Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham looks to develop Bryce Underwood

First-year Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham began spring practice Tuesday with a clear goal: turn true sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood into a “completely finished product” and improve the Wolverines’ tough passing game.

“It was obvious that Bryce was a mega-talent,” Whittingham told ESPN. “He has so much ability, but he’s raw — as you would expect for an 18-year-old starting quarterback at a Power 4 school. He wasn’t a completely finished product, and it’s our job now to turn him into that.”

Whittingham, who resigned at Utah after 21 years before being hired by the Wolverines in December, said one of the first things he did after taking the job was watch film about Michigan and that Underwood was “obviously the focal point.”

Michigan’s passing game ranked 105th nationally last year and 127th nationally in total passing yards since the start of the 2024 season. Underwood, who was the No. 1 recruit in his class, topped 200 passing yards in five of his first seven games with just two interceptions before November. However, he has thrown seven interceptions in his last five games, including three in the loss to Texas in the Citrus Bowl.

Whittingham said Underwood worked with offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr., both of whom came from Utah with Whittingham.

“It’s kind of a team approach with those two,” Whittingham said. “It’s just a matter of fine-tuning some things with Bryce, some footwork stuff, some nuances of throwing motions and obviously teaching the scheme. Fortunately – and this is one of the things that makes Jason such an exceptional coordinator, especially in this day and age – he has a very team-friendly offense with not a steep learning curve.”

At 6-foot-4, 228 pounds, Underwood became just the fourth true freshman in school history to start at quarterback for the Wolverines, joining Rick Leach (1975), Chad Henne (2004) and Tate Forcier (2009). He started all 13 games last year, completing 202 of 335 pass attempts for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed 88 times for 392 yards with six touchdowns.

“He has the right mentality, the right work ethic,” Whittingham said. “He’s willing, he’s hungry, like the whole football team. That’s one of the things that was really positive when I got here: the drive of this team and their hunger for structure and discipline and pressure. We pushed pretty hard this winter, and they responded to everything we threw at them.”