ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Michigan football team was already in the crosshairs after having lost two straight games to Iowa and Minnesota. But the turmoil was exacerbated when a group chat was revealed to be featuring a current Wolverine, and made all the more prominent when it was further confirmed to be tight end Zack Marshall.
Marshall had lamented the offense under coordinator Jason Beck to some people who are not on the team. Screenshots circulated before Marshall posted an apology on social media.
On Monday, head coach Kyle Whittingham shared his thoughts on the ordeal, noting that it wasn't smart by Marshall to put out negativity about the team to people outside of the team circle. He praised Marshall as a person, but wasn't pleased by his lack
of thought in the matter.
"Zack was very apologetic," Whittingham said. "It was an unfortunate deal. Zack Marshall's a great young man. He's a team guy. It was just a lapse in judgment or an error in judgment. And he apologized profusely to myself and the team. Of course, he had a statement. And so, yeah, it was no fun."
Even still, Whittingham understood why Marshall had negative things to say in the wake of the two losses. However, regardless, Whittingham says that Marshall should have thought more about the team instead of letting his frustrations boil over in the way that he had.
"Yeah, people get frustrated. Yeah, you get frustrated," Whittingham said. "You lose a couple games. People get frustrated. And it was in a small -- it doesn't matter if it was in a small group chat. It was in a small, close circle. That's beside the point. The point is you've got to protect the team. And it wasn't protecting the team. It was not protecting the team."
We'll see if Michigan can get back on the winning track this week when the Wolverines host Penn State at The Big House. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. EDT, and the game will be televised on CBS.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham addresses Zack Marshall leaked group chat controversy
