esposito took the baton and ran with it. Mason Graham is debatably in a class by himself when you bring up the greatest defensive tackles in Michigan's 145 teams of existence.
Now he has the duty to mold players like Tre Williams, Damon Payne, and Ike Iwunnah into NFL-ready prospects. The cupboard is full to rotate the big men in the middle of the line. Reasons like this mean Esposito has head-coaching material written all over him. Who knows where the Wolverines would be if they had let Greg Scruggs keep his position in the first place?
4. Grant Newsome-Offensive Line
Newsome is basically on the same track as Sherrone Moore in his coaching journey. His next move would be to become an offensive coordinator after stints at tight end and his current residency. It's already known within Schembechler Hall that many view him as a head coach in the making.
His recruiting prowess speaks for itself with two five-stars in the 2025 class, and he's working for more. During this upcoming season, he'll get to fine-tune those newcomers and about three new starters along the line of the trenches.