Michigan football hired a new defensive coordinator with coaching experience

Michigan football has officially hired Lionel Stokes as a defensive analyst, according to The Michigan Insider.

247Sports originally reported the Wolverines’ interest in Stokes in mid-March.

“Michigan is expected to hire Lionel Stokes as a defensive analyst, sources tell 247Sports,” Matt Zenitz wrote on March 13.

“In addition to working at Louisiana with new Michigan DB coach LaMar Morgan, the ex-Louisiana starting safety has also been a defensive coordinator at Jackson State and a DB coach at Jackson and Nicholls.”

Stokes is now officially employed at Michigan Athletics.

In addition to Stokes, Michigan football will shortly hire former Baltimore Ravens standout Pernell McPhee, as we revealed last month. McPhee is listed in the University of Michigan directory as a graduate student in the School of Social Work, although he is likely to join the Wolverines as an analyst.

“McPhee, who played collegiately at Mississippi State, spent 11 years in the NFL. Has been a longstanding favorite of new Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who formerly coached him with the Baltimore Ravens,” Matt Zenitz said last month.

McPhee played for the Ravens from 2011 to 2014 and again from 2019 to 21. In February 2013, he won Super Bowl XLVII with Baltimore against Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers.

The two new hires join a defensive coaching department that has been totally revamped after the Wolverines’ national championship run in 2023. It’s led by Wink Martindale, a prominent NFL defensive coordinator who calls himself the “OG” of the Ravens’ defensive scheme, which Michigan implemented with Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter.

“I think the amazing part was that we were all there, Mike (Macdonald), Jesse (Minter), and I, as well as others you’ve seen throughout the NFL. I believe there are currently six teams running this method. “Same thing with D’Anton Lynn at USC,” Martindale remarked earlier this spring. “It’s been a lot of fun, and I believe we all have different personalities, but we all call games differently. Some are more aggressive, some are less aggressive.

“One thing I appreciate about it is that the system works. It’s been proved to work. I think Mike and Jesse did an excellent job here at Michigan, and it’s fun for me to watch the tape because you become a proud parent, if you will, when you see other guys succeed and everything. As defensive coordinator, I believe it is my responsibility to develop both players and coaches. “You are having a lot of success with those guys.”

Lou Esposito, LaMar Morgan, and Brian Jean-Mary round up U-M’s full-time defensive staff.