The Chargers hired Will Tukuafu as their assistant defensive line coach.
Over the past two seasons, Tukuafu served as a defensive quality control coach with the Seahawks.
Tukuafu’s playing days began with the Seattle in 2010 as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon. He was released before joining the 49ers that same year. Jim Harbaugh was his head coach from 2011 to 2014. Tukuafu played fullback, defensive line and on special teams.
After five seasons with San Francisco, Seattle signed him again and he went on to play with them for three seasons before calling it quits.
Tukuafu will work alongside defensive line coach Mike Elston.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh continues to build out his staff.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh continues to build out his staff.
After hiring strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Harbaugh is bringing two more coaches with him from Michigan, as Mike Elston and Dylan Roney are coming to Los Angeles.
Elston served as the Wolverines’ recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach for the past two seasons, producing two All-Big Ten selections and draft selections last year in Mazi Smith and Mike Morris.
He’s had coaching stops at Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. Elston spent 11 years with the Fighting Irish as their defensive line coach.
Roney was a graduate assistant who helped Elston over the past two seasons, working with Michigan’s edge defenders.
Sherrone Moore was hired to bring continuity to a Michigan football program that would soon be losing not only a ton of players to the NFL draft, but Jim Harbaugh and some coaches as well.
The Wolverines had hoped by hiring Moore that many of the same coaches who have been on staff in recent years would remain in Ann Arbor, but thus far, the maize and blue have lost defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, strength and conditioning director Ben Herbert, and special teams coordinator and safeties coach Jay Harbaugh.
Defensive line coach Mike Elston has been awfully active on the recruiting trail, indicating he may return to the program, but it turns out, he will be joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff with the Los Angeles Chargers, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
Michigan DL coach Mike Elston is expected to take the same job with the #Chargers, per source.
Elston, who previously coached at Notre Dame from 2010-2021, played an integral role in the Wolverines’ success the last two seasons. Now he follows Jim Harbaugh to L.A. pic.twitter.com/MQaUcoFS86
Under Elston, the interior defensive line improved tremendously, with 11.5 sacks from the unit just this past year. Now with Elston gone, the Wolverines have yet another opening and will need to do everything they can to keep the current personnel on campus with yet another coaching change. The maize and blue certainly will hope to retain secondary coach Steve Clinkscale, but there have been rumors that he very well could depart for the NFL, as well.
These coaches could become targets to replace Jimmy Lindsey in 2024.
After a massive staff shakeup on Wednesday, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] is looking to fill nearly an entire defensive staff.
Early reports indicate that Missouri defensive coordinator [autotag]Blake Baker[/autotag] is the leading candidate for the defensive coordinator role. Baker coached linebackers at LSU in 2021, and that’s the group he’d likely work with if he got the DC job.
That leaves LSU needing assistants for the secondary and defensive line after [autotag]Robert Steeples[/autotag], [autotag]Kerry Cooks[/autotag] and [autotag]Jimmy Lindsey[/autotag] were also let go.
LSU will need to fill the DC spot first, but here are some names that could potentially fit working with the defensive line.
#Michigan is a lot different up front than the last time an SEC team has seen it. #GoBlue
PASADENA, Calif. — Every year since Mo Hurst departed following the 2017 season, Michigan football coaches have discussed how they were going to improve the interior pass rush. And until this year, it was just a dream and not reality. But in Mike Elston’s second year, he pulled it off, and the interior defensive line has been dominant when it’s come to creating pressure.
So what’s changed? Why has Elston been able to get the job done where others haven’t? He shared more with WolverinesWire at Rose Bowl media day.
“Yeah, I think No. 1, Coach Minter sitting next to me here. Scheme allows for guys to let their talent show that’s No. 1, and we’re very talented inside this year,” Elston said. “We really have five guys that we lean on with Mason, Kris, Grant, Rayshaun Benny and Cam Goode. And they’re all very talented players, always a different unique skill set. And they work so well together. And so the ability to feed off each other and do certain movements that, OK, I’m gonna make you go right if you get over committed one way, which allows us to be more aggressive in a first and second down pass rush situation.
“Also, I think that the way that we study film and tendencies that we get for being able to steal some pass rushes on what most people would see as a running situation. And our guys were able to see something unique about an offensive lineman, the way the ball was being held in alignment by somebody tied into running back, to be able to pin the rear back a little bit more and create pressure.
So I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. But No. 1, the credit goes to the players who are very talented. And the edge guys, right, so the edge guys with their ability to create pressure, the guards have to spend more attention on them. And so you get more one-on-ones with a guy like Kris or Mason or Kenneth and that makes a big difference.”
