The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Michigan should put a better, more disciplined product on the field un- der first-year coach Kyle Whittingham for a few reasons — no off-field dis- tractions and better coaching overall among them. The schedule is tough, but there's talent and expectations. Here are this year's top five goals: 1. Re-establish the Michigan culture. By all accounts, this has pretty much already been accomplished. Whit- tingham is a no-nonsense guy, and he set the bar high for his inherited Wolverines with a grueling offseason strength program led by Doug Elisaia. They more than answered the bell, he said, showing him he'd gotten a group of hard workers intent on winning the right way. This will be a team in Whittingham's image going forward, and that's a huge positive. 2. Make the College Football Playoff. The Wolverines play several teams ranked in the preseason, but there are eight home games. If they go 2-2 in the "swing" games — Oklahoma and Indiana at home, Oregon and Ohio State on the road — they're all but guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field. Even 9-3 possibly earns a berth given the strength of schedule. As Whittingham said, making the playoff is always the expectation at Michigan. 3. Develop Bryce Underwood. The Michigan sophomore quarterback's success will determine the ceiling of this team — period. We expect the run game to be strong, the defense to improve throughout the year, and the special teams to be much better, but elite quarterback play can elevate a team by itself. We saw what Underwood could do at times last year, including the opener with New Mexico and a home game against Washington. If he can be the guy, this team could contend in the Big Ten. 4. Get the offensive line up to snuff. They couldn't ask for a better teacher than Jim Harding, one of the best line coaches in the nation according to the experts. His track record at Utah speaks for itself — he had two first-round NFL draft picks this spring. Harding's objective is to mold several good players into a great line, and it starts with junior center Jake Guarnera. He was the top line- man in camp, and it's up to others to improve. Pass protection was still an issue this spring, but Whittingham believes they'll be fine, especially when they get a few players back to full health (probably sophomore Andrew Babalola in some capacity and senior guard Evan Link). 5. Get special teams back on track. Even kicker Dominic Zvada struggled last year (after an elite 2024 season) on a unit that literally had no strengths. The punting game was poor, return teams, coverage … all of it led to "a third of the game," as coaches like to call it, being a weak link. They are expected to make a huge leap under assistant Kerry Coombs after a productive spring and with a new kicker and punter on tap. Top Five Goals In 2026 Michigan's Team 147 will kick off the 2026 season when it takes the field on Sept. 5 against Western Michigan. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL