The noise around Michigan keeps getting louder, and this week it’s coming from inside the family. After the Wolverines failed to beat a 2-6 Michigan State team, the reaction has turned sharp, blunt, and in some cases flat-out ugly as the program heads to Eugene to face Oregon.
Taylor Lewan was the one who really lit the fuse on Bussin with The Boys, even though he said multiple times in the pre-show that he didn’t want to go this far with it. He went there anyway.
“Coach (Whittingham) looks asleep at the wheel,” Lewan said. “Our head coach sat at the podium and said, ‘Team looked really good a week ago (against Rutgers).
Not sure what happened against Michigan State.’ The game we played a week ago was Rutgers.
We scored 28 points and that’s the most points we have scored against any team that wasn’t (UTEP). It’s bad fellas.
“I saw a group of individuals for 60 minutes seem like they don’t care (about beating Michigan State), and I don’t think it’s the kids’ fault. I think the kids are a direct reflection of the leadership of that coaching staff.”
Lewan also described a text exchange with Jim Harding after Harding was announced as the play-caller for the rest of the season.
“From an offensive standpoint, there is no leadership. Nothing,” he said.
“I texted (Harding) last night and said, ‘Buddy, I’m rootin’ for ya. Anything you need from me, let me know’… (Harding replied): ‘Thank you, Taylor, for the message.’
What a response. It was one of those little brackets of what you could say back.
He just poked one of those and sent it off.”
He finished with one more shot at Whittingham: “I’ve got a guy with his mouth open, just staring at the field, as we (EXPLETIVE) put six points on the board. It’s disgusting, dude.”
The criticism hasn’t stopped with Lewan. Jake Butt and Devin Gardner also took aim at Whittingham’s media presence, including the coach’s comments after Saturday’s loss about offensive improvement in 2027. When asked about that timeline, Whittingham pointed to the transfer portal and the 2027 recruiting class as reasons for optimism.
Joel Klatt also weighed in on Whittingham’s future during an appearance on “The Next Round” podcast. Asked about what comes next, he said, “I don’t know if Michigan is going to walk in and fire Kyle Whittingham, but I don’t know how much Kyle,” Klatt said. “Like how much does he want to do this and to battle this?”
Josh Pate’s read on the situation was even more bleak. His view this week is that the Whittingham era at Michigan “will ‘never get better’.”
That’s a harsh verdict, but it matches the mood around the program right now. Even Biff Poggi, who a few weeks ago said there was no world where Whittingham gets fired after this season, has shifted to saying the locker room will stay together and keep fighting. The problem is, that prediction may not hold up either.
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