Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham says sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood’s hold on the starting job is not permanent, days before the Wolverines host No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday in Ann Arbor.
“He’s our QB right now, and it’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said this week. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner.”
Underwood, once the nation’s top-ranked recruit, was recruited to Michigan and named starter under the previous coaching staff led by Sherrone Moore, not by Whittingham. He also was not part of the decision behind the large NIL deal that brought Underwood to the program. Whittingham, who spent 20 seasons at Utah and became the winningest coach in that program’s history, inherited Underwood and the rest of the roster when he took the Michigan job.
FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt said that history matters. “Kyle Whittingham is not tied to Bryce Underwood,” Klatt said Wednesday on “The Herd.” “It was not Kyle’s decision to give Bryce Underwood the NIL deal. He’s not as tied to Underwood as the previous coaching staff.”
Underwood struggled in Michigan’s Week 1 win over in-state foe Western Michigan, completing 12 of 22 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and two turnovers. Asked about Whittingham’s comments this week, Underwood said he hadn’t heard them. “There were comments about that?” Underwood said. “That’s cool. I didn’t see that. It’s cool.”
Klatt described the Week 1 performance as a mismatch between quarterback and scheme. “What it looked like against Western Michigan was oil and water,” he said. “You have a quarterback running a system that just didn’t look like it was gelling.”
He argued that the burden now falls on Whittingham’s staff to adapt around Underwood’s strengths rather than simply judge his talent. “I’m a firm believer that the best coaches put their players in the best position to be successful,” Klatt said. “So you’ve got to decide: What can our guy do well … and now let’s build a system around what he can do well.”
The test comes quickly. Michigan hosts a Oklahoma team led by quarterback John Mateer and one of the country’s top-ranked defenses on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County. Klatt said the matchup raises immediate questions about how Whittingham will handle Underwood if he struggles again. “How effective is he? How long does he stay in the game if he is ineffective? That’s a question,” Klatt said.
