Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham continues to put the final pieces of his coaching staff together.
The Wolverines added former Air Force defensive coordinator Brian Knorr to their staff on Wednesday, Jan. 28, where he will serve as an assistant special teams coach underneath coordinator Kerry Coombs, program spokesman David Ablauf confirmed to the Free Press
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Knorr, 62, was the DC for Air Force the past four seasons and also played quarterback there from 1983-85. It was also the first stop in his coaching career, where he was an assistant offensive line coach from 1992-94.
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Knorr has worked at a number of programs throughout his three-decade career, including Ohio, where he was head coach for four years (2001-04), but struggled, going 11-35. He also has stops at Wake Forest, Indiana, Ohio State and Arizona before he returned to Air Force in 2018 and eventually became defensive coordinator in 2022.
Knorr was on staff with the Buckeyes in 2016, where he and Coombs overlapped, serving as special teams quality control coach.
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Air Force’s defense struggled in 2025, ranking No. 118 in the country, but in the three seasons prior, it ranked No. 40, No. 6 and No. 1 in the nation.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan adds coach who led Air Force to No. 1 defense in nation
