In Midst of Adversity, Bryce Underwood Has Handled Himself Better than Kyle Whittingham

The Michigan Wolverines have failed Bryce Underwood.

This is not an indictment of his play, as that has blame to go in several different spots. This is about the infrastructure they’ve put around Underwood and his team.

The quarterback, however, is where most of the attention goes at any level of football. It may not be right, but that’s just the way it is.

Underwood was brought into Michigan to save the program after a disastrous 2024 season saw three different quarterbacks play poorly as Michigan bumbled its way to an eight win season.

During that season, Underwood was a true freshman and essentially left to his own devices. He did not have a quarterback coach, and his head coach was more of a distracted friend than a mentor.

When Kyle Whittingham was hired, he brought in an infrastructure that was supposed to set Underwood up for success. Jason Beck was a decorated offensive coordinator who followed Whittingham from Utah. He had plenty of experience with Devon Dampier. Koy Detmer Jr. was a dedicated quarterback coach who was supposed to help Underwood reach the heights that were promised with the five stars in his recruiting profile.

BRYCE UNDERWOOD STRETCHES IT IN FOR A TOUCHDOWN 💥

Watch the end of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on ABC and the ESPN App 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ebabizdEBy
— ESPN (@espn) December 31, 2025

None of that has happened. Underwood’s debut under Whittingham was deodorized by a hail mary to help Michigan escape disaster.

From there, little got better, and most things got worse. Ultimately, the Wolverines decided at halftime of the Penn State game in mid-October that Underwood could no longer continue as the team’s starting quarterback.

The Response

We’ve talked about this a bunch. Bryce Underwood’s response to being placed on the bench, has been commendable.

Underwood has remained engaged. He’s been Tommy Carr’s biggest cheerleader. He’s continued to remain engaged with his teammates.

In a world where players are taught more than ever to look out for what is best for themselves, Underwood, at 19-years-old, has handled the entire situation better than anyone could have reasonably expected.

The Comparison

Let’s compare how Bryce Underwood has handled his situation to Kyle Whittingham handling his.

GET READY TO COMPETE

Pick your champion (you can change it later). We’ll email you when brackets open.

No purchase necessary. 50 U.S./D.C. 18+. Entry opens 3PM ET Dec 6, 2026 and closes 8PM ET Dec 18, 2026. Void where prohibited.See for complete details. The College Football Playoff (CFP) is not a sponsor or administrator of this contest.

Whittingham was brought in to Michigan to take over a program that was in a good spot on the field. They won nine games in 2025, but struggled against Ohio State and had some off field issues that needed to be cleaned up.

Whittingham’s hire was supposed to be one that brought wisdom and maturity to the head coach’s chair.

Through nine weeks, that has fallen apart entirely. Whittingham has not done his homework on traditions that matter at Michigan. He has mocked the idea of trophy games being left on the schedule. He downplayed two separate rivalries, before noting that he did not hate Ohio State.

All of those things mentioned above would have been forgivable if Michigan were winning games. Winning cures everything.

Michigan isn’t winning, and now Whittingham is starting to shift blame to those around him.

After Michigan lost to Indiana, Kyle Whittingham mentioned that the biggest job in college football was recruiting.

Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham watches a play against Indiana during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“I wouldn't say it's a complete rebuild because we've got some talented players in the program, but you're always looking to upgrade rosters and recruit," Whittingham said. "Really, college football is 80 percent recruiting. If you're having success or failure, you can trace it all back to recruiting decisions, either good or bad."

Good or bad decisions could be interpreted as trying to keep players from leaving via the transfer portal. It was subtle, but the connection was there.

There was nothing subtle about Whittingham’s comments after Saturday’s loss to Michigan State.

“Because when you look down the road, the recruiting class that we’ve put together for the ’27 class, we feel really good about, Whittingham said. “We got a portal season coming up in a month and a half, two months, and just continue to build the depth and the talent level, just continuing to add to what we got.”

Imagine if you will for a minute that Bryce Underwood after his benching said something similar.

If Underwood were to write a statement on his social media pages that he felt good about his benching because down the road, he knows other coaches will help him reach his potential.

He would have rightfully been ridiculed for those comments. Those are not words that are said by a captain of the team. Underwood appears to have understood that, and acted accordingly.

Whittingham doesn’t, and somehow looks less like the adult in the room than ever before.

Sign up for the Michigan Wolverines on SI newsletter for more free coverage

Add us as a preferred source on Google