Michigan Wolverines made another significant change to their front office lineup this year. The team announced Natalia Benitez-Hilton as their new Director of Football Operations. She replaced Erin (Dunston) Zernechel who was transitioned out of the role.
The announcement was made by a public social media by the Michigan Wolverines. The post garnered thousands of reactions as fans reacted quite aggressively to the announcement. They were quite unhappy and wanted somebody better to take up the role. Kyle Whittingham, however, was unfazed by all of this, as he continues to make drastic changes to the team.
The Michigan football team officially represents the popular University of Michigan in college football at NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. They also have the the most wins in college football history and are one of the biggest universities for sporting culture.
Who is Natalia Benitez-Hilton?
Natalia Hilton worked with Utah Jazz in her previous role. She also was a student equipment manager in 2020 for in Utah. She began working in operations for quite some time, and then eventually became Whittingham’s assistant for four years. Natalia Hilton also has two years of experience of working as director of on-campus recruiting. Her public LinkedIn indicates she was in her current role since January 2026. She’s now become an essential part of the setup.
Natalia is a familiar figure in the Utah region and experts also believe she could play a crucial role in Michigan Wolverines’ future. Evan Roka, a University of Michigan graduate, has been named as the Assistant to Natalia Hilton. With the entire staff being changed, fortunes could very well be changing for Michigan. With over 7 changes to the staff, the entire Michigan staff seems to have fresh legs.
Wolverines had also fired head coach Sherrone Moore after she was found to be in an inappropriate relationship with a Michigan Football staff member. In other news, Alayna Williamson was also named Chief of Staff for the Michigan based outfit earlier this year.
