Kyle Whittingham's Latest Bryce Underwood Comments Raise More Alarm Bells

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan benched Bryce Underwood at halftime of the Penn State game and he's seen two snaps since. The Wolverines have gone to freshman Tommy Carr and he's shown some ups and downs, which was to be expected. There were a lot of highs last week against Rutgers, and you can argue he was a sole reason Michigan won the game 28-21.

After a Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, Carr looked more like the three-star true freshman who wasn't ready for the big game on Saturday against Michigan State. That's more of an indictment of the coaching staff than Carr himself. Nobody thought Carr would be the man this season, and everyone thought the quarterback position would be better coached with Jason Beck and Koy Detmer coming to Ann Arbor.

Carr's second attempt of the game was an interception, and he tossed a second one in the fourth quarter. A lot of his passes were high and the deep ball lacked juice the second game in a row. The freshman quarterback was bailed out of at least one more play that could've been picked off by the Spartans' defense and after the game, Kyle Whittingham admitted the team thought about placing Underwood in the game.

"That was a conversation," Whittingham said after the game. "Whether or not Bryce should go in late in the third quarter. Should that switch be made? And just felt like it wasn't going to be the answer if we would have done that. In hindsight, maybe we should have done that.

"But we've got some serious issues. And we'll, like I said, go to work tomorrow. I don't know what else to say other than we're not going to just give up on the season. We've got three games left. And very good teams, like I said. We've got some kids in that locker room who have a lot of pride and a lot of want-to. And we just got to find a way to get back on track."

Who actually makes these decisions?

Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham reacts to a play against Penn State as quarterback Bryce Underwood — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Sticking with Carr isn't the problem. Should Michigan have given Underwood a chance? Probably, but as we've been saying most of the season, this isn't a quarterback issue. It wasn't with Underwood and it isn't now with Carr. Michigan has a top-to-bottom problem in its organization.

And that buck stops with Whittingham. He has said numerous times that he doesn't like to micromanage and he believes he hires coaches for a reason and he wants them to do their job. So what does Whittingham do?

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Why didn't Michigan give Underwood a chance? That's because the offensive coaches thought sticking with Carr was the right decision. Whittingham was then questioned after the game if he's even allowed to make that call. Harping back, he said everything in this program is his decision, including making a quarterback change.

"Offensive coaches thought to stick with Tommy," said Whittingham. "And that was, I can't give you any other reason other than that was the way they felt that given the circumstances and the practice reps during the week and all that. The person that gave us the best chance to win at the time was still going to be Tommy, in their opinion.

"Ultimately it's my call. I asked for their input. And they said, no, we feel this. I've got to respect that. So it's my call. But after getting input from offensive coaches, they decided — we decided, I guess I should say — that we would just stick it out with Tommy."

Where is the passion?

Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham walks — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Whittingham was one foot out the door when he was set to retire from Utah. However, he said he was given new life when Michigan had contacted him about coaching the Wolverines. He says he wants to be in Ann Arbor and help turn the Wolverines around.

But when you see Whittingham on the sidelines, there is no passion. During his pressers, he is a coach who is looking for answers and has a hard time giving you answers. Whittingham gives mixed signals on if he is the problem or if he's blaming the coaching staff — or even the players.

This isn't what either Whittingham or Michigan signed up for. Through nine games, this has been a failure, and at some point, the Wolverines need to admit their mistake. Not giving Underwood a chance — plus his comments afterward — is everything you need to know about the Whittingham tenure in Ann Arbor.

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