Kyle Whittingham Has High Expectations For Michigan Ahead Of Opener Against WMU

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Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham hasn't been shy about setting expectations for his first season in Ann Arbor.

The goal, he made clear during his Monday press conference ahead of the season opener, is to win the Big Ten.

"At Michigan, how can it not be the goal to win the Big Ten?" Whittingham asked rhetorically. 

That confidence stems from what Whittingham believes is a roster with enough pieces to make a championship run. He pointed first to the leadership within the team, then highlighted sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood and a defensive line he believes can be one of the team's biggest strengths.

"There's a lot of pieces in place," Whittingham said. 

The head coach specifically pointed out the depth and talent at both defensive tackle and at the edge spots. Whittingham even said it's going to be hard to get all of the edge guys playing time with seven or eight players who can get after the QB.

As for Underwood, he enters Saturday's season opener with lofty expectations after rave reviews from coaches and players all throughout fall camp. Whittingham believes that the young quarterback has made significant progress since the spring. The coaching staff kept their signal caller completely clean throughout fall camp, meaning his first live action under this new staff will come on Saturday. Whittingham has been very impressed with Underwood's approach during the lead up to the opener.

"He's way further ahead than he was in the spring," Whittingham said.

Saturday will provide the first opportunity to see how that development translates when the game is live.

Tommy Carr will begin the season as Michigan's No. 2 quarterback, while the Wolverines will lean on a running back rotation featuring Jordan Marshall as RB1, true freshman stud Savion Hiter as RB2 and Bryson Kuzdzal as RB3. Whittingham also singled out center Jake Guarnera as the starter and leader of the offensive line but kept a lot of the other starters to himself. 

From that offensive line, Whittingham says there are eight or nine guys who could legitimately go into a game and get the job done. With Guarnera holding it down at center, the public is in the dark a bit when it comes to the rest of the line. Whittingham, however, said that they have their starters and the world will see that group on Saturday.

Defensively, the front stands out as the strongest group on the entire team. There are enough talented players on the interior and on the edge to rotate players throughout the entire game. Whittingham singled out edge rushers Nate Marshall and Dominic Nichols as two guys who will make a lot of plays for Michigan this year. He also gave high praise to true freshmen Tariq Boney and Carter Meadows. There's no shortage of talent at the edge position for the Wolverines this year.

At linebacker, Chase Taylor and Nathaniel Staehling are poised for big seasons in the winged helmet. Staehling has been very smart, solid and consistent and has been called a "tackling machine" by Whittingham on more than one occasion.

"He looks like an inside linebaker," Whittingham said of the North Dakota State transfer.

Finally, safety Chris Bracy was lauded by Whittingham as well. The Memphis transfer is expected to be on the field all the time as Rod Moore continues to work back toward 100%. Throw in three or four very capable cornerbacks and this Michigan defense should be very stingy under Jay Hill.

For the opener, Whittingham isn't demanding or expecting perfection, but he does want clean execution, minimal pre-snap penalties and effort. He would like to see sound tackling as well, but the Wolverines haven't done much live hitting during fall camp so Saturday will be the first real look at how U-M defenders put guys on the ground.

Whittingham is eager to run out of the tunnel, behind his players, and knows his guys are ready to hit someone else too. The Wolverines are expected to beat Western Michigan handily, but that doesn't lessen the emotions for the veteran coach.

"This is big-time college football," Whittingham said. "I'm excited to be a part of it."  

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