CHICAGO -- Sometimes he was running because the offensive front was breaking down, and at other times, he was running because he thought it was when it wasn't. Either way, Bryce Underwood didn't have a lot of confidence in his pass protection in his freshman year with Michigan football.
And Kyle Whittingham is intent on changing that.
The Wolverines have been known for strong offensive line play in recent years, but that had gone somewhat by the wayside in the past two seasons. Whittingham, thus, brought Jim Harding along with him from Utah to oversee the O-line, and he feels like that should solve a lot of issues, not just for the line itself, but for his quarterback as well.
"You watch the tape from last year, Bryce was running for his life quite
often. And that's something that also led to his not being as successful as he possibly could have been," Whittingham said. "But we feel, I feel that there's nobody better Jim Harding in the country. I'm convinced of that. He produced year after year outstanding players up front at Utah. This past year, two first-round draft choices, both tackles were taken in the first round. So I've got no doubt that Jim will get that shored up. And Bryce will have a lot more confidence in his own line this year."
When Whittingham went back and watched the tape, he realized that there were problems. Underwood's mechanics were off and his footwork was sloppy. In large part, that was due to him believing that everything in front of him was breaking down -- correctly and incorrectly. Thus, the mission to fix the line to ensure that Underwood has faith in what's ahead of him.
Additionally, Whittingham is working on ensuring that the run game is strong -- and it should be bolstered by offensive coordinator Jason Beck's experience, having overseen the No. 2 rushing attack each of the past two years -- because that will also take some pressure off the young quarterback.
So the plan is two-fold: fix the line and strengthen the run game. By doing that, the quarterback play should be that much better, in Whittingham's estimation.
"I was surprised at how much duress he was under," Whittingham said. "It was almost like he'd take the snap and the rush would be on him just like that. I think that's the first thing, that to help Bryce, there's two things we can do: shore up the offensive line and have a strong run game.
"A strong run game is a quarterback's best friend. If he can just turn and hand the ball and just get chunk yards up the field, that really takes a lot of pressure off of him. Having an outstanding running back room and an offensive line that's highly efficient is going to make him a much better player, just that in and of itself."
Michigan is set to begin that task in earnest on Wednesday, when fall camp begins, with eyes on the September 5 season opener against Western Michigan.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Whittingham plans to fix Michigan offensive line woes
