Greg McElroy on Michigan football's 2026 ceiling and Bryce Underwood

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Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy was among the first to take a look at the 2023 Michigan Wolverines team and say that it was one that could win the national championship that year. He's tended to see what's going on in Ann Arbor, even when others don't, and recognize that the conference isn't just Ohio State and the rest.

And as McElroy looks at this upcoming iteration of Michigan football, he thinks there could be some real good if the Wolverines have a few things go right.

On his Always College Football podcast, McElroy broke down where the maize and blue currently are, noting that everything is somewhat contingent on Bryce Underwood.

"The Michigan Wolverines trying to get back into the College Football Playoff, and they have some coaching transition as well," McElroy said. "However, the biggest question for Michigan this year is can Bryce Underwood make a sophomore leap under a new coach, new coordinator, and a completely new offensive system? That's a real question.

"Because look, I love Kyle Whittingham. I mean, he didn't come to Ann Arbor to help build this thing from the ground up. I mean, he came in to plug and play and to win immediately. He brings in his offensive coordinator from Utah with him in Jason Beck. And Beck dramatically improved Utah's offense last year. He brings in defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who he swiped from BYU, and he knew him very, very close. That's gonna be a really, really smooth transition, I think, with the coaches. But retaining Bryce Underwood was massive. He was the top recruit from the class a couple years back, had a bit of an up and down freshman year, which is to be expected, by the way. And didn't play his best ball in the closing stretch of the Citrus Bowl loss to Texas. 

"Now, the spring game, a bit of a low-scoring affair. And Underwood, if you're gonna look at the limited reps that he actually was out there, he was just 3-for-9 for 22 yards. And there's still some inconsistencies from an accuracy standpoint. There still appears to be some, maybe occasional mechanical issues. And some of those concerns are a little familiar from what we saw last year. Now, everyone's gonna be in love with the new toy, right? The new freshman quarterback, Tommy Carr, who, of course, is the grandson of the legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. And he looked great, right? So everybody loves him. And there was that steak versus hot dogs reward system, where the winning team got steaks, and the losing team got hot dogs. Well, apparently that motivated Tommy Carr there because they made pretty clear after the actual spring game itself, it's like, we know Underwood's the starter. No one's denying that. There's no question about it. There's not a competition. But there's something that I keep coming back to when Whittingham talked about Underwood, (he) said that he progressed significantly through spring. Now, some things that you may not necessarily notice, but his footwork, his pocket presence, he's improved in just about every area, but there's still a lot of work to do. Yeah, there's still a lot of work to do. He's a second-year player, and that's truth from his own head coach. 

"Now, the big story in the spring was freshman running back Savion Hiter. It sounds like he's got power, it sounds like he's got footwork, and he's got a lot of speed as well. Every single report out of Ann Arbor referenced him as a possible breakout candidate. You also hear a lot about the presence that Salesi Moa made to the wide receiver room. It sounds like the defense has a bit of an identity coming out of spring. But the ceiling in 2026 for Michigan will be determined almost entirely by one thing, and that's Bryce Underwood, right? Because right now, he's learning a new offense. It's his second college season. If he could develop into an elite Big Ten quarterback, then Michigan has every opportunity to not just compete in the league, but compete for the College Football Playoff as well. 

"Michigan's one of the most fascinating programs in the conference this year, not because they're the best, but because the range of outcomes is pretty significant. If Underwood can figure it out and the Whittingham culture kind of lands immediately, it's a College Football Playoff lock. But if Underwood continues with some inconsistencies and maybe the offense isn't as good as we hope they're going to be, well, man, this could be a team that has some ups and downs. Now, I'm not quite ready to put Michigan into my preseason top five until I see Underwood put together a full game, but I'm absolutely bullish on this Michigan team. Like I said, though, almost entirely due to the progress I anticipate from their starting quarterback."

The schedule is also quite prohibitive, with road games at Ohio State and Oregon, as well as home games against Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana. If the maize and blue can somehow get four of those six games, they'll be back in the CFP — but that's a big if.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football's 2026 ceiling depends on Bryce Underwood

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