Michigan HC Kyle Whittingham putting some pressure on QB Bryce Underwood

New Michigan Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham knows just how important quarterback Bryce Underwood is to success in year one of his tenure in Ann Arbor.

At his best, Underwood has the potential to be a Heisman Trophy candidate. There's a reason he was the consensus No. 1 overall player in the 2025 college football recruiting class.

At his worst? Well, we saw some of that in Underwood's freshman season for Michigan.

He did throw for 2,428 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for six more scores. That said, Underwood threw nine interceptions. His completion percentage of 60.3% was ranked 88th amongst all eligible college football quarterbacks. Quarterbacks like Jackson Arnold (63.3%) and DJ Lagway (63.2%) were both better than Underwood, and that says something because Arnold was benched by Auburn and most would tell you that Lagway had a terrible season in Gainesville.

Underwood's passer rating of 126.65 was ranked 94th out of 100 eligible quarterbacks.

At the end of the day, it just wasn't good enough for the former 5-star quarterback, so it makes sense that Whittingham is trying to light a bit of a fire under him this offseason.

“It’s important we get him playing to his potential,” Whittingham said during an in-game appearance on the broadcast for the Detroit Tigers on Monday (h/t On3). “And he’s got a ton of it, I can tell you that right now. His toolbox is absolutely incredible with his size and strength and speed. We’ve got to make sure we get him dialed in.”

That's about as diplomatic of an answer as you can get from a head coach inheriting a starting quarterback. Whittingham knows that Underwood has the potential, but it is interesting to hear that he feels like the Michigan staff's task this offseason is to get the former five-star "dialed in".

That brings up some interesting questions. Mainly, does Whittingham feel that Underwood isn't dialed in right now?

Kyle Whittingham praises Michigan QB Bryce Underwood's leadership 

That doesn't appear to be the case, because the new Michigan head coach also praised the young quarterback for leading by example in Ann Arbor.

“He’s a great leader, I can tell you that,” Whittingham said. “He’s the guy that’s the hardest worker in the weight room. He’s always setting the bar and making everyone live up to that expectation.”

It's one thing to do it in the weight room. It's another to do it against Oklahoma in Week 2 at the Big House.

Last season, in Oklahoma, Underwood completed just 9-of-24 passes for 142 yards and no touchdowns. In his two other games against ranked opponents, he completed just 8-of-18 passes for 63 yards and an interception against Ohio State and 23-of-42 passes for 199 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions against Texas.

The lights will be even brighter for Underwood in 2026, especially with a new head coach calling the shots who didn't recruit him to Ann Arbor. 

Can Underwood lock in and step up? Only time will tell.