Urban Meyer thinks Michigan has a pretty simple path to changing the conversation: win early, win often, and let everything else fade into the background.
On The Triple Option podcast, the former Ohio State coach said the Wolverines can push past the noise around the athletic department if Kyle Whittingham gets off to a fast start. In Meyer’s view, a 7-0 or 8-0 run would be enough to make people move on from the scandals that have kept Michigan in the headlines.
"Well, we're talking about sports," Meyer said. "So, remember - coach Whitt comes out of the shoot 7-0 or 8-0 and people are going to forget.
They have a new basketball coach. The new basketball coach gets it - catches fire.
So again, you win, all good. You lose, they'll keep coming back to this.
If you win, you won't hear about this again, I would imagine."
That’s the reality Michigan is dealing with right now. Even after winning two national championships in the last three years, the school has been tied to a steady stream of off-field problems: Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing scheme, staffers being fired from the football program, Sherrone Moore being fired for an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, and Warde Manuel resigning at the end of the calendar year.
The Wolverines are also searching for a new athletic director, and until the program steadies itself, those issues aren’t going anywhere. The football side of the house has taken the biggest hit, with Stalions, the staffers, Matt Weiss’ computer hacking crimes, and Moore’s poor decisions all contributing to the bad light around the program.
Michigan’s answer now is a full reset under Whittingham, who was hired away from Utah. Meyer pointed to Whittingham’s track record as the kind of steady leadership that can help the Wolverines stop making news for the wrong reasons. It was a hire Warde Manuel may not get enough credit for as he is out after the calendar year.
Basketball may have its own moment, but in Ann Arbor, football still sets the tone. Right now, Manuel’s departure is drawing more attention than anything on the field because it’s summer and the football calendar hasn’t really taken over yet. Once the season starts, though, the focus will swing back hard to the Wolverines.
If Whittingham can exceed expectations and guide Michigan through a tough schedule with only a few losses - or none at all - Meyer’s point is that the scandals will start to disappear from the conversation. A 7-0 or 8-0 start would put Michigan back in the national spotlight for what it does on the field, not for what happened from 2021-2023 or for Moore’s firing.
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Paul Finebaum Took Another Shot At Michigan's Title Again
Paul Finebaum took another swipe at Michigan during SEC Media Days, and the familiar debate around the Wolverines championship season was back in the spotlight. Finebaum again went after the fan base and the legitimacy of the title talk, reviving a conversation that has followed Michigan since the sign-stealing scandal became public and the program kept rolling anyway.
What makes the criticism linger is how complete that season looked once the games were played. Michigan still handled Michigan State after the story broke, survived the Penn State game without Jim Harbaugh on the sideline, and then ran through a title path that ended with the sports biggest prize. Even now, the argument over how much the scandal should define that run remains part of the backdrop whenever Michigans championship comes up. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Got A Big Ten Reality Check
Michigan heads into Big Ten Media Days this week with a new face leading the program and a fresh round of outside skepticism attached to it. Kyle Whittingham will make his first appearance in that setting for the Wolverines, and the timing matters because the conversation around Michigan is already being shaped by a preseason outlook that does not put the program near the top of the league.
Cleveland.coms Big Ten media poll slots Michigan fifth in the conference, behind Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana and USC, a reminder that the Wolverines are not being treated like a safe bet to cruise through the fall. With a schedule that can test a team early and expectations spread unevenly among observers, Michigans path to proving more than that forecast will depend on how quickly this group settles in under its new coach. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Set To Host A Quarterback Recruit Fans Need To Watch
Michigans next wave of recruiting attention is already taking shape, and quarterback Jamar Howard is right in the middle of it. The three-star prospect in the 2028 class is set to be on campus for the Iowa game on Sept. 26, giving the Wolverines another chance to make an impression on a player who has become one of their top priorities in that cycle.
Howards visit comes as his recruitment has picked up across the country, with a growing list of programs involved. Michigan is also trying to build on the momentum from its summer work with four-star linebacker Andre Alexander, who left his June visit with a strong impression of the program and a clear sense of what matters most to him as his recruitment moves forward. [Read more 🡒]