Koy Detmer Jr. is bringing a familiar football name and a very specific kind of quarterback background to Michigan’s staff in 2026.
The Wolverines have hired Detmer as the Robert McCollum Quarterbacks Coach, putting him in charge of helping shape the room under new head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck. His assignment is clear: work with Michigan’s signal-callers, including sophomore Bryce Underwood, and help turn elite raw ability into something more polished and consistent.
Detmer’s last name carries real weight in college football circles. His father, Koy Detmer, was a Colorado quarterback who played 11 years in the NFL, mostly with the Philadelphia Eagles.
His uncle, Ty Detmer, is the BYU legend, a Heisman Trophy winner, and a 14-year NFL veteran. Detmer Jr. grew up in Somerset, Texas, around that kind of football knowledge, absorbing coverages, passing concepts, and leadership from the start.
He also knows the player side of the job firsthand. Detmer spent three seasons as a walk-on quarterback at BYU from 2015 through 2017 before transferring to Texas A&M Kingsville, where he finished his college career in 2018 and 2019.
That path matters in a quarterback room. He has lived the grind of trying to earn reps and the pressure that comes with being the starter.
That background gives him credibility when he talks about the details that matter - extra film study, toughness, and work in the weight room. The quarterbacks he coaches know he is not speaking in theory.
Detmer’s coaching résumé has been built carefully and entirely on offense over seven years. He worked at Texas A&M Kingsville in 2020 with running backs, then handled wide receivers in 2021. He moved into quarterback development as a graduate assistant at Syracuse in 2022 and 2023, served as an offensive analyst at New Mexico in 2024, and did the same at Utah in 2025 before landing at Michigan in 2026.
That climb has also kept him close to Jason Beck, whom he played for at BYU and coached with at Syracuse, New Mexico, and Utah. Now the two are back together in Ann Arbor, aligned on the offensive approach.
For Michigan, the biggest focus is Underwood. The former five-star has the arm talent, athleticism, and power that jump off the page, but the next step is tightening the mechanics and finding more consistency. Detmer’s job is to help with that process.
His appeal goes beyond X’s and O’s. Detmer’s youth and playing background make him easier for players to relate to, and he brings a style that blends instruction with mentorship. As he recently shared, he sees these college years as the most important stretch in a player’s life, the kind that can shape who they become for the next 30 to 40 years.
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The bigger question now is how that standard gets translated on the field with a safety group that has both familiar names and fresh opportunities. Rod Moore is back, Chris Bracy is in the mix, and Mason Curtis and Jordan Young are expected to have important roles as the Wolverines sort out the rotation. Stockton has made clear the position will be asked to play with violence, physicality and an eye toward turnovers, and the next step is seeing which players answer that call first. [Read more 🡒]