When Bryce Underwood finally announced that he’s returning, the Michigan nation breathed a sigh of relief. A lot of the credit goes to the new coaching staff assembled by Kyle Whittingham. That includes offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr. Both Beck and Detmer are tasked with preparing Bryce Underwood for the 2026 season. As part of that preparation, the OC shared his assessment of the sophomore QB.

“When I watched the film, he’s a big, athletic, impressive player. He has a big arm and has a nice presence about him,” Beck said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast.

“To play at this level as a freshman—a true freshman—is really hard. That is really challenging for anybody. From the first year to the second year, guys take a jump—just from the experience, just from being through the ups and downs, the game slowing down. Just the improvement—you make a jump from your first year as a starter to year two. Now, not many kids are starting as freshmen, so that even kind of adds to it a little more.

To be able to come in and play as a freshman is challenging, but there’s no doubt he’ll take a jump in year two, having all that experience under his belt and the things he’s learned.”

Last season, Underwood was literally thrown into the fire as a freshman. However, the 18-year-old didn’t disappoint. There were some hiccups, which are really normal for any freshman. Supposedly, if he had made one mistake in a game, that would have resulted in a chain of wrong decisions instead of a bounce back. Against Texas in the Citrus Bowl, Underwood threw three interceptions in the last 18 minutes.

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Underwood’s mistakes were compounded by inconsistent mechanics and ball placement, particularly under pressure. Against Michigan State, his struggles to remain calm were evident. He completed 8 out of 17 passes for 86 yards as he struggled to keep his mind calm, fumbling on short passes.

Another major problem was disguised defenses. In his first major road test against the Sooners, he struggled against a defense that frequently blitzed from his blindside. That, in turn, reduced his completion rate to 37.5%. These were genuine issues, but fixable ones. The only thing that made it more difficult was a lack of a committed QB coach who would work on these things.

“No dedicated quarterback coach was working with him on a daily basis, which has to happen,” Whittingham said. “He didn’t turn 18 till like mid-season. And so, he’s a guy who really could have been in high school last year, as far as his age.”

Chip Lindsey tried to divide his duties as an OC and QB coach, which ultimately was a disaster for Underwood. Now he has a dedicated QB coach who is working alongside him. And with the type of review Jason Beck gave, it’s safe to say that Underwood is in good hands.

On top of that, the rest of the QB room gives a lot of relief

The QB room fixtures

Kyle Whittingham has stacked the QB room with useful weapons. Michigan has Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. After that, there is Colin Hurley. There is no chance a QB competition will take place at Michigan this offseason. But having veteran experience is never a bad thing.

“To have someone who has a lot of experience was very important, because you have to invest a lot of your reps into getting Bryce ready, and you need to also be developing these other guys who may not be able to get as many reps,” Beck said.

As per sources, even Fowler-Nicolosi will earn some reps. He is a capable backup because he started 27 games for Colorado State. And truth be told, his production is average (6,938 yards and 38 touchdowns with 29 interceptions). Jason Beck also spoke a bit about Colin Hurley.

“We needed depth, competition,” Beck said. “So, Colin brings that to the room, along with a couple of other freshmen and young players. To be able to throw him in there, develop, compete, and see what comes out.”

In addition to these three, Michigan has three other scholarship QBs on the roster: Chase Herbstreit, freshman Tommy Carr, and Brady Smigiel.