Five Things We've Learned About Michigan's New Offense in Fall Camp

Michigan football is on the field and barreling toward its first game against the Western Michigan Broncos at the beginning of next month. Time has flown this offseason, and it seems like only yesterday that Kyle Whittingham was hired to be the new leader of Michigan’s football program.

He brought with him a new offensive coordinator, Utah’s Jason Beck to be the team’s play caller. With Beck in tow, the idea will be to meld the offense with the skill sets they currently have, with Beck's philosophy of moving people around.

With a new coaching staff, comes new things to learn. So what have we learned during fall camp?

Let’s start with the obvious and most pressing.

A-Plus Camp

There’s no hiding the fact that Michigan’s football team is entering a big year, and so is their quarterback. Bryce Underwood was brought in to be the savior of the program, and has a salary to match that type of expectation.

Those expectations were not met in 2025, putting Underwood under the microscope going into his sophomore season.

Some early speculation stated that Underwood could be on the hot seat if he has another poor season. We’re not buying that completely, but this team with its schedule, will go as far as Underwood takes them.

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) looks to pass the ball during the spring game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 18, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The good news is with the addition of Beck and quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr. Underwood is off to an excellent start.

Kyle Whittingham is not one to exercise in hyperbole. He’s as honest as he can be, and gave the biggest endorsement of Underwood to date when the Big Ten Network stopped by Michigan’s practice last week.

“He's coming along well,” Whittingham said. “He's much further ahead than he was at the end of spring. He obviously worked hard this summer and did a lot of positive things getting himself ready in the film room, on the field and so far through six practices. I’d grade him an A-plus.”

With dates against Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State on the schedule, Michigan is going to need more of an A-plus effort from its quarterback.

Best 11

Every coach says they want to get their best players on the field as much as they can, but few are actually able to do that.

In Michigan’s case, two of their best players on offense play the same position. Jordan Marshall is likely to be the bell cow of the offense after spending the last two years as an understudy to Kalel Mullings, Donovan Edwards, and Justice Haynes.

There is, however, a new shiny toy in town that Michigan is frothing at the mouth to get on the field. Savion Hiter has looked the part from the moment he’s stepped onto campus. He has the ability to affect the game as a runner and as a receiver. He’s a home-run threat, which is something every backfield will welcome.

With Michigan’s potential deficiencies at both tight end and wide receiver, there’s little doubt that Hiter is one of their best 11 players on offense.

“Yeah, you know, there's been a lot of buzz around Savion and deservedly so. And a lot of times you can get the buzz in the recruitment. But he showed up here and is what stands out with him,” Beck said. “He has talent. You know, when you meet him and see him, he's an impressive-looking kid physically. But what stands out about Savion is he just works so hard all the time. Like, there is no such thing as not full speed with that kid. I mean, it is just full-speed effort all the time. And so he just, he makes a splash from day one because he's not easing his way in there.”

Best 5

Another common phrase from coaches is how they want to get their best five offensive linemen on the field. Sometimes, that can be tricky. Michigan’s offensive line has a lot of talent, but not a lot of experience playing together.

Evan Link is back after an injury, and likely to slide in to one of the guard spots after playing mostly tackle during his Michigan career.

Blake Frazier was the left tackle to end last season, but could slide in to guard if Andrew Babalola wins the left tackle job.

The two spots that feel rock solid in terms of the player and the position are center Jake Guarnera and right tackle Andrew Sprague.

From there? Michigan has multiple candidates for multiple spots. The one thing that also appears to be set in stone is that Andrew Babalola is going to play left tackle whenever he is on the field.

This is a position group that will likely go right down to the wire before Michigan takes on Western Michigan in early September.

Rhino Package

What’s better than five offensive linemen? How about six?

Michigan is certain to deploy a package that Jason Beck has plenty of familiarity with at previous spots where an offensive lineman takes the place of a tight end as a means to strengthen the run game.

The “Rhino” package is something Beck has used a lot of in previous stops and he plans to bring that to Michigan’s offense this season.

With the surplus of offensive linemen, this is also a way for the Wolverines to get their best players on the field, while establishing its identity.

Physicality in the run game. Pass protection, you know, in complement to that. But it's about being physical to run the football,” Beck said. “And then hold up in pass protection. Because, you know, you can't be there out there and you're running it. You have to be able to throw the ball when the Rhino's out there too.”

WR3 Competition in Full Force

Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan are Michigan’s top two receivers. That’s not up for debate. Who is the third receiver that slides in if one of them needs a break, or comes onto the field when the Wolverines need multiple receivers on the field?

That’s a little more complicated.

Michigan’s wide receiver coach Micah Simon spoke to the media Monday, and gave a multitude of candidates who could step in to that role.

Channing Goodwin is the veteran who won the job last year out of fall camp, but was demoted after struggling with drops.

Playmakers 🙌 pic.twitter.com/JFRUUsYzuC
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 7, 2026

Salesi Moa and Travis Johnson are two freshmen who could make an impact as well.

Jaime Ffrench is a transfer from Texas who also is someone Simon noted.

This spot is a competition that should be fierce, with the hope that Michigan can find an answer to be able to credibly spread teams out, while still having the ability to run the football.

Playmakers 🙌 pic.twitter.com/JFRUUsYzuC
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 7, 2026

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