Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham looks to develop Bryce Underwood

First-year Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham began spring practice Tuesday with a clear goal: turn true sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood into a “completely finished product” and improve the Wolverines’ struggling passing game.

“It was very clear that Bryce is a mega-talent,” Whittingham told ESPN. “He’s got a lot of ability, but he’s raw — like you’d expect an 18-year-old starting quarterback to be at a Power 4 school. He wasn’t quite the finished product, and now our job is to turn him into that.”

Whittingham, who resigned from Utah after 21 years before being hired by the Wolverines in December, said the first thing he did after taking the job was watch Michigan film and Underwood was “obviously the focal point.”

Michigan’s passing game ranked 105th nationally last year and 127th nationally in total passing yards since the start of the 2024 season. Underwood, who was the No. 1 recruit in his class, surpassed 200 passing yards in five of his first seven games before November with just two interceptions. He threw seven interceptions in his last five games, including three in the loss to Texas in the Citrus Bowl.

Whittingham said Underwood is working with offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterbacks coach Coy Dettmer Jr., both of whom came with Whittingham from Utah.

“It’s like a tag team approach with these two,” Whittingham said. “It’s polishing some things with Bryce, footwork things, some finesse of throwing motions, and obviously teaching the scheme. Fortunately — and this is one of the things that makes Jason such an outstanding coordinator, especially in this day and age — he’s got a very user-friendly offense that doesn’t have much of a learning curve.”

At 6-foot-4, 228 pounds, Underwood became the fourth true freshman in school history to start at quarterback for the Wolverines, joining Rick Leach (1975), Chad Henne (2004) and Tate Forcier (2009). He started 13 games last year, completing 202-of-335 pass attempts for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He rushed 88 times for 392 yards with six touchdowns.

“He’s got the right mindset, the right work ethic,” Whittingham said. “He’s willing, he’s hungry — just like the whole football team. That’s been one thing that’s been really positive since I’ve been here — the desire and structure and discipline of this team and their hunger to push hard. We’ve pushed conditioning pretty hard this winter, and they’ve answered the bell for everything we’ve thrown at them.”