Kyle Whittingham met with one Michigan football player before anyone
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Kyle Whittingham, the new Michigan football coach, flew to Orlando, Florida, for a critical meeting. One that could determine everything.
First, he introduced himself to the Wolverines, who are preparing to play Texas in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday (3 p.m., ABC). But he won’t be doing any coaching in this bowl game.
“I’m going to stay in the background,” he said at his introductory press conference on Sunday, Dec.28.
He met with the current coaching staff, although he’s only planning on keeping two or three of them.
And then, he had that critical meeting. With the single most important person in the entire program.
“I’ve already met with one player, you can probably guess who that was: quarterback Bryce Underwood,” Whittingham said. “That was a great conversation. Spent about 45 minutes with him this morning.”
Whittingham said he did more listening than selling.
“I wanted feedback from him,” Whittingham said. “I wanted to get to know him, just everything from growing up, family, what’s important to him — it was a great conversation. He’s a special young man. Carries himself the right way. You got to have a quarterback that has that ‘it’ factor, and Bryce definitely has that ‘it’ factor along with a lot of talent.”
OK, so clearly Whittingham is smart. Keeping Underwood at Michigan is incredibly important and critical for the Wolverines.
“The offense that we are going to bring in here I think is going to suit him to a T,” Whittingham said. “I think he’s going to really, really excel and have a great experience here.”
OK. So it sounds like coach speak – “suit him to a T.”
It sounds like a sales job. But you know something? Whittingham wasn’t blowing smoke.
Whittingham is known as a tough, hard-nosed defensive coach. But he ran a high-scoring spread offense at Utah in 2025, which was led by Devon Dampier, an athletic, mobile quarterback.
Which sounds a lot like Underwood.
But there are some big differences.
Dampier was listed at 5 feet 11 and 204 pounds. He was a three-star recruit, a transfer from New Mexico who was ranked No. 88 in the country coming out of high school.
On the other hand, everything about Underwood is bigger. His size. His talent. And his potential.
Underwood is 6-4 and 228 pounds and was the No.1 recruit coming out of Belleville last December.
“His ceiling is very high,” Whittingham said of Underwood.
When he said that, it sounded like Whittingham was thinking: Wait a second, I get to coach at Michigan, have all kinds of money to spend to keep players, not to mention get some more, and I have a chance to coach a future NFL quarterback?
So, heck yes, he met with Underwood.
Key to everything
Whittingham is expected to bring Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck to Michigan.
And if you ask me, that’s the real key to all of this.
Now, let me tell you about Beck. As BYU’s quarterbacks coach from 2013-15, he developed Taysom Hill. Yes, that Taysom Hill, now a Swiss Army knife on offense with the New Orleans Saints.
Then, Beck bounced around as assistant coaches do – from Virginia to Syracuse to New Mexico. His bio is peppered with a whole bunch of quarterbacks who he developed, most of whom ended up setting school records.
That seems like a heck of a good thing to me. The guy has a track record of developing quarterbacks.
And that’s what Underwood needs more than anything. I know he was a true freshman in 2025 and he certainly showed potential but I expected more development.
But back to Beck.
He wound up at New Mexico, and Dampier was his quarterback there. So, how did they do? Beck’s Lobos offense ranked fourth in the country in total offense in 2024.
How it all went down
All of these lives are connected in the most interesting way.
During the 2024 season, Utah had a down year, struggled offensively and Whittingham fired Andy Ludwig, his offensive coordinator.
People criticized Ludwig’s offense for being an overly complex pro-style offense, which required experienced quarterbacks. Ludwig was blamed for conservative play calling, poor red-zone efficiency, and the team finished 115th in total offense and 102nd in scoring.
Yes, you can give Whittingham all kinds of credit for spotting a problem and doing something about it.
Not to mention, fixing it in the most spectacular way.
Whittingham brought in a new offensive coordinator. He hired Beck, who brought along his QB from New Mexico.
So, what did Utah do this season?
The Utes ranked second in the country in rushing and fifth in scoring.
Yes, Whittingham, this defensive-minded coach, had a high-scoring offense.
Granted, Utah wasn’t facing Big Ten defenses. But there’s another factor to consider: The Utes didn’t have the same kind of talent that Michigan can get.
When Beck arrived, Utah had such a glaring need on offense that three defensive players saw reps on offense: cornerback Smith Snowden, linebacker Lander Barton and safety Jackson Bennee.
So, what kind of offense would Beck be able to create at Michigan?
What would he be able to unlock in Underwood?
There’s no question that Underwood has elite arm strength. No question that he has tremendous athletic ability and mobility.
Those make him such a dual-threat threat. But that wasn’t utilized in the biggest moments.
Underwood ran just six times against Ohio State, which made no sense to me. I mean, he ran more in six other games this season.
By comparison, Dampier ran at least 10 times in all but two games. And he averaged 27.5 passes a game.
Basically, Utah said: We have a strong, physical offense line and a great rushing attack, but the offense runs through Dampier.
And they cut Dampier loose.
I gotta think Michigan will do the same with Underwood, especially if Whittingham is able to hire Beck.
That would be great news for Underwood. Just to unlock his potential.
Put Underwood in the shotgun. Spread it out with one running back, a tight end and three wide receivers.
Work fast. No huddle. Focus on building a power run game – that’s gotta be the foundation.
“Physicality will be our calling card,” Whittingham said. “At Utah, the place I was, we were the most physical team in the league in whichever league we played in.”
But mix that physical play with a talented, skilled QB who can lift an entire program to the next level, utilizing the dual-threat capabilities of Underwood.
I mean, goodness gracious, this isn’t complicated. Take the reins off Underwood, coach him up and let him do his thing. No more conservative play-calling. Establish the run. Create mismatches. And unlock explosive plays by stretching the field (especially, if you can find some more speed in the transfer portal).
In my mind, Whitingham wasn’t blowing smoke.
If it all comes together, it really could fit Underwood to a T.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
More from Seidel: How a Charlevoix crash survivor earned his own Christmas miracle
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kyle Whittingham hire could be best thing ever for Bryce Underwood
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