The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544920
JUNE/JULY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 19 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL The 2026 season is a big one for sopho- more quarterback Bryce Underwood, who has 13 starts under his belt, and tremen- dous upside but a lot of room for growth. Head coach Kyle Whittingham plans to unlock that potential beginning this year, after Underwood completed 60.3 percent of his throws for 2,428 yards and 11 touch- downs with 9 interceptions, and ran for 392 yards and 6 scores, in 2025. "First of all, Bryce was thrown into a pretty tough situation last fall — a true freshman, 18 years old, starting quar- terback at not only a P4 program but Michigan," Whittingham said on "The Blueprint" podcast. "You're under the spotlight, also didn't have a dedicated quarterbacks coach last year, from what I was told. So, he was a little rough around the edges, still is a little bit." New offensive coordinator Jason Beck is also the quarterbacks coach, but Michi- gan has analyst Koy Detmer Jr. working with the position, too. Detmer is a former BYU and Texas A&M-Kingsville quarter- back who's entering his third year as an FBS analyst. The Wolverines are seeing the 6-foot- 4, 228-pound Underwood make strides throughout the offseason, despite the tough performance in the first quarter of Michigan's spring game April 18, where the Detroit native went 3-of-9 passing for 22 yards with 2 "sacks" registered in noncontact situations. "You talk about spring ball, but long before that — January, February — we were in the film room and talking him through mechanics and footwork and read progressions and all that," Whitting- ham said. "It continued through spring. He has made progress. Still got a long ways to go, but he's on the right path." Whittingham noted that Michigan was working on installing the offense at large and will whittle it down as time goes on, playing to Underwood's strengths. Run- ning the football is one of the areas he's proven adept at, for example — and that wasn't something he was able to show in the spring game, since he wasn't live to tackle. "It'll be very important this summer that he continues to work," the Michigan coach continued. "And one thing about Bryce, he's got a great work ethic. There's no worry about him putting in the time. He's going to put in all the time he needs, and he's completely dedicated to his craft. "So, we're still finding out — we've got a much better, clearer picture through spring ball — what he does well, what suits him, what aspects of the offense are his strong suits. We'll start to gravitate towards that as we move closer to the sea- son. Expose him to everything this spring, but we got to know him a lot better, and we'll continue to move and evolve the of- fense in a direction that really suits what he does best." — Clayton Sayfie OFFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. QB 19 Bryce Underwood 6-4 228 So./3 14 Tommy Carr 6-4 185 Fr./4 RB 23 Jordan Marshall 5-11 216 Jr./3 5 Savion Hiter 6-0 210 Fr./4 WR 3 Andrew Marsh 6-0 190 So./3 10 Jaime Ffrench 6-1 185 So./4 WR 13 JJ Buchanan 6-3 225 So./3 0 Kendrick Bell 6-2 205 Sr./2 WR 12 Salesi Moa 6-2 175 Fr./4 86 Travis Johnson 6-2 185 Fr./4 TE 80 Hogan Hansen 6-5 240 Jr./3 83 Zack Marshall 6-4 245 Sr./2 or 88 Deakon Tonielli 6-5 246 Sr./2 FB 42 Jalen Hoffman 6-3 245 Sr./2 44 Eli Owens 6-1 244 So./4 LT 77 Blake Frazier 6-6 295 Jr./3 71 Evan Link 6-6 324 Sr./2 LG 55 Nathan Efobi 6-3 312 Sr./2 74 Avery Gach 6-5 308 So./4 C 53 Jake Guarnera 6-4 311 Jr./3 67 Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres 6-3 300 So./4 RG 70 Brady Norton 6-4 312 Sr./2 52 Ace Hamilton 6-3 295 Fr./4 RT 54 Andrew Sprague 6-8 315 Jr./3 65 Andrew Babalola 6-6 315 So./4 DEFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. DE 90 John Henry Daley 6-4 255 Sr./2 8 Dominic Nichols 6-5 255 Jr./3 DE 9 Cameron Brandt 6-4 270 Sr./1 88 Lugard Edokpayi 6-7 250 Jr./3 DT 95 Trey Pierce 6-2 310 Sr./1 91 Jonah Lea'ea 6-5 285 Sr./2 DT 17 Enow Etta 6-5 320 Sr./2 54 Deyvid Palepale 6-2 335 Jr./3 LB 29 Chase Taylor 6-2 237 So./3 44 Nathaniel Staehling 6-2 238 Gr./1 LB 18 Troy Bowles 6-0 230 Sr./2 or 12 Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng 6-1 217 So./3 NB 3 Smith Snowden 5-10 185 Sr./1 10 Zeke Berry 5-11 196 Gr./1 CB 0 Jyaire Hill 6-2 190 Sr./2 2 Shamari Earls 6-2 205 So./3 CB 10 Zeke Berry 5-11 196 Gr./1 16 Jo'Ziah Edmond 6-1 185 Jr./3 S 1 Rod Moore 6-0 198 Gr./1 6 Jordan Young 6-0 195 So./3 S 20 Chris Bracy 6-1 195 Jr./2 25 Mason Curtis 6-5 211 Jr./2 SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. K 99 Trey Butkowski 6-0 170 So./3 35 Stuart Blake 6-1 181 Jr./3 P 90 Hudson Hollenbeck 6-2 206 Gr./1 — Cam Brown 6-2 185 So./3 LS 49 Nico Crawford 6-2 235 Gr./1 46 Gavin Magorien 6-0 202 So./3 KR 3 Andrew Marsh 6-0 190 So./3 3 Smith Snowden 5-10 185 Sr./1 or 12 Salesi Moa 6-2 175 Fr./4 PR 3 Andrew Marsh 6-0 190 So./3 12 Salesi Moa 6-2 175 Fr./4 The Wolverine's Projected 2026 Depth Chart BRYCE UNDERWOOD IS 'ON THE RIGHT PATH' Underwood enters his sophomore year with 13 starts under his belt. "We'll continue to move and evolve the offense in a direction that really suits what he does best," head coach Kyle Whittingham said of his starting quarterback. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL