Michigan football ready to pull out tricks, speed things up on offense

It was a crisp evening in Provo, Utah, when Jason Beck's and Jay Hill's units met for the first time.

On Oct. 18, 2025, BYU (featuring Hill as defensive coordinator) held Utah (featuring Beck as offensive coordinator) to the second-lowest output of the season for 2025's No. 4 scoring offense (featuring 41.2 points a game).

Despite the victory for the Cougars over the Utes (led by now-Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham), Hill came way with a strong impression of Beck's offense.

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"Extremely creative," Hill, U-M's new defensive coordinator said Wednesday, Aug. 5, in Ann Arbor. "They do a good job of finding mismatches and trying to get you out leveraged in different ways. When you think they're going to run it, they throw it. When you think they're going to throw it, they run it. It's just it keeps you on your toes.

"Very explosive. … Probably the best thing about them, they do a great job getting the playmakers the ball in space with the opportunity to make plays."

That's exactly what the goal is for the Wolverines this season, using disguises, misdirection and tempo to stay ahead of the opponent. These are philosophies Beck learned at his various stops, which include Syracuse, Virginia, New Mexico and Utah.

In his past two stops – New Mexico in 2024 and Utah in 2025 – Beck has created a top-five offense and, he said, this ideology is paramount to the success of his scheme.

"When I set up in the booth [during games] and the defensive guys are up there and they'll be watching the other team line up and they're calling up the plays," Beck said after U-M's first fall practice, "I never want to be that guy on offense … when they're watching the team line up, they can call out what they're doing.

"Everything we're doing is trying to hide that, disguise that, and make it hard to defend. Not they see the formation and they can go, 'Hey, counter to counter to the boundary.'"

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Much of U-M's offensive success will come down to its personnel, whether that's quarterback Bryce Underwood's ability to improve in his second season. running backs Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter living up to the potential they've shown (in college and high school, respectively), wide receivers Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan giving U-M two true game-changing receivers or an offensive line jelling.

But Beck's strategy, combined with game implementation will have as big a say in U-M's success. That's why U-M has discussed having multiple running backs on the field together, implementing more quarterback runs and, as running backs coach Tony Alford told the Free Press this summer, "using all 53½" yards from sideline to sideline to stretch defenses.

It's also imperative Michigan's players understand the concepts quickly to operate at a speed that defenses aren't used to.

"We want to be really hard to defend," Beck said. "We want to be able to attack the opponent and gain advantages in what we're doing. We have a unique ability to be able to do all kinds of personnel and formations and motions and play types while we do it at tempo.

"Everything we're doing is just to be tough to defend, to gain advantages, to attack, to score points, to win."

A key element to Michigan's offense will be variability; namely, option routes for receivers on specific plays and against particular coverages. That will ratchet up the difficulty of Underwood and his receivers being on the same page, with timing on both sides vital.

It's why U-M will work during its film sessions and meetings to go over specific scenarios: "Based off those looks, how is this route adjusting?" Beck will ask his players.

He made sure to clarify: It's not that "every route [can be] everything, because certain routes have to be super-controlled" but he did say it's a big part of the offense. That's why he will have "younger" coaches simulate defensive backs in practice, too, to present specific looks to work on. Then the offense will work on it in seven-on-seven practice and then full scrimmages.

In the end, he said, it comes down to "chemistry."

"No matter what the coverage is, there are answers," Beck said. "It's either answers in the concepts working together, or there's answers in a guy having options to get open and the routes he's running."

Michigan will spend the next month in the lab, developing that chemistry and finding the answers to any defense.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

For openers: Broncos

Matchup: Michigan (8-5 in 2025) vs. Western Michigan (10-4 in 2025); season opener.

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.

TV/radio: NBC; WCSX-FM (94.7).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football ready to pull out tricks, speed things up on offense