Michigan football: David Denham emerges as top candidate for DL coach

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When there's an unexpected coaching staff departure, you have a couple of options: look for the best somewhere outside or hire from within. And with that, Kyle Whittingham has a decision to make.

Michigan football unexpectedly lost defensive line coach Lou Esposito to the Baltimore Ravens on Friday (the news broke on Thursday but didn't become official until later), and now the Wolverines need to find a replacement. One option would be to promote edge rushers coach Lewis Powell to oversee both interior and exterior. Another would be to seek out a staffer from another school or program. But things are trending toward another in-house option.

According to On3's Chris Balas and Pete Nakos, the maize and blue are strongly looking at David Denham, who was hired last offseason as an assistant defensive line coach.

Denham was a protege of the departing Esposito during his time at Western Michigan and also coached under former interim Michigan football head coach Biff Poggi at Charlotte. Well-liked within the program, Denham has coached top-tier players such as Jared Verse in his time as an assistant.

He was hired by the previous coaching staff in mid-March last season.

While he is the top name to watch, there are no clear indications as of yet that he is the hire. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football: David Denham eyed for defensive line coach role

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