All of Michigan’s goals are still on the table, but Kyle Whittingham must assert his identity

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It’s still early in the year, but Michigan hasn’t played the brand of Kyle Whittingham-coached football that was expected during the offseason.

Since Week 1, the Wolverines have been the butt of plenty of jokes from pundits and opposing fans alike for the controversial manner in which they defeated Western Michigan and the fact that the game was close to begin with. It was a game in which it couldn’t get out of its own way and certainly was overlooking an inferior opponent, and Michigan hasn’t been able to get out of its way since.

Through four games, Michigan has been penalized 32 times for 289 yards – an average of eight times for 72.25 yards per game. Many of these penalties have been of the careless variety too, with alignment penalties and late hits seeming to come at the worst possible times. The Wolverines have turned the ball over six times and taken it away just three. And on Saturday, Michigan’s special teams had their own gaffe by allowing a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown.

The lack of discipline and poise Michigan has played with has shaped the perception of the season so far and will keep the Wolverines from being among the Big Ten’s best teams despite a level of talent on the roster that makes that a reasonable expectation.

Saturday’s game against Iowa perhaps best epitomizes Michigan’s early-season frustrations. The Hawkeyes have followed the same formula for nearly three decades now, and while Kirk Ferentz’s teams haven’t exactly ever been world-beaters, they’ve been capable of beating any team on any given day purely based on their refusal to beat themselves. Much like a Whittingham-coached Utah team of old.

Michigan dominated Iowa in nearly every facet of the game, out-gaining the Hawkeyes by 140 yards and posting over 400 yards of total offense, something a Phil Parker defense has only allowed to happen four times since the start of the 2022 season. Meanwhile, Bryce Underwood enjoyed something of a coming-out party by playing arguably the best game of his college career, continuing to put a bad Week 1 behind him.

Despite it all, though, Saturday’s game never truly felt in control, and the longer Iowa hung around, the more it felt like the balloon was about to pop before it inevitably did. Over the last 10 seasons, Iowa is 16-7 against Big Ten coaches facing the Hawkeyes for the first time – with wins over notable names like Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin. Even Curt Cignetti, Lincoln Riley, and Dan Lanning all faced Iowa for the first time last season and won their matchups by an average of four points. On Saturday, the Whittingham-led Wolverines got their dose of that old-fashioned, fundamentally strong poison.

Michigan clearly played the game tight, almost as if it was in a situation that it didn’t even believe it could find itself in, and failed to adapt to the circumstances of the game while continuing to let the careless mistakes pile up.

After showing off its depth of edge rushers against UTEP in Week 3, a clearly hobbled Dominic Nichols and a gassed John Henry Daley (who was injured at the end of the game) were both on the field more than they needed to be. The two combined for 96 snaps, while Nate Marshall, Cameron Brandt, Tariq Boney, Carter Meadows, and Benny Patterson combined for just 26.

Underwood and wide receivers JJ Buchanan and Andrew Marsh were all enjoying incredible games, but Michigan could’ve relied on them even more. Running the ball has its advantages at times, especially in the red zone where the field is compressed, but the run game clearly hasn’t been effective, and Jason Beck chose to bank on it when the team had shown to be more successful through the air.

And finally, during the last series of the game, the defense continued to play press-man coverage when it would’ve been perfectly acceptable to concede yardage if it meant keeping Iowa out of the end zone. And that was on top of fifth-year senior Zeke Berry drawing a 15-yard flag for hitting Iowa’s Tony Diaz after the whistle.

Despite a coaching staff full of individuals who have been able to elevate players above their talent level, Michigan has operated like it can win on talent alone. But as Herb Brooks (or at least Kurt Russell playing Herb Brooks) once said, “You don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.” That’s true for every college football team in 2026.

One of the biggest reasons for hiring Whittingham this offseason was that Michigan needed an adult in the room. It needed someone who could bring discipline and stability to a program that badly needed it after two years of unseriousness under Sherrone Moore. Whittingham’s age made it clear that perhaps he’d only be here for a few years, but it wouldn’t matter so long as he could combine the Wolverines’ talent with better guidance and a proven philosophy that’s generated wins by doing the little things well. So far, that hasn’t manifested.

While it might be true that Whittingham is merely keeping the seat warm for some long-term successor, the only way that his teams will ever be able to find success this season and beyond is if their head coach digs even deeper to establish the identity that his teams have had in the past. Someone of his stature shouldn’t be timid about taking ownership of his job and truly making Michigan his program, yet it appears that he has been so far. There are no toes he should be concerned about stepping on, and I think it’s safe to say that he and his staff didn’t suddenly forget the philosophies that made them great in the past.

Whittingham and the Wolverines flew too close to the sun for the first three weeks of the year and didn’t get burned. Perhaps actually losing a game will be the wake-up call that everyone needs to make meaningful change.

If there’s any encouragement to take out of the first four weeks of the season, it’s that Michigan has gotten better in the department of actually playing football. The defense has proven it can be suffocating, while the passing offense has been taking steps in the right direction each week. Punting and kicking have been impressive after being disasters last year, while the offensive line is continuing to experiment with combinations that have had varying degrees of success.

The Wolverines have shown they can get up for big-name opponents and make plays, but unless they start doing a better job of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, then it won’t amount to any sort of tangible success.

Despite a tough schedule that still lies ahead, it’s not a stretch to say Michigan has the ability to win every game the rest of the way. However, it’s not a stretch either to say that this team could lose to teams like Michigan State or Rutgers if they don’t take them seriously.

All of the things folks were optimistic about a month ago before the season started are still there, and Michigan’s talent is good enough that it can dig itself out of the hole it finds itself in, even with a smaller margin for error. This team’s most pressing and detrimental issues exist solely between the ears. Going forward, it will all be a matter of how humble and serious it is about fixing them.

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