There’s been a lot of talk, sometimes directly from Alabama players, about how the SEC is just a far superior conference than all the rest. The size and speed difference was evident in 2021 when the Wolverines played Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Elston’s had experience against the SEC during his time at Notre Dame and carrying that over to Ann Arbor, he feels like the Wolverines won’t be a second-rate matchup for the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl.
“I love the matchup, I think that I think we match up really well with the defensive line and their offensive line,” Elston said. “They’re very talented, and they’re very big, very well-coached. It’s gonna be a great challenge. But with that said, I would take our guys — I believe in our guys. We’ve matched the intensity of the the offenses that we’ve played, really the last two years. We haven’t always played the best performance, but we don’t get out-physicalled. We won’t get out-physicalled. guys take a lot of pride in that. Coach Herbert, our strength coach, we’re all involved in this and we’re very prideful of that.
“So I love the matchup. I think it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be awesome. The guys were excited about it. I don’t see us getting pushed around. There are double teams that happen. I mean, you saw it with the Georgia game. 700 pounds goes down on 320 pounds — it’s not always going to be pretty. But someone else has to step up. When there’s a double team, someone else has to step up, and pull that double team off.
“So we’ll have we’ll get moved at times on double teams, and there’ll be some displacement, but we’ve got to work our techniques. But that’s where I’m most excited to see how far we’ve come from game one to this game right here.”
Elston also told WolverinesWire more about why Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant have been such a lethal duo up front. You can watch the entire exchange below.
Such a wealth of information from Coach Elston here. #GoBlue
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football’s defense may not have a lot of star names, but it has been astounding through six weeks of football.
The strength of the Wolverines has been the defensive front, with the interior line looking as advertised all offseason. The push and pursuit up front has been relentless, and opposing quarterbacks and run games have been able to accomplish very little, which has been reflected in the stats.
What’s not reflected in the stats? Sacks. But that appears to be by design.
Michigan football defensive line coach Mike Elston met with the media on Wednesday to discuss his unit. He shared what he’s seen through the first six weeks of the season and much more.
This group is looking incredible through two weeks. #GoBlue
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — All offseason in 2023, we heard the Michigan coaching staff and players alike say they were hoping to get more defensive pressure from the inside of the defensive line.
While the pass rush has long been effective from the edges, not since Maurice Hurst in 2017 have the Wolverines had an effective force in the middle collapsing the pocket and getting to the quarterback. Certainly, there have been years where it’s been a steady force, but not necessarily an aggressive one.
Last season, the defensive tackles were particularly adept at run blocking and got some pass rush, but still not quite at the level the coaches were hoping. Thus far in 2023, it’s appeared to be much better. Though the line had no sacks in Week 1, it got five in Week 2, with 2.5 of them coming from the interior and edge players getting the other half.
On Wednesday, defensive line coach Mike Elston shared his thoughts on how the maize and blue are working to draw it up and the philosophy of how the tackles and the ends work together to create pressure.
“Offenses are sophisticated, and protections are very sophisticated,” Elston said. “It’s not like you’re gonna dial up a lot of pressures that you end up with a free run to the quarterback. Running backs are really savvy on picking up, they have the depth off the ball to see guys come in. And, we don’t feel like we need to bring a whole bunch of guys with the front guys that we have to try to get a mismatch.
“So we try to hit things with speed, intensity, and there’s not one time that we designed something that is designed to let the quarterback out of the pocket, so you want to work with levels to the quarterback. And then when you do that — so you have two defensive ends that are up the field and containing through the C-gap to turn the quarterback or push the quarterback to the inside guys who are pushing up from the inside, and they’re feeding the edge guys, and the edge guys are feeding the D-tackles. And, theoretically, that’s how it should work together. If you run a twist on of some kind, and then maybe the D-tackle goes outside, and he’s the contain, and he’s pushing it inside to the end who’s working the twist game. So every stunt or game that we design or pass rush that we design is designed to contain the quarterback, force him up, and then push the pocket inside.”
So, one game has had production, the other had a show-don’t-tell effect with pressure without stats. Where does Elston feel the line is in terms of production versus vision? And where does it go from here?
“I feel like it’s been very effective,” Elston said. “I feel like we’ll only get better at it as we continue to — the theme this week is to execute at a higher level up front. We want to execute our pass rush stunts or pass rush at a much higher level than we did in the first two games.”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In Week 1, while Michigan football didn’t register any sacks, you could often see whoever East Carolina put in at quarterback quickly finding ways to get rid of the ball. One big reason was a big body coming at them in Kenneth Grant. Grant’s pressure led to the errant throw right into the hands of Wolverines nickel back Mike Sainristil. In Week 2, Grant’s pressure was even more emphatic, and he managed 1.5 sacks against UNLV.
