Fall camp has made one thing clear about Kyle Whittingham’s Michigan: the Wolverines are going to look and feel like a program built from the inside out.
That starts with culture, which Whittingham put front and center almost immediately after taking over. His message was blunt and unmistakable: “You will become us, we will not become you,” Whittingham said. In an era shaped by NIL and coming after what felt like endless scandal, that line landed like a mission statement.
But culture only matters if it turns into wins, and Michigan didn’t bring Whittingham in to settle for being respectable. The expectation remains the same: win, and win big. The program invested heavily in football, and even a 9-3 record in 2025 wasn’t enough to make the results feel acceptable.
The biggest on-field question has centered on the offense, especially with Bryce Underwood stepping into his second year at quarterback. Michigan spent the offseason trying to give him more help, adding JJ Buchanan and Salesi Moa to a receiving group that already includes super sophomore Andrew Marsh. Internally, the belief is that the room is deeper than it has been in recent memory.
Marsh hinted as much when he said he felt like the ball was going to be in the air more under new offensive coordinator Jason Beck. That makes sense. Better weapons and a quarterback with confidence naturally create more room for explosive plays through the passing game.
Still, Michigan’s identity hasn’t changed.
This is still a team that wants to lean on the run game and dictate terms up front. During Michigan’s 2023 national championship run, Fox analyst Joel Klatt often compared that group to a boa constrictor - a team that squeezed opponents over time until they could no longer breathe.
The image fit then, and it still fits now. The ground game wore teams down, and the defense handled the rest.
That’s the version of Michigan that Whittingham seems intent on preserving. The Wolverines cannot be one-dimensional, especially after being that way for much of 2025 and all of 2024, but their heartbeat remains on the offensive line and in the run game.
That’s why the names to watch on offense include Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter, Michigan’s two best offensive players. Both are running backs, both are expected to play a lot, and there may even be packages where they share the field together.
Beck made that philosophy especially plain when he was asked about his Rhino package. “Physicality in the run game,” Beck said. “Pass protection in complement to that, but it’s about being physical to run the football.”
That kind of answer had to sound right at home to Whittingham, who chose Beck for the job.
The other major battle in camp has been along the offensive line, where Michigan had six players competing for five spots, with Nate Efobi also in the mix as a possible contender at right guard. The group believes it can be a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s best offensive line.
That kind of confidence fits the standard Michigan wants to live by: move people, control the line, and set the tone.
It also reflects a lesson the program has already learned the hard way. Michigan tried to reinvent itself as a spread passing team and ended up chasing Ohio State on Ohio State’s terms.
The results were ugly. The rivalry only swung back once Jim Harbaugh returned to smashmouth football.
Whittingham appears to understand that the Wolverines do not need to copy anyone else to win. They need to be physical, grounded in the run game, and dangerous enough through the air to keep defenses honest.
Fall camp has pointed them in that direction.
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Michigan Already Has A Freshman Injury Concern Fans Will Watch
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Brandon McCoy Jr. added to the concern early in that third game when he appeared to suffer a right foot injury and did not come back to the bench. Ricky Liburd was also absent from the roster for that contest and is presumed injured, leaving the Wolverines with a few unanswered questions before the focus turns back to the bigger picture of the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]