Lou Esposito (born 1977 or 1978) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

coach for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, a position he has held since 2024. Esposito was a head coach at Saint Joseph's College and

Davenport University Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification prog ...

. Prior to Michigan, Esposito was the defensive coordinator at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

from 2017 to 2023.

Playing career

Esposito graduated in 1995 from Manalapan High School in

Manalapan Township, New Jersey Manalapan Township (, ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in western Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley Region and is a pa ...

, where he played football and wrestled. He played college football at the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

, where he was a four-year letterman from 1997 to 2000. Following his time at Memphis, Esposito played two seasons with the

Memphis Xplorers The Memphis Xplorers were a professional arena football team. They were a 2001 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi (a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee). The team's logo featu ...

, a professional arena football team in the

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

league. His roommate during those years was Tim Lester, who had played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

Coaching career

Esposito began his coaching career with the Xplorers in 2003, then left in 2004 to become defensive coordinator at Saint Joseph's College in

Rensselaer, Indiana Rensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River (Indiana-Illinois), Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, Jasper County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2 ...

where Tim Lester, his arena football roommate, had just been hired as the head coach. When Lester left after one season to become quarterbacks coach at Western Michigan under new head coach

Bill Cubit William John Cubit (; born October 14, 1953) is an American football coach and former player. Cubit was the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, first on an interim basis in the 2015 season and then promoted t ...

, Esposito succeeded Lester as head coach at Saint Joseph's. Esposito coached at Saint Joseph's for five seasons, from 2005–2009. During his tenure, Saint Joseph's became a member of the

Great Lakes Football Conference The Great Lakes Football Conference (GLFC) was a football-only conference that competed in NCAA Division II for six seasons (2006 through 2011). Bill Massoels, Athletic Director at St. Joseph's College, served as its commissioner, and the league ...

and won the conference twice. Esposito's overall record at Saint Joseph's was 29–25. Following the conclusion of the 2009 season, Esposito resigned to become the defensive line coach at Western Michigan under Cubit (Lester had left WMU several years prior). A. J. Ricker, the offensive line coach, succeeded him at Saint Joseph's. Esposito left Western Michigan after the 2012 season, heading 90 minutes north on

U.S. Route 131 US Highway 131 (US 131) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway, of which all but 0.64 of its 269.96 miles (1.03 of 434.46 km) are within the state of Michigan. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state lin ...

to become the defensive coordinator at Ferris State, in

Big Rapids, Michigan Big Rapids is a city and the seat of government of Mecosta County, Michigan, United States. The population was 7,727 at the 2020 census, down from 10,601 in 2010. The city is surrounded by Big Rapids Charter Township but they are completely s ...

, succeeding Ryan Oshnock. He stayed at Ferris State for a single year before accepting the head coaching job at

, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. Esposito was Davenport's first head coach and oversaw the recruiting of its initial class, a practice season in 2015, and the program's first full season in 2016, in which he compiled a record of 6–5. After that initial season, Esposito resigned to return to Western Michigan, this time as defensive coordinator under his old roommate Tim Lester, who had just been hired as the WMU head coach, replacing P. J. Fleck. Esposito was the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan from 2017 to 2023, and was regarded as one of the top coordinators in the

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

. After the 2023 season, Esposito left Western Michigan to become the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Memphis in early 2024. A month after his initial hiring Esposito left Memphis, not coaching during the 2024 season. On March 29, 2024, it was announced that Esposito was hired as the defensive line coach for the defending national champion,

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Western Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Lou Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Af2 coaches American football offensive linemen Davenport Panthers football coaches Ferris State Bulldogs football coaches Memphis Tigers football players Memphis Xplorers players Saint Joseph's Pumas football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches Manalapan High School alumni Sportspeople from Manalapan Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Monmouth County, New Jersey