As players make a big jump from year one to year two, perhaps none are more obvious in their ascension than the Merrillville, Indiana native. Once a four-star and once the heaviest player on the team, Grant shed 20 pounds this offseason and is embodying Jim Harbaugh’s ‘gift from the football gods’ and ‘athletic freak’ monikers that have been bestowed upon him.
But what’s allowed him to go from being a role player who got in late in most games to a rotational tackle who is arguably the best player on the field when he’s out there? His position coach, Mike Elston, shared some of his attributes and notes we haven’t even begun to see what Grant is capable of.
“Yeah, he’s a big guy, right? Powerful guy, athletic for that size, he’s got an incredible motor, you don’t see a 335-plus guy move and able to play the amount of snaps that he can without getting tired so that’s a huge benefit for him,” Elston said. “He’s very intelligent. He wants to be great. He’s driven. I think that he really hasn’t even scratched the surface yet, which is a little bit scary. But he’s going to be a dominant player.”
Of course, it’s tantalizing to imagine Grant making big plays in big games if you’re a Michigan fan, and even more so if you consider that he could be even more destructive of a force down the road. But if Elston thinks Grant hasn’t even scratched the surface while looking unblockable through two weeks, what does he have to work on?
Elston has a few keys in mind, and while he’s pleased with Grant’s progress, there are a few areas he could improve upon which could make him truly dominant across the sport.
“Well, obviously, he’s playing really, really well right now,” Elston said. “I think his ability to just continue to get the snaps and the fine details of playing that position and coming off the ball, coming off the ball a little more consistently and attacking.
“But he’s so big, and he’s so strong and his arms are so long that he just he’s able to get off blocks relatively quickly which leads to the high level of production that he has. So I’d like to see a more consistent get-off and things like that, which will be better for pass rush and better for knocking people back. And he knows that I mean, he knows that that’s something that needs to work on. But once that becomes consistent timing, he’s going to be a wrecking ball out there.”
Fans will get another opportunity to see Grant in action on Saturday night, when Michigan football hosts Bowling Green at The Big House. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
The future along the defensive line is bright! #GoBlue
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has a strong defensive line in 2023 and the future may be just as bright as the current iteration.
The Wolverines brought in several edge rushers and defensive tackle types, and three in particular have been mentioned by head coach Jim Harbaugh as being ahead of the curve: EDGE Cameron Brandt, DT Trey Pierce, and tweener Enow Etta. The trio has seen early playing time, albeit in mop-up duty, in the first two games of the season.
Additionally, the maize and blue have two notable project players in Brooks Bahr and Aymeric Koumba.
On Wednesday, defensive line coach Mike Elston shared his thoughts on the five, what they’re doing well, what type of players they are, and how they’re developing. You can check out what he said about each below.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Since departing Ann Arbor as a player and then graduate assistant, Mike Elston has been some places and seen some things.
The second-year Michigan defensive line coach oversaw the front at Eastern and Central Michigan, before joining Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, and then his entirety at Notre Dame. Certainly, with the Irish, he’s coached some incredible defensive fronts.
In his second year in Ann Arbor, while he isn’t certain that this is the best Wolverine front seven of all time, he is sure that he has some incredible talent to work with.
“Yeah, I’m not sure, it’s my second year here. And for the last whatever it was 20-something years prior to that, 25 years prior to that, I was really kind of diving into my own world wherever I was,” Elston said. “But across the front and really even the front seven with Junior and Mike B. and Ernest Hausmann and then the edge position with Braiden and Derrick and Jaylen and Josaiah, Rayshawn Benny and Cam Goode — there’s guys, we can send waves at people and keep them fresh. But, also though this is a long season, too. So having guys that’ll be there at the end of the season, knowing that you have that kind of depth, it’s been a very, very impressive group for sure.”
While Elston isn’t positive that the Michigan defensive front is the best to ever grace Ann Arbor, there is one thing for sure: this is the best front he’s coached. Even given last year’s line, which also featured defensive tackle Mazi Smith and edge rushers Mike Morris and Eyabi Okie, that’s some high, high praise for what the Wolverines offer along the front lines of the defense.
“Anywhere I’ve been, yes, this is as good of a front that I’ve had the privilege of coaching, without a doubt,” Elston said. “I mean, from end to end, even at the second level, it’s an impressive front seven.”
The front line will get another chance to show out on Saturday night when Michigan football hosts Bowling Green at The Big House. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
