Michigan’s offensive potential has already taken a significant jump this offseason

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The prevailing story during Sherrone Moore’s first year as head coach was Michigan’s lackluster offense that made scoring points seem like pulling teeth. The unit was helmed by an inexperienced offensive coordinator in Kirk Campbell and a trio of quarterbacks that were largely ineffective. Naturally, the program took the necessary steps to correct things in 2025 by bringing in an experienced play caller in Chip Lindsey and five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood.

But despite their best efforts, the improvement was minimal at best and the offense is back at square one under new head coach Kyle Whittingham. And even in the span of about three weeks, there have been a handful of interesting developments that should give fans optimism that the Wolverines could be lighting up the scoreboard a whole lot more in 2026.

Michigan’s potential for offensive rejuvenation began the very day Whittingham took the job, as reports already began to surface that Jason Beck was going to be the team’s next offensive coordinator. He doesn’t have an extensive track record as a coordinator — this will only be his fourth season in such a role — but the early returns have been great. Look no further than what Beck did with Utah’s offense last year by leading the Utes to a 17.5-point improvement in points per game from where they’d been the year prior.

Going even further back into Beck’s file, you’d find he’s been a quarterback coach at multiple stops over the last decade or so, developing notable players like Taysom Hill, Brennan Armstrong and Bryce Perkins. Furthermore, he helped Devon Dampier become a great dual-threat at both Utah and at New Mexico.

Dual-threat ability seems to be a common denominator with Beck and his quarterbacks, and while Underwood isn’t exactly like Hill with his legs, the potential is still there for the quarterback run to be more of a focal point in the offense moving forward. We saw in flashes what Underwood could do, with 392 rushing yards in 2025, but the coaches kept him on what seemed to be too short a leash at times. This is something that should change during his sophomore season and should add another dimension to what was often a rudimentary offensive approach.

In addition to Beck, Michigan also added a dedicated quarterback coach in Koy Detmer Jr., something it didn’t have last year. Detmer worked with Beck and Dampier the last two seasons and played a big role in Dampier’s development; he’ll have the chance to make a similar impact with Underwood, who inexplicably didn’t have someone working with him on a daily basis last season.

When speaking about Underwood with Urban Meyer last week, Whittingham mentioned the young quarterback’s work with Beck and Detmer is already off to a good start.

Even with assistance from this coaching staff, the team still needed some skill players. Andrew Marsh was a good place to start after his 651-yard All-American freshman year, but he was a potential target for opposing programs and wouldn’t have been able to lead the group of pass-catchers on his own anyway. Fortunately, Whittingham was able to retain Marsh before adding some help around him.

The first domino to fall was the portal commitment of wide receiver Jaime Ffrench, a highly-rated four-star recruit in the 2025 class that didn’t see much playing time as a freshman at Texas. Shortly thereafter, Michigan landed a commitment from JJ Buchanan, another rising sophomore that played a wide receiver-tight end hybrid role in Utah’s offense last season.

With Marsh, Ffrench and Buchanan, Michigan has a group of pass-catchers that compliment each other well and should only aid Underwood’s development. Marsh and Ffrench are both capable of stretching the field and operating close to the line of scrimmage, while Buchanan can make plays over the middle, run after the catch, and come down with the occasional jump ball.

That’s not to mention returning players like Channing Goodwin, Jamar Browder, Zack Marshall and Hogan Hansen, or newcomers like Travis Johnson and Salesi Moa, who will all have a shot at making an impact in the passing attack next fall.

To further complete the picture, Michigan’s running game should continue to be one of the best in the Big Ten. Even with Justice Haynes heading to Georgia Tech, Jordan Marshall is back after a breakout sophomore campaign. Five-star freshman Savion Hiter and Oklahoma transfer Taylor Tatum — the No. 1 running back coming out of high school in the 2024 class — both join the team to provide high quality depth, with Hiter having an incredibly high ceiling and should be able to compete for legitimate snaps right away.

To top it off, Michigan is returning several players that started games along the offensive line in 2025 — Evan Link, Andrew Sprague, Jake Guarnera, Blake Frazier, Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton — as well as former five-star Andrew Babalola, who missed his freshman season with a knee injury.

Ever since Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL, Michigan has been without its identity on offense and has been limited from both a personnel and coaching standpoint. The Wolverines will certainly get a boost in the coaching department in Beck, who captained a 180-degree turnaround last season in Salt Lake City, while more experienced position coaches should greatly boost the development of Michigan’s returning offensive players. Additionally, a group of players that is not only talented but compliments one another well should ensure the offense is able to attack in a variety of ways, further fueling the optimism that Michigan’s offense will be greatly improved in 2026.

Click here for a more in-depth film study of Jason Beck’s offense from our own Andrew Bailey.

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