Kyle Whittingham was brought in to steady things, sharpen the edge, and give Michigan a cleaner look on the field. Instead, 11 months into his tenure, the picture is getting harder to defend.
A 5-3 record would have been disappointing enough on its own. But the bigger issue is how the season has unfolded around it.
The road losses and looming hurdles that were supposed to define the schedule have not played out the way anyone expected. Oregon has fallen apart.
Ohio State will be without its starting quarterback for the rest of the regular season. Indiana has struggled to score.
Oklahoma has not lived up to the hype. Penn State has unraveled too.
That left Michigan with a real opening in the Big Ten if it could simply hold up its end. Instead, the best moment Whittingham has pointed to is a 13-6 overtime loss to Indiana.
After that game, he tried to frame it as something more.
“If that’s a number six team in the country, then we’re a pretty good football team even though we’re sitting at 4-3,” Whittingham said.
That wasn’t the only eyebrow-raising moment. On his weekly radio show, Whittingham also described Michigan’s 28-21 escape against Rutgers as enjoyable.
"Yeah, I come in early Sunday and watch it all by myself.," Whittingham told Jon Jansen. "The entire game, offense, defense, special teams, back to back to back and it was a pleasurable game to watch on Sunday morning. So yeah, I give myself a couple of hours after that and then on to the next.”
That kind of language lands differently at Michigan. Beating Rutgers is supposed to be routine, not a source of satisfaction.
Beating Rutgers by double digits is supposed to be routine too. The Scarlet Knights were playing a backup quarterback, and they completed four passes if you include the two-point conversion to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
Michigan was favored by double digits. It still needed Tommy Carr’s heroics to avoid a much uglier conversation about what went wrong.
And that has become the pattern. Whittingham has spent the last several weeks talking in ways that suggest he does not fully grasp the expectations attached to the job he took.
He tried to sell a moral victory against Indiana. He said Michigan State is not the biggest rivalry during the week of that game.
Then he called a seven-point win over one of the worst teams in the Big Ten a pleasurable experience.
That is not to say he should be miserable all the time. The standard at Michigan is simply different from the one at Utah. What might pass as acceptable - even pleasurable - in one place does not fly in Ann Arbor.
Jim Harbaugh once looked visibly annoyed during a 78-0 rout of Rutgers in October of 2016. That is closer to the expectation level at Michigan than anything Whittingham has offered so far.
Michigan coaches do not all fit the job. Brady Hoke did not.
Rich Rodriguez did not. Sherrone Moore was a disaster for multiple reasons, and the hope was that Whittingham’s track record and disciplined style would keep the program closer to the Harbaugh standard than the Hoke era.
Right now, it looks much closer to the wrong side of that comparison.
If Michigan loses to Michigan State on Saturday, there may be no future for Whittingham to look forward to.
In Other News...
Michigan Coach Just Made Bryce Underwood's Situation Even More Concerning
Tommy Carr is set to make his third start at quarterback for Michigan after Bryce Underwood was benched following a recent game in which turnovers helped force the change. Underwood had entered the season with plenty of expectations and even wore a captains label, but the results have been uneven, with passing accuracy and interceptions becoming recurring issues as the Wolverines try to steady the position.
From the sideline, Underwood has handled the demotion professionally and continued supporting Carr, which has not gone unnoticed inside the program. Quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer praised Underwoods leadership and the way he has responded, while also saying he wishes he had done more to prepare him for the season, a comment that only adds to the sense that Michigans quarterback situation is still searching for firmer footing. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Heads Into Michigan State With One Big Question Still Lingering
Tommy Carr is set to make his third career start when Michigan hosts Michigan State on Saturday at Michigan Stadium, and that alone gives this rivalry matchup a little extra intrigue. The Wolverines are still sorting through a few defensive question marks, but those players are listed as questionable and expected to play, which should help keep the focus on a game that always carries its own edge no matter the records.
Michigan will get the prime-time treatment with Peacock and NBC Sports Network carrying the broadcast, and Paul Burmeister and Yogi Roth on the call. For a team trying to settle in behind a young quarterback, this is the kind of stage that can either steady things or complicate them, and the biggest question around Ann Arbor is whether Carr can keep building momentum in one of the sport's most unforgiving settings. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan's O-Line Problem Is Becoming A Real Concern For Bryce Underwood
Michigans offensive line has become one of the clearest pressure points in a season already defined by shuffling and attrition up front. Only junior Jake Guarnera has started all eight games, and the constant turnover has left the unit searching for any kind of rhythm. For a team that wants to lean on the ground game and make life easier on its offense as a whole, the lack of continuity has shown up in a hurry.
The results have been hard to ignore, with Michigan sitting 97th in rushing offense and still trying to find a combination that can hold up week after week. Coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive line coach Jim Harding have both acknowledged the challenge, and the focus now is on making the group more physical and more efficient. Until that happens, the questions around protection and run-game consistency are going to keep hanging over Bryce Underwood and the offense. [Read more 🡒]