The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Q U A R T E R B A C K S 46 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW caller has made "a lot of progress, too." "He's improved," Lindsey said. "Listen- ing to people who have been around him here, I think it's about confidence for him. … He's more confident. "We were only using two quarterbacks in spring with Mikey getting back from his injury, and the benefit of that is those guys got a lot of reps. We got a lot of film of those two guys this spring. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out in the fall." While Chase Herbstreit will be learning the ropes as an incoming freshman after throwing for 3,983 yards and 32 touch- downs in 33 games as a starter at Cincin- nati St. Xavier, he'll have no shortage of tutors. Warren continues to rehab his knee injury suffered in the ReliaQuest Bowl, but his knowledge is valuable to the room, Moore said. "He's a guy that's done it. He did it here last year and won one of the biggest games here, going down south [to Ohio State] and winning that game [13-10]," the head coach said. "It's huge to have him. "It's huge, too, to have a guy like Mikey Keene, who's done it at so many places and done it at a really high level. Those guys have been awesome for the young guys, supporting them and pushing them in a positive way. It's been fun to watch the whole group." Michigan fans will know soon enough how much fun it will be on the field this fall. Unlike last year, the ceiling appears high for this season and beyond. ❑ POSITION COACH Offensive coordinator/quar- terbacks coach Chip Lindsey is in his first season at U-M after spending the last two years under Mack Brown at North Carolina, where the Tar Heels finished seventh and 37th in total offense, respectively. He has over 10 years of play-calling experience in addition to coaching quarterbacks, and cut his teeth in the high school ranks before coaching the QBs at Troy in 2010. From there, Lindsey was the head coach at Spain Park High in 2011-12 in Birmingham, Ala., before joining Auburn as an offensive analyst in 2013. He spent two seasons at Southern Miss as its OC and QBs coach in 2014-15, where he worked under now-Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Lindsey then moved to Arizona State in 2016 before heading back to Auburn in 2017-18 as its OC/QBs coach under Gus Malzahn. [FYI] ❱ Bryce Underwood enters U-M as its highest-profile recruit in the modern era. This is only the second time in program history it signed the country's No. 1 overall prospect after landing defensive lineman Rashan Gary in 2016. Since 2004, only five No. 1 recruits have not signed with a team in the South: wide receiver Derrick Williams (Penn State, 2005), quarterback Matt Barkley (USC), edge Jaelan Phillips (UCLA, 2017), quarterback Quinn Ewers (Ohio State, 2021) and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State, 2024). ❱ The Wolverines addressed their need for veteran experience at quarterback via Mikey Keene, who has one season of eligibility remaining after spending the last two years at Fresno State by way of UCF, with over 2,000 career snaps played. Last season, he threw for 2,982 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, two of which came at the Big House in the season opener on Aug. 31. One of his picks was returned for a touchdown by cornerback Will John- son, now with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. ❱ New play-caller/position coach Chip Lindsey has 10 years of collegiate experience coaching quarterbacks and coordinating offenses in addition to three years as a head coach (Troy, 2019-21). He has developed three quarterbacks at three different schools into NFL talents in Nick Mullens (Southern Mississippi), Jarrett Stidham (Auburn) and Drake Maye (North Carolina). Maye was the No. 3 overall pick of the New England Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft. STARTERS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ½ Freshman Bryce Underwood appears to be the real deal, and he had a very productive spring, but he's still a true freshman. Most in Ann Arbor believe he's as sure a "sure thing" as there is, but there's still a learning curve and plenty to prove, even if he does have elite physical skills. Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, meanwhile, has two years of starting experience, threw for nearly 3,000 yards in consecutive years and is battle- tested, but he hasn't played at the highest level. Underwood seems to have the edge here, but it wouldn't surprise if both played early in the season. DEPTH ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Whoever doesn't win the job should be a solid backup. That's the good news. But be- yond Underwood and Keene, there appears to be a significant drop-off. The coaches say sophomore Jadyn Davis made significant improvements this spring, but he struggled mightily in the spring game and still appears to need plenty of work on his mechanics. Graduate student and former starter Davis Warren is still working his way back from an ACL tear suffered in the ReliaQuest Bowl. OVERALL ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ½ Insiders say last year's team would have been much better offensively with either Underwood or Keene behind center, and that makes sense. The room was extremely limited. Underwood is a star in the making, and Keene has plenty of experience, provid- ing hope that quarterback will be a position of strength in 2025. PRESEASON ANALYSIS Michigan Adds A Late QB Transfer Just before The Wolver- ine went to press, Michigan signed a graduate transfer quarterback from the por- tal, adding more veteran depth at a key position. Former East Carolina signal-caller Jake Garcia, a 6-foot-3, 203-pounder, committed to the Wolverines on June 16, becoming the sixth member of a position group that has dealt with multiple injuries this offseason. Garcia will be attending his fourth school in five years after beginning his journey at Miami (Fla.) (2021-22), followed by stops at Missouri (2023) and East Carolina (2024). Six of Garcia's career starts came last year at East Carolina before being benched for former Michigan State signal-caller Katin Houser. He threw 8 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for the Pirates in 2024, com- pleting 60.2 percent of his passes. Coming out of high school in California and then Georgia, he committed to USC be- fore flipping to the Hurricanes. Garcia was a four-star prospect and the No. 53 player nationally in 2021 and the 10th-ranked quarterback, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Garcia's college career includes 15 games with seven starts in four seasons. He's com- pleted 188 of 310 passes (60.6 percent) for 2,376 yards and 15 touchdowns with 16 INTs, and he joins Michigan as the No. 1,075 player and No. 77 QB in this transfer portal class, per the On3 Industry Ranking. — Anthony Broome