Kyle Whittingham details spread offense built around Bryce Underwood

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ORLANDO, Fla. — In some ways, new Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham closely resembles former head coach Jim Harbaugh in demeanor and style of play. But in others, it could look much, much different.

On Sunday, at his introductory press conference, Whittingham outlined his vision for the Wolverines, sharing his overall idea for what he'd like the maize and blue to do, his familiarity with the program, and how his style resembles the expectations those in Ann Arbor have for the team.

"Well, I think our team will fall right in line with what Michigan is used to. Michigan football, all the way back with Coach Bo Schembechler, who, by the way, when I was seven years old, sitting in my living room watching a football game by myself, and it just happened to be Michigan vs. Ohio State, and I saw those winged helmets come out of the tunnel and Bo Schembecher leading them and playing against Woody Hayes, and I was hooked. I was hooked at that point.

"And so I’ve been, and that’s the honest truth, so I’ve been watching Michigan football and following it for years. But what you can expect, physicality will be our calling card. Usually Utah, the place I was, we were the most physical team in the league, whichever league we played in, that’s not going to be any different here. And I believe in running the football. We were second in the nation last year, rushing the football at Utah and defending the run. If you can get those things, if you can win the line of scrimmage, all right, and be physical up front, you’ve always got a chance. And so that will be the trademark and the identity of this football team is physicality, toughness, and grit."

While Whittingham is a defensive-minded head coach, as the former defensive coordinator at Utah before taking over the lead role from Urban Meyer in 2005, he has a lot of offense on the mind. And it all starts with quarterback Bryce Underwood, who he hopes will be leading the charge.

Whittingham says that he spoke directly to Underwood for 45 minutes on Sunday, the first one-on-one conversation he's had with a player to this point, and while he 'mostly listened,' he also says that he believes the style of play will emphasize the star quarterback's skill set.

"His ceiling is very high," Whittingham said. "And the offense we’re going to bring in here, I think, is going to suit him to a tee. And I think he’s going to really, really excel and have a great experience here."

If the offense is going to 'suit him to a tee,' what does it look like? At the post-press conference breakout session, Whittingham shared his plans, and it will be a bit of a departure from what the Wolverines have had up unto this point, at least in the previous decade. Even so, the philosophy remains the same.

"Spread, spread offense," Whittingham said. "Based out of a spread, 11 personnel would be our base personnel group. We're gonna run the football efficiently, and we're gonna run the ball. The only people that were in the same category as our service cadres, the Air Force, they did that. So otherwise, I believe that if you can run the football effectively, everything happens."

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham outlines Michigan football identity at intro presser

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