For better or worse, Kyle Whittingham and Urban Meyer are connected. And Whittingham has let everyone know that the former Ohio State coach is one of his best friends.
A few weeks ago, Meyer noted that, after speaking with Whittingham, quarterback Tommy Carr wasn't quite ready for prime time, but after incumbent starter Bryce Underwood had become a turnover machine, it changed the calculus a bit.
Now Meyer is all in on Carr, mostly because he operated the same offense close to perfection, compared to Underwood, who has been limited thus far. He shared his thoughts with Dan Dakich on Outkick.
"Tommy Carr is a guy that Kyle Whittingham has been talking (about)," Meyer said. "I talk to Coach Whitt every couple of weeks. And he loves the kid. But he actually
loved Bryce Underwood. He's a great worker, incredible talent. He's the only first-round talent I saw on that field. We covered him a couple times this year. He's a freak athlete.
"Against Oklahoma, he ran, and he played a really good game against Iowa. So I thought he was starting to come together. And then it hasn't been good. So normally when you have like a Chris Leak and a Tebow, they're two completely different offenses. And you have a different game plan. I watched what they did with Tommy Carr. They ran the exact same. He scored on a Bryce Underwood play. And he almost scored on another Bryce Underwood play. So they're running the same offense. So the transition wasn't that difficult.
"If you have two different styles of offenses, it really cuts into your practice time, especially this late in the year. So, but I think that Coach Whitt can say whatever he wants, Tommy Carr is your starting quarterback. Oh, yeah, it's over. He has to, yeah. He scored 21 points. They lose that game if Bryce Underwood's in that game."
Meyer doesn't think that Underwood's future has been decided as null, and believes that -- even at Michigan -- there's a role for the second-year quarterback.
"The positive is, and I watch closely, is he was so engaged," Meyer said. "He must be a hell of a guy. You know, he must be.
"A lot of times you would think he might pack his bags and go, but he was engaged. He's fully engaged. He's still relatively young. I'm not giving up on Bryce Underwood. I saw what I saw. I see a freak athlete that probably played before he was ready. So I would not give up on that kid. And what does that mean? For Kyle Whittingham, all he's got to do is find a way to compete against Indiana. He can't worry about that. At some point, you gotta worry about that. Not now."
We'll see more of what happens when the Hoosiers come to Ann Arbor on Saturday. Kickoff is at 12:10 p.m. EDT, and Meyer will be there with Fox, which will broadcast the game.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Urban Meyer declares Tommy Carr Michigan's starter, defends Underwood
