The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 43 and let the potential for Michigan's of- fense this season fill the headlines, rather than empty words. "It's very high," Underwood insists, regarding U-M's capabilities on offense. "There is no limit." If the offense rests in a lockbox fol- lowing spring football, noted former Michigan All-American and captain Jon Jansen, Underwood surely holds the key. Jansen, who provides color commen- tary on Michigan football radio broad- casts, knows a little something about great quarterbacks. He played on the un- defeated, national champion 1997 squad with Brian Griese, who went on to the NFL. He also played with Tom Brady, who took some hard knocks at Michigan while going on to become the greatest quarter- back in the history of pro football. Jansen insists the ceiling for Michigan this year involves the College Football Playoff. Underwood, he pointed out, can give the Wolverines the boost they need to reach that ceiling. "He'll be well protected," Jansen as- sured. "I believe that. He'll have plenty of weapons to throw the ball to. I believe that. This is where it's, 'Can this team reach that ceiling of making the College Football Playoff?' It's going to depend mostly on what Bryce does between now and fall camp. Drinking through a firehose with mechanics and technique, also putting in a new offense. Taking on the expectations of being a spring captain. "That's a lot. That's a lot. You're taking all that in leading up to spring ball. Spring ball was more about how are you going to manage the offense? How are you going to learn the offense? How are you going to execute the offense? From now until the start of fall camp, you're still work- ing on that. But that takes a back seat to, all right, let's hone in on your footwork. Let's hone in on your throwing mechan- ics. Where are your eyes going? What are you thinking? What are you doing?" Underwood put in an underwhelming passing performance in very limited ac- tion in the spring game. Whittingham waved that off, given the split squads and intentional lack of snaps to preserve health. Still, what's football anticipation without fretting? Some onlookers threw that aspect into overdrive. Jansen noted Underwood can quiet any bad buzz with a summer that sets up Michigan opponents for a tumbling fall. "That's got to take 100 percent of his attention right now," Jansen said of Un- derwood's mechanics. "We always de- fault, in pressure situations, to what is our mean? What are our habits? His me- chanics, his footwork, have to become habitual. He's still working on it, but they have to be honed in on by the start of camp. "Once you get into camp, it reverts back to the offense — installing the of- fense, executing the offense. The me- chanics take the back seat at that point, and you should be refining. But now is the time for him. It's the longest time he has to be working on his mechanics. You've got to zero in on that. If he does, this team has a better chance of reaching that ceiling." Freshman Highs And Lows Underwood couldn't have entered his rookie season under a brighter spotlight. The highest-rated prep quarterback in the land, a hefty NIL deal, and taking over the most-scrutinized position in Michigan athletics. Throw in the biggest college football crowd anywhere on any given Saturday, and you've got the mak- ings of a fishbowl surrounded by 110,000 vehicles, all with their brights on. The rookie certainly didn't wilt un- der the glare. He completed 60.3 percent of his passes, going 202-for-335 with 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He racked up 2,428 yards through the air, and guided a team that won nine games. But everyone remembers the setbacks, and in three of U-M's four losses — to Oklahoma, Ohio State and Texas — the freshman completed 47.6 percent of his throws, averaging 134.7 yards passing. He threw twice as many interceptions (4) as TD passes (2) against those opponents. With at least four serious College Foot- ball Playoff contenders on this year's slate — Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State — the entire team needs to ramp it up against top competition. But as always, the QB draws the most praise or the most heat, depending on the result. "I got my feet wet, being a freshman and starting at the University of Michigan, with great teams all around," Underwood said, reflecting on Year 1. "Just learning how to manage the game, how to be comfortable and just learning how to be myself on the field — those were the biggest things. "Of course, it's tough overall, just being a freshman at the University of Michigan. There's outside criticism. That's prob- ably one of the toughest things. How to see through it is one of the things I picked up fast." From his parents, to his friends, to teammates, Underwood got the support to stay grounded, regardless of the con- stant hum on social media and the im- mensity of the stage itself. "It's just remembering who I am as a person," he said. "People can't really dic- tate how I feel, playing a game. It's about remembering who I am. It's also watch- ing what you did, remembering the mis- takes you made, learning to move forward from them. That's really the mindset I had all season." Whittingham and his new coaches — especially offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck, along with dedicated QB guru Koy Detmer "We've got a really good, much better, clearer picture through spring ball — what he does well, what suits him, what aspects of the offense are strong suits, and we'll start to gravitate towards that as we move closer to the season." HEAD COACH KYLE WHITTINGHAM ON UNDERWOOD