Rival coaches ‘not impressed’ with Michigan football’s Bryce Underwood entering pivotal 2026 season
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With head coach Kyle Whittingham’s first season with the Michigan football program right around the corner, the sports world is wondering how quarterback Bryce Underwood will develop in his sophomore year. As Underwood’s play in 2026 for the Michigan football team is much-anticipated, there are some rival coaches who aren’t too enamored by the quarterback.
In Adam Rittenberg’s latest intel piece for ESPN, he would get coaches to give their thoughts on the top quarterbacks in their respective conferences. After Underwood threw for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in his freshman year, one Big Ten coach would flat out say that he was “not impressed.”
“He just misses and misses. He’s tall, so he’s able to make certain plays that other guys can’t, and he’s big, so he can run. But I don’t see him as someone that’s dangerous at all. He’s a guy who can lose you some games,” one Big Ten coach said.
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Another would even throw out doubts that Whittingham could be the coach to help Underwood develop:
“He’s a good head coach, but in 21 years, they haven’t had a quarterback drafted,” the coach said. “Just because you pay somebody money doesn’t make them good. There’s going to be a little reality check on that.”
One Big Ten coach defends Michigan football’s Bryce Underwood
Completing 60.3 percent of his passes and recording a quarterback rating of 72.6, there is no denying that his freshman season with the Michigan football team came with “mixed reviews,” as one Big Ten defensive coordinator mentioned. However, the same coach would speak about some of the negative attention how some “put a bull’s-eye” on players with a lot of name, image, and likeness (NIL) money behind them.
“The only reason there’s mixed reviews, and that they’re not talking about him still being young, is because of the expectations coming out of recruiting,” a Big Ten defensive coordinator said.
At any rate, Underwood will have the chance to prove his doubters wrong when the Wolverines open up the season on Sept. 5 against Western Michigan.
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