Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham and the three coordinators through five games heading into the Wolverines' bye week.
Offensive coordinator Jason Beck: D-
By almost any measure, Michigan has one of the worst offenses in America. Jason Beck's unit is No. 75 in third-down conversions (40.7%), No. 100 in rushing offense (135 yards per game), No. 111 in passing (180.8 yards), tied for No. 114 in red zone (76.9%) and most relevantly, No. 105 (23.0) in points per game.
Without its 52-point outburst against lowly UTEP (one of the worst teams in the country) factored in and U-M is putting up just 15.8 points per game, having scored fewer than 20 points in each of the other four games this season.
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Beck hasn't found anything that's clicked. There's an argument he's a bit hamstrung by a quarterback who hasn't shown an ability to quickly diagnose and read a defense, but that doesn't explain everything else that has happened. U-M has the same quarterback as last year, better receivers, a more experienced offensive line with many of the same faces and a running back duo that was expected to be among the best in the league.
U-M has lacked big play ability in the run. After racking up 24 carries of 20 or more yards in 2025 (an average of nearly two per game) U-M has one such carry this season and that's by Underwood. Marshall's longest run is 17 yards while Savion Hiter has one carry of more than 8 yards all year.
It seems like scheme is a major reason for it. U-M is running a ton of read options and fewer straight downhill runs, which hasn't put the running backs in position with a full head of steam. Meanwhile, Underwood hasn't shown an ability to make the right decision on those reads with any consistency.
He also has been quite poor through the air. Not only has his completion rate dropped (59.3%) he's unable to connect deep down field, completing just 4 of 18 attempts of more than 20 air yards, according to Pro Football Focus. He's also making more mistakes than elite plays, with four "big time throws" and seven "turnover worthy plays" per the site's metrics. He has five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Three of the "big time throws" have come on play-action passes. On non play-action plays, Underwood has one big time throw and six turnover worthy plays. Beck found a little success against Iowa, getting Underwood on the move early and often and minimizing his decisions, then for some reason, he called more straight drop back passes vs Minnesota.
Overall, it's a mess.
Defensive coordinator Jay Hill: A-
As poor as the offense has been, the defense has been the exact opposite to start 2026 and frankly, it's the only reason the Wolverines are 3-2 as opposed to 1-4. Michigan hasn't been down by more than a touchdown at any point this season largely due to the defense's ability to stand on its head and make timely plays.
Take last week for example, when the offense and special teams turned the ball over three times in the span of four plays, each inside Michigan's own territory. Twice the defense was able to come up with stops and force field goals, before the dam broke on the final attempt.
Hill's unit is No. 6 in total defense (241.4 yards per game), No. 9 in pass defense (146.8), No. 20 in run defense (94.6 yards per game) and No. 23 in scoring (15.8 points per game) and No. 34 in third-down defense (32.4% conversions). Michigan has held every opponent to 20 points or fewer and has allowed just five touchdowns on the 12 occasions opponents have been in the red zone (which is below the 50% target threshold Kyle Whittingham and Hill set as the benchmark).
The defensive line has been active, the secondary has been sticky and the linebackers have stepped up and not just been average, but quite good, particularly against the run. Perhaps the one knock (on top of three personal fouls from Smith Snowden, Jyaire Hill and a costly one by Zeke Berry through five games) is the unit has only generated five turnovers this season, tied for No. 82 in the country.
Still, in the grand scheme of the season, Hill's group has been the lone bright spot.
Special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs: C-
What started off well has quickly gone off the tracks.
The glaring problem is Andrew Marsh has fumbled twice on punt returns, but it didn't help the kickoff coverage allowed a 99-yard touchdown return in the team's 20-19 loss to Iowa and twice against Minnesota, the punt coverage unit failed to down a punt inside the 10 when it had an opportunity.
Cam Brown has been good as a punter, averaging 43.3 yards per punt with 11 of 24 attempts ending inside the 20, and at least one of 50 yards in four of five games. Kicker Trey Butkowski hasn't had a lot of work, but he's done his job when called upon, going 13-for-13 on extra points and 4-for-4 on field goals, including a career-long 49-yarder against UTEP.
Still, the three most critical special teams plays this year have all gone against Michigan. The group has been slightly below average on the whole.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham: D
On paper, this seemed like a perfect match when the hire was made last December. The Wolverines needed "an adult in the room." Not only was U-M theoretically getting that in Whittingham, who had a squeaky clean track record, but it was also getting somebody who aligned with Michigan's program: someone who wants to run the football, have a physical defense and win in between the margins.
So far, almost none of it has happened. The most alarming part, without question, has been the sloppy play. U-M is ranked No. 114 (minus-4) in the country in turnover margin, having lost the turnover battle in four of five games this year. Even in the game U-M won the takeaway title (1-0 over Oklahoma), the Wolverines actually fumbled the ball more times Sooners, they just so happened to fall on all three loose balls.
The penalties are equally as troubling. From late hits to improper alignments, the Wolverines have more than a dozen pre or post-snap penalties on the season and rank No. 114 in total penalties (38, or 7.6 per game) and tied for No. 103 in penalty yards (66.4) per game.
The run game has no juice, the team beats itself and there's been terrible body language from players on the field, the last two games in particular.
Whittingham cited the "disconnect" in getting practice success to translate to gameday. That falls on his shoulders.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football coaches deserve a lot of blame for super rocky start
