Big Ten Coaches Tear Down Michigan QB Bryce Underwood's Game — But is it Fair?

A couple of Big Ten coaches really slammed Underwood's ability, but is that fair?

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It's been easy for media, fans, former players, and now coaches to criticize Michigan QB Bryce Underwood. He was tabbed as the No. 1 rated player in the 2025 recruiting class, and he's been very confident about his ability to play the game.

But 2025 wasn't great for Underwood, who threw nine interceptions and 11 touchdown passes on the season. His mechanics weren't good and it made for too many errant passes.

Recently, anonymous Big Ten coaches spoke to ESPN to talk about projected starting quarterbacks in the conference, and one coach was very blunt about his perspective of Underwood.

"I'm not impressed," one coach said. "He just misses and misses. He's tall, so he's able to make certain plays that other guys can't, and he's big, so he can run. But I don't see him as someone that's dangerous at all. He's a guy who can lose you some games."

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Michigan fans were hopeful that the addition of Kyle Whittingham and Jason Beck that it would allow Underwood to fully develop. But another coach isn't high on what Whittingham can do for Underwood.

"He's a good head coach, but in 21 years, they haven't had a quarterback drafted," the coach said. "Just because you pay somebody money doesn't make them good. There's going to be a little reality check on that."

Underwood's NIL deal put a target on his back

Underwood, a Michigan native, was blunt that he wasn't going to the Wolverines because they didn't develop quarterbacks at a high rate. However, the LSU commit opted to leave the Tigers for Michigan after the Wolverines offered him a major NIL deal to flip.

Right from then, Underwood had a big target on his back and people expected him to play at a high clip. But at the end of the day, he was one of the youngest players to play college football last season, and the coaching staff did him little favors.

"The only reason there's mixed reviews, and that they're not talking about him still being young, is because of the expectations coming out of recruiting," a Big Ten defensive coordinator said. "We've really put a bull's-eye on a lot of these kids because of the exorbitant amount that they're paying them."

Is the criticism fair?

Players might be college athletes, but with how the landscape has shifted, some athletes make more or as much as professional players.

Bryce Underwood is in that category and when you're paying a player that type of money, it's going to command criticism.

The criticism is mostly fair from last season. Underwood didn't improve as the season marched out, and despite Sherrone Moore not helping him, it was Underwood making the plays and reading the defense last season.

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But let's not act like Underwood can't improve. He was just a true freshman last season, it's not like he was a fully constructed player out there. He had zero coaching and while Kyle Whittingham doesn't put quarterbacks into the NFL at a good rate, he was at Utah, not Michigan.

So yes, tear down what Underwood did in 2025, but he is allowed to improve, and for Michigan's sake he has to. So before saying he is a player that's going to lose Michigan games, or he's not impressive, let's see what happens in the first few games in 2026.