Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham breaks down Bryce Underwood job status
After another rough outing, is Bryce Underwood’s status as Michigan starting QB under threat?
This didn’t suddenly happen because the Michigan offense looks like a watered-down version of weeknight frat league games. And that’s being generous.
Make no mistake, the idea that Bryce Underwood may not be the best quarterback on the Michigan roster — and therefore, the offense can’t be its best — was simmering months ago.
Before the staff even had a full offseason assessment of freshman Tommy Carr.
New Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham sat in his office this spring, before the allotted 15 practices were complete, and already was raving about Carr.
“He’s just got ‘it.’ You watch him play, and it’s so obvious,” Whittingham told me in April. “He’s young, he’s a freshman. But he’s a ball player.”
Which, of course, leads us to Underwood, who looked anything but a ball player in a season-opening, last-second controversial victory over Western Michigan.
“He’s our QB now,” Whittingham said Monday of Underwood. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner and we’ve got to see improvement.”
Or Whittingham will play Carr. It’s as simple as that.
Look, Michigan wanted a no-frills coach, a guy who would come in and straighten out the mess left by Sherrone Moore and Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel and Santa Ono and everyone else on the laundry list staining one of the sport’s elite programs.
Now it’s time to get everything that comes with the Whittingham experience.
Forget about Underwood being the highest-paid player on the roster. Or that cash from mega booster and Oracle founder Larry Ellison paved the way to land him.
This is about wins and losses, and the fiasco against Western flipping Michigan in Week 1 — and as much as anything, about Whittingham putting his mark on this program. His way, his team, his decision.
Whittingham and his staff initially began the process of developing Underwood by protecting him, placing blame on the previous staff and its incredulous decision in 2025 to not have a quarterbacks coach. In other words, Underwood struggled as a freshman ― but it wasn’t all his fault.
That prudent move bought Underwood time, and paved the way to rebuild his confidence while getting hands-on coaching from new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. Then Carr outplayed Underwood in the spring game, and it was obvious the reported $12 million financial foundation of Michigan’s roster was shaky.
So when Western Michigan arrived, and Underwood completed 12 of 22 passes — and but for an extra down gifted by the Big Ten replay team, would’ve thrown for 123 yards and an interception — the inevitable the staff tried to avoid all offseason was now staring them in the face.
Carr might have to play. Right now.
To be fair to Underwood, the Michigan offensive line struggled to run block, and didn’t exactly allow offensive balance. But Underwood missed too many easy throws, and didn’t see others.
He didn’t have big plays that build momentum, and change tempo and direction of a game. The offense was just there.
And that’s a bad place to be.
After beginning the season with a scoring drive, the Michigan offense against Western Michigan looked like this: punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, punt, punt, fumble, gift from the Big Ten replay officials.
Among that sea of punts were four three-and-outs, and a three-and-fumble. That’s not inefficiency, that’s downright bad football — against a defense that can’t remotely be compared to the unit Oklahoma will bring to Ann Arbor on Saturday.
“it’s not just Bryce’s job that’s not absolutely set in concrete,” Whittingham said. “Nobody’s is.”
Earlier this spring and long before the Michigan staff spoke of Underwood’s consistency in fall camp, Whittingham couldn’t stop talking about Carr, the younger brother of Notre Dame star quarterback CJ Carr.
Tommy not only wasn’t a mega recruit, he was a 3-star afterthought. A legacy whose grandfather, Lloyd, is a former legendary Michigan coach. The ultimate Michigan Man, no less.
Tommy Carr showed up in Ann Arbor barely weighing 185 pounds, and his lanky body looked out of place in offseason conditioning. Then he stepped on the field for spring practice, and it was clear Michigan had something that couldn’t be ignored.
“I’m in the facility at 10 at night, and I walk by the quarterback room, and there’s Tommy Carr watching film all by himself,” Whittingham told me in April. “He’s completely immersed in his development as far as trying to get better.”
He’s going to need all of that work, and more.
And maybe sooner than anyone could’ve imagined.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.