Why This Season Feels Different for Michigan Football

The 2025 Michigan football season will have a book written about it someday. Expectations were high with a shiny new toy under center. Bryce Underwood was supposed to be the rising tide that lifted all ships and got Michigan back into the College Football Playoff after a one year absence.

Underwood was not the only thing to be excited about. Michigan had finished their 2024 campaign with huge wins over Ohio State and Alabama in their final two games of the season. They were supposed to serve as a springboard to greater things in 2025.

It was not meant to be. The team regressed throughout the year. Distractions ran amok, and ultimately Michigan was beaten by Ohio State for the first time since 2019 at the end of the year.

Losing to Ohio State was a walk in the park compared to the embarrassment that followed. 11 days later, Sherrone Moore was fired for cause due to an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

That situation resulted in Moore being arrested, and the players having to answer questions about the actions of someone else..

The off field stuff in inexcusable, and the biggest reason Moore was fired.

On the field, however, there were plenty of questions to be asked. Moore was underqualified for the Michigan job when he was named the head coach.

That’s undeniably true, even if he was widely accepted as the right man for the job. He had the endorsement of Jim Harbaugh, and the main goal with the Moore hire was continuity in what was the golden era of Michigan football.

He never got better at his job. He was stuck between trying to be himself, while also trying to be Harbaugh. He had the wrong players in the wrong spots. He did not emphasize his best players, and did not put his crown jewel, Bryce Underwood, in the best position to succeed.

A New Era

All of that is out the window, both on the field and off, because Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham.

Whittingham is one of the most decorated coaches in college football. He was at Utah for 30 years as a defensive coordinator and a head coach. Utah won three conference titles under his stewardship with a fraction of the resources that Michigan has.

The difference in practice, presentation, focus, and everything you’d hope would surround a program as serious as Michigan’s is a night and day under Whittingham as opposed to Moore.

The differences could be interesting and require a closer look by the time the season ends.

Worse But Better

Michigan won nine games a season ago. None of their wins were particularly impressive. All three of their losses were deflating for one reason or another. None bigger than a non-competitive loss at the hands of the Buckeyes in November.

Michigan could realistically finish with a worst record in 2026 than they had in 2025. They have home dates Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana. Their road schedule includes two of the three best teams in the country with Oregon and Ohio State.

So why worry so much about the head coach when the product on the field may not actually finish with better results?

The answer, lies in the details. Last year, Michigan did not stand a fighting chance against Ohio State or Oklahoma due to the way the program was conducted.

They played closer games against teams like Northwestern and Purdue, who had no business being on the same field with a team as talented as the Wolverines.

How?

Malpractice, poor decisions, and a team that was not getting any better throughout the course of the year.

That’s not going to be the case this year. Whittingham has the reputation that he does for a reason. Jason Beck and Jay Hill have good reputations of getting the most out of their players as well.

Notably, the coaching staff will be much more cohesive than the dynamic that presented itself between Moore and Wink Martindale a season ago.

The infighting that could not be described as anything other than childish, has exited the building. Michigan has a fresh start, and they hired an adult to handle the program.

As it turns out, he’s a pretty good football coach too.

They might finish with fewer than the nine wins they had a season ago, but they’ll be a much better football team.

Here are nine standouts from #Michigan's fall camp thus far.

How many of them will start?

STORY: https://t.co/vaiPb4pNC3 pic.twitter.com/p2JPeULnHm
— Trent Knoop (@TrentKnoop) August 14, 2026

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