Fall camp is almost here, and with it comes the next big test for Bryce Underwood and the Michigan offense.
Michigan is heading into the first year of the Kyle Whittingham era after a nine-win season that came with plenty of rough edges. The Wolverines piled up wins, but when the schedule stiffened, they were often not competitive. That makes this season matter a lot for the program, and especially for the player who has become its most recognizable face.
Underwood arrived in 2025 with the weight of a program on his shoulders. Michigan was coming off a miserable 2024 at quarterback after JJ McCarthy’s departure for the NFL, and Davis Warren, Alex Orji, and Jack Tuttle all took turns before Warren settled in and guided the team to its signature 13-10 win over Ohio State in November.
Warren’s place in Michigan lore is secure after that day, but the passing game never really came alive. Underwood was supposed to fix that as a dual-threat quarterback joining an offense that already looked built around a strong run game led by Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall.
Instead, his freshman season was uneven. There were flashes, but they were wrapped in inconsistency. Underwood finished with 11 touchdown passes and nine interceptions, and the bigger concern was how little obvious growth showed from his first start against New Mexico to his final regular-season start against Ohio State.
Even so, there’s still a strong case for believing in the talent.
College football has changed, and it keeps changing. Players are paid now, and Underwood’s recruitment to Michigan was helped in no small part by NIL dollars that went directly into his bank account. But it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that he was a true freshman, a young quarterback thrown into one of the toughest leagues in the sport.
The idea that he would immediately save the offense was always a stretch. Even asking him to be merely serviceable might have been too much.
The situation around him was messy too. Underwood has handled himself well this offseason, and his work ethic has never been in doubt. The mistakes he made as a freshman can also become valuable lessons if the structure around him improves.
That’s where Michigan’s coaching reset matters. Last season, the Wolverines did not have a dedicated quarterback coach, with those responsibilities falling to offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay. One of Whittingham’s first moves was to fix that by bringing in Koy Detmer Jr. to work with Underwood.
Detmer comes with useful background. His father played in the NFL, most notably for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Detmer himself was an analyst at Utah last year working with quarterbacks. He helped oversee Devon Dampier’s 24 touchdown to five interception season.
He is new to the role, but having a right-hand man for offensive coordinator Jason Beck should help a young quarterback in a major way. The position is hard enough as it is. It gets even tougher when a player is making the jump from high school to college and essentially has to figure things out on his own.
Underwood should not have to do that now. The infrastructure around him looks much better, and Detmer is a big part of that.
Michigan’s pass-catching group also has a chance to be better than it was a year ago. It is not going to be mistaken for Ohio State’s receiver room, but the Wolverines should have more to work with.
At tight end, health alone should make a difference. Injuries wrecked that position a season ago, and while Marlin Klein is now off to the NFL, there should be a better competition there in fall camp.
At receiver, Andrew Marsh looks like a player who could become a Big Ten star. He wasn’t a starter to open the season and was underused for much of the year while the staff struggled to build any kind of consistent passing game. Getting him the ball more should be a priority for Jason Beck, especially with Marsh positioned to take a step forward in his second year.
JJ Buchanan, a transfer from Utah, is another name generating buzz and profiles as a solid secondary option.
There is still work to do in the room, but Michigan made a real effort to upgrade the talent. At the very least, the floor should be higher than it was last season.
Whittingham’s presence changes the whole setup. He is one of the most decorated coaches in football and built his reputation at Utah by doing more with less after following Urban Meyer.
There is no question he was qualified for the Michigan job. The same could not be said for his predecessor.
He also could have chosen a different path and gone after a true portal battle for the starting quarterback job. Instead, he has stayed firm from the day he arrived: Underwood is the guy.
That approach is about more than just faith in the player. It is about building the whole thing around him rather than asking him to carry it all by himself. It also creates a more direct player-coach relationship, which should help with accountability.
And then there’s the simplest reason to believe.
Underwood was a five-star recruit for a reason. Even after the rough stretches, coaches have praised his talent. Urban Meyer even said that if God himself was told to create a quarterback it would look like Bryce Underwood.
The tape from last season included the kind of plays that remind you why the hype existed in the first place. Yes, the footwork was inconsistent.
Yes, the decision-making was shaky at times. But those are fixable problems.
His size, speed, and arm talent are not.
Put a more capable coaching staff around a young quarterback with that kind of physical profile, and the ceiling gets a lot more interesting. That’s why the Bryce Underwood hype still makes sense.
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