The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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44 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Jr. — have studied all the 2025 video. They've seen Underwood's every play from last year and seen him in live action now. They're tweaking his mechanics, instructing him on how to operate within Beck's offense and creating the habits to fall back on that Jansen referenced. The head coach put in perspective where Underwood stands, on "The Blue Print" podcast, featuring former Michi- gan tight end Jake Butt and former Wol- verine quarterback Devin Gardner. "First of all, Bryce was thrown into a pretty tough situation last year," Whit- tingham said. "True freshman, 18 years old, starting quarterback at not only a P4 program, but Michigan. I mean, you're under the spotlight. "Also, he didn't have a dedicated quar- terback coach last year, from what I was told. And so, he was a little rough around the edges — still is, a little bit. But we had … you talk about spring ball, but long before that — January, February, we're in the film room and talking him through mechanics and footwork and read pro- gressions and all that, continued through spring. He has made progress. Still got a long ways to go, but he's on the right path." He's not just strolling along that path, either, Whittingham assured. "One thing about Bryce," the head coach stressed. "He's got a great work ethic, and there's no worrying about him putting in the time. He's going to put in all the time he needs. And he's com- pletely dedicated to his craft. So, we're still finding out. 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." Getting To Know You Word of Underwood's meeting with Whittingham during the bowl period quickly got out, in a positive light. But Underwood says there really wasn't much danger of him moving in another direction, despite the coaching change. "Not in my mind," he said. "Because I Michigan's storied football program has featured only four quarterbacks starting full-time as true freshmen, including Bryce Underwood last fall. The other three to do so were Rick Leach (1975), Chad Henne (2004) and Tate Forcier (2009). PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL