Kyle Whittingham zeroing in on perfect D-line replacement for Lou Esposito

Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham had to deal with a late coaching staff shake-up as Lou Esposito, the only position coach set to be retained, left to join Jesse Minter and the Ravens.

The leaves the Wolverines with an opening on the defensive line. Lewis Powell is coaching the EDGEs. He could coach the entire defensive line, and Michigan could use that opening to hire somewhere else.

That doesn't seem to be the way things are trending, though. Whittingham is fortunate that there is a solid replacement on the staff, who is currently an analyst, that would check all the boxes.

David Denham emerges as top defensive line target for Michigan football

According to Pete Nakos and Chris Balas of On3, David Denham, the assistant D-line coach under Sherrone Moore, who was retained by Whittingham, is the leading candidate to replace Esposito.

If Denham ends up being the hire, it will make a ton of sense for a few reasons. For one, Denham is known as a plus recruiter. If this hire went through, he would be able to go on the road.

The fact that he spent five seasons at Western Michigan is another bonus. The Wolverines don't have many guys with Midwest ties on the staff. Adding Denham as the D-line coach would address that. He has ties to Michigan and was the recruiting coordinator for the Broncos. He has coached at other Midwest programs, too.

Denham worked under Esposito when he was the defensive coordinator. Brandon Friske and Jared Verse were each under the tutelage of Denham, who had three defenses ranked in the top 35 in sacks.

The players recruited by Esposito will also be familiar with Denham. It would be a smooth transition, and frankly, Denham feels like a coach due for this kind of promotion at Michigan or somewhere else, so this seems like a perfect time to make it happen.