Shaun Nua with Jalen Bates

After just one season in Tempe, defensive line coach Shaun Nua is leaving Arizona State to take the same job at Michigan, per a source directly familiar with his plans.

Nua, 37, joined the Sun Devils' first-year staff under head coach Herm Edwards and defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales in January after six seasons in the same role at Navy.

The Sun Devils went 7-6 overall in Nua's lone season with the program. It was a better outcome than was generally expected by media projections, some of which pegged ASU to finish in the bottom of the Pac-12 South. A solid performance by a extremely young defense was a major factor in ASU achieving bowl eligibility and finishing with a 5-4 record in Pac-12 games.

ASU gave up 40 points in just one game this season -- a 41-40 win over Arizona -- and gave up more than 30 points in three other games. Opponents averaged 170.5 rushing yards against the Sun Devils.

Starting senior nose tackle Renell Wren has exhausted eligibility and won't return in 2019, but almost everyone else who saw significant action last season will return, including George Lea, Shannon Forman, Jalen Bates, Jermayne Lole, DJ Davidson and Darius Slade. Additionally the Sun Devils will be adding four-star defensive end Stephon Wright and three-star Amiri Johnson out of the Los Angeles-area.

Overall, ASU's defense should be improved this season after playing as many as five freshmen on the field together in 2018, more snaps by such players than any other Power 5 team in the country.

When he was hired by ASU, Nua called the job offer "literally a dream come true" because he got his start as a college player at Eastern Arizona Junior College.

Defensive line has been a turnstile at ASU in recent years. Nua's departure means the Sun Devils will be forced to hire a new assistant to coach the position for the fifth season in a row. The program's most recent defensive line coaches: Jackie Shipp (2013-15); Joe Seumalo (2016); Michael Slater (2017).

Navy went 52-27 during Nua's six years coaching defensive line at The American Conference program.

Prior to taking the job with Navy, Nua worked for three years at BYU. He served as an intern at the school in 2009 and as a graduate assistant in 2010-11.

Nua played defensive end at BYU from 2002-04, earning second-team all-conference honors in the Mountain West as a senior in 2004. He graduated from the school in 2005 and was a seventh round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a four year NFL career that included a Super Bowl championship in his rookie season with the Steelers, Nua started his coaching career at his alma mater.

A native of Pago Pago, American Samoa, Nua moved to the mainland United State to play at Eastern Arizona before eventually transferring to BYU.