ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Each of the past two years, offensive coordinator Jason Beck waltzed into a new team and took the offense from mediocre to elite pretty much overnight.
While much of his work was getting the run games at New Mexico and Utah up to No. 2 in the country, Beck is also working to get the most out of his passing game. Unlike last year with the Utes, he didn't bring quarterback Devon Dampier with him, instead inheriting former five-star QB Bryce Underwood.
Last week, head coach Kyle Whittingham said he's seen a similar emergence of the offense in fall camp under Beck as he had when he hired him from the Lobos last year. And there's one player who knows firsthand what it looked like at this time last year in Salt Lake City in wide
receiver JJ Buchanan. And now that he's a Wolverine, Buchanan says that the offense in Ann Arbor is emerging similarly.
"It's pretty similar," Buchanan said. "Like I said, all the guys are just buying into his vision as well of the offense. I think everyone just believes in what he believes in, and we're all just on the way together."
Buchanan had a full year playing under Whittingham, and it was a no-brainer for him to follow him from Salt Lake City to Ann Arbor. And though he was drinking through a fire hose as a true freshman last year, he had a pretty good idea of how that team came together.
It was a different deal, with Whittingham revamping an established team that he wasn't a part of last year. But Buchanan can tell that his new teammates have fully bought into the vision that the 66-year-old head coach is working to institute.
"I think everyone's adjusted really well," Buchanan said. "It's kind of the same thing. Last year, Whitt wasn't different, obviously, but it was a whole new staff. I think everyone has just been buying into his culture. We're all just getting super tight together, close. Everyone's buying into what his vision is for this program. It's been really well."
Fans will get to see first-hand what a Kyle Whittingham-coached team looks like on September 5, when Michigan football hosts Western Michigan at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: JJ Buchanan sees Jason Beck's Michigan offense taking shape
