The weight of the world was on Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood last season.
Standing 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds, there was no question that the 18-year-old who went 50-4 as a four-year starter in high school and won two state championships was extraordinarily athletic with extraordinary arm strength when he arrived in Ann Arbor.
However, when the 2025 season finally came, the former No. 1 overall recruit, making $10.5 million in NIL money, did not look like a consistent top quarterback.
Underwood threw for 2,428 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. He also threw nine interceptions while completing 60.3 percent of his passes. He rushed for 392 yards and six touchdowns, but had 131 negative yards and was sacked 21 times. There were some flashes of stardom sprinkled in, but the inconsistencies overshadowed the good too often, and now, Underwood faces massive questions heading into his sophomore season.
Luckily for Underwood, he is getting a fresh start with an entirely new coaching staff that is determined to bring the best out of him.
Michigan hired former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham in the offseason, who brought an entire coaching staff with him from the state of Utah that included offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterback coach Koy Detmer. The duo has been tasked with getting Underwood to a star-caliber level, similar to what they did with Utah QB Devon Dampier in Salt Lake City last season.
“It’s similar to what Jason did with Devon at New Mexico and then bringing him with him to Utah and refining him,” Whittingham said to On3. “It’s a matter of homing in on what he feels most comfortable doing and obviously using Bryce in the run game. Now, you’ve got to be careful. He’s a really good runner, but it’s not sustainable to run him 15 or 20 times a game. That doesn’t work. So you’ve got to pick your spots there. But he’s very good at extending plays and making a play when there’s not really one to be made. But sometimes last year, he was trying too hard to do that, and maybe instead of just throwing the ball away and living to play the next down, there were decisions that can be better. That’s where he needs to be better, and we think he will be.”
Working with a new coaching staff, Underwood has taken it upon himself to grow in every aspect of the game this offseason, saying that fans have barely seen what he can do.
Once the Wolverines lost to Texas in the Citrus Bowl to end the season, it was reported that Underwood went to work with noted quarterback coach Jordan Palmer, who has trained the likes of Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Sam Darnold and is the younger brother of former No. 1 NFL draft pick Carson Palmer.
Underwood reportedly has been flying to California to work with the QB coach, as well as Palmer taking multiple trips to Ann Arbor to help get the rising sophomore in the best position for success.
“I’ve been blown away with how Bryce approaches development and how he’s able to compartmentalize a lot of new things, a new staff, a new system, new players,” Palmer said to On3. “He’s kind of been the hero his whole life, and last year was a tough year. So with all this newness, I’ve been really impressed, especially at his age. But honestly, I’d be impressed if he were 27.”
Underwood and Whittingham know of the pressure that was put on the young freshman last season. He knew he wasn’t playing to the level that he is capable of. It is also understood that Underwood was not put in positions to succeed as the team lacked multiple receiving options, the offensive line had to shift many times due to injuries and the team was constantly playing from behind in Big Ten play.
Instead of making excuses, Underwood is using last season as a learning experience and a motivation to get better as a team.
“I guess I look at it as a test run,” Underwood said. “I knew I had a lot to learn and that there would be ups and downs. I’m just glad the team welcomed me in and helped me grow as a leader. I knew overall they believed in me, and that helped me never lose belief in what I was doing. I looked at it as we were building together, and we’re going to keep building.”
Underwood has been particularly working on his decisiveness this offseason. In 2025, Underwood threw off his back foot too many times and struggled to read the defense properly. When Underwood was reading the defense, his receivers were not doing him many favors by dropping the ball at a 5.50 percent clip.
According to research from CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli, that made Underwood the second-unluckiest quarterback in 2025. While Underwood threw for 60.3 percent last year, if those passes were caught, he would’ve completed over 66 percent of his throws.
If Underwood can get himself in a position to make an accurate throw more consistently, whether he is retreating, climbing, progressing, or throwing the ball on time, that number could easily go down, both from an accuracy standpoint and a speed standpoint if he is not rushing and firing the ball into his receivers.
“The quick game is one of the most underrated parts of college offenses, and all the guys that have had Heisman-type years were really good at that,” Palmer said. “It’s taking what the defense gives you. You can make plays all day. That’s fine. But you can’t win a championship by just making plays. You’ve got to put the ball in play a lot. So that would be another part that I would hope to see growth from Bryce.”
…Bryce is big, fast, strong and he’s powerful. Those are all numbers that people know. But I’ve been very impressed with how quickly he’s able to replace an old movement pattern with a new one, and that could be something drastic, or it could be something subtle.”
Underwood has an entire network of football experts who are dedicated to his success. The situation in year two should be different from year one. He has multiple quarterback coaches. He has an offensive coordinator who has proven he can adapt to the college football offense. And he has a coach who recognizes he needs to put a supporting cast around Underwood for the team to succeed.
Now, Underwood has just a few months before he will be back on the national stage to show the world what he has done to get better. 2026 will be even more of a gauntlet than in 2025, but improved play at the quarterback position could go a long way to making the team as a whole better.
“Too much was on Bryce last season,” running back Jordan Marshall said. “Teams knew we were going to run the ball. I think what we’re going to do on offense this season gives him a chance to be him, to look at all facets of his game, which is sitting back and throwing the ball and opening him up to run the ball from different looks. I mean, he’s a freak athlete, and you don’t want to bottle that up. We’ve got to be more dynamic on offense to help him. I always tell him, ‘Just be you. Go out there and be yourself every single day.’ When he’s doing that and having fun, and getting coached hard the way he is, that’s when you know you have something special.”
