It is still strange to type this:

Kyle Whittingham is the head coach at Michigan.

For more than two decades, Whittingham was Utah football. He built that program. He won there. He took the Utes from the old Mountain West world into the Power Four era and made them a team nobody wanted to play.

Now he is in Ann Arbor.

That still feels weird.

Michigan is only a few years removed from winning a national championship under Jim Harbaugh, but the program already looks completely different. Harbaugh is gone. Sherrone Moore is gone. The roster has turned. The Big Ten has changed. The expectations have not.

Michigan does not do patience. Not when the Wolverines are supposed to compete for Big Ten titles, beat Ohio State, and live in the playoff conversation.

Whittingham gives Michigan one of the most proven coaches in the sport.

But the season probably comes down to whether or not Bryce Underwood can develop and if Whittingham can instill his toughness in the roster.

HEAD COACH

• Kyle Whittingham, entering year one at Michigan
• Whittingham went 177-88 as Utah’s head coach.
• Michigan went 9-4 last season and 7-2 in the Big Ten.
• The Wolverines have not had a losing season in a full season since 2014.
• Michigan averaged 27.5 points per game and allowed 20.4 points per game last year.

This is a fascinating fit.

Whittingham was named Michigan’s head coach on Dec. 26, 2025, after 21 seasons as Utah’s head coach and 32 years overall with the Utes. He had winning seasons in 18 of 21 seasons and eight 10-win seasons.

That is exactly the kind of résumé Michigan fans should respect.

This is not some young coach getting his first big job. This is not a coordinator who has never run a program. This is one of the most stable coaches in college football walking into one of the biggest jobs in the sport.

But Michigan is not Utah.

That is not meant as a shot at Utah. Whittingham made Utah into a legitimate power program.

It is just different in Ann Arbor.

Every loss gets magnified. Every Ohio State result defines the offseason. Every quarterback decision becomes a national conversation. Every game feels like a referendum on where the program is headed.

The good news is Whittingham’s style should translate.

Michigan wants to be physical. Michigan wants to run the football. Michigan wants to win on defense. Whittingham has made a career out of getting his teams to do all three well.

The question is whether he can modernize enough offensively to get Michigan from good back to elite.

Because last year, the Wolverines were good.

They were not elite.

QUARTERBACK

Bryce Underwood enters year two, and now the excuses get thinner.

That may sound harsh, but it is true.

Last year, there were reasons to be patient. Underwood was a freshman. Michigan had a tough schedule. The Wolverines went to Oklahoma early. They went to Nebraska early. They asked a young quarterback to grow up fast.

He had flashes.

But the full picture was not good enough.

Underwood completed 60.3% of his passes for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season. He also carried the ball 88 times and ran for six touchdowns.

Underwood can move. He can extend plays. He can be part of the run game. That gives Michigan something.

But the passing has to jump.

The last six games were the concern. Underwood threw four touchdowns and seven interceptions over that stretch, and the mistakes piled up as the competition got tougher.

That is what has to change.

From a clean pocket, he completed around 65% of his passes, but the turnover number was still too high. Under pressure, he was down in the low 40s in completion percentage. That is not shocking for a freshman, but it cannot stay there.

And the deep ball is one of the more interesting parts of his profile.

Underwood threw 55 passes of 20-plus air yards last season. That is more than it felt like while watching Michigan. He completed only about 34.5% of them, with four touchdowns and four interceptions.

So the willingness is there.

The efficiency is not.

That is the next step.

Michigan does not need Underwood to become the best quarterback in America overnight. But he has to protect the ball better, punish teams that load the box, and keep the offense from shrinking in big games.

If he does that, Michigan can be dangerous.

If he does not, the Wolverines may look a lot like last year again — tough, physical, good enough to beat most teams, but not explosive enough to beat the best ones.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

There is enough here for Michigan to be much better offensively.

The Wolverines averaged 27.5 points per game and 396.9 yards per game last season. They ran for 210.2 yards per game and threw for 186.8. The identity was obvious: run the ball, protect the quarterback, and let the defense do its job.

That can work.

But in the modern Big Ten, it probably cannot be all you are.

Michigan threw the ball on only about 42% of its plays last season. That is very low. It ranked near the bottom nationally in pass rate and pass attempts per game.

Some of that was by design.

Some of that was because the passing game was not ready to carry more.

The offensive line gives Michigan a chance to control games again.

Blake Frazier, Jake Guarnera, Evan Link and Andrew Sprague give the Wolverines a strong group to build around up front.

That matters for two reasons.

First, Michigan wants to run the ball. That is not changing with Whittingham.

Second, Underwood needs clean pockets. He was much better last year when he could set his feet and throw on schedule.

The running back room should be a strength.

Jordan Marshall is back after rushing for more than 900 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

Then comes Savion Hiter, a five-star freshman who should have a role right away.

That is a strong one-two punch.

Marshall gives Michigan a proven back. Hiter gives the offense more juice. And with that offensive line, the Wolverines should be able to run the ball.

The bigger question is receiver.

Andrew Marsh is the name to know after 651 yards last season.

Junior Channing Goodwin is back too.

Then there are the additions.

JJ Buchanan comes over from Utah, and Jaime Ffrench comes over from Texas.

Marsh has already shown he can produce. Ffrench was a big-time recruit. Buchanan knows the Utah/Whittingham world. Goodwin gives Michigan another returning option.

But somebody has to become the guy.

Michigan cannot keep playing games where the passing attack feels like a bonus. The Wolverines need a receiver who can win outside, a receiver Underwood trusts on third down, and a passing game that actually scares elite teams.

DEFENSE

The defense should still be good.

It usually is at Michigan.

The Wolverines allowed 20.4 points per game and 323.3 yards per game last season. They held opponents to 4.9 yards per play and only 111.9 rushing yards per game.

That is a strong defensive foundation.

The concern is the returning production.

Michigan does not bring back as many clear defensive starters as you would like. There is talent, but there is also change.

The good news is Whittingham brought help.

John Henry Daley followed from Utah, and that is a big deal. Daley had 11.5 sacks last season and comes in as the kind of pass rusher Michigan badly needed.

That is the headline transfer on defense.

However, secondary might be the strength.

Jyaire Hill is back at corner. Zeke Berry is back. Rod Moore is back at safety. Michigan also added Smith Snowden from Utah and Chris Bracy from Memphis.

That is a lot of experience and talent on the back end.

Snowden is especially interesting because he knows what Whittingham wants defensively. Bracy gives Michigan another veteran safety. Moore gives the Wolverines leadership. Hill and Berry give them corner experience.

The question is linebacker.

That is the spot that feels less settled.

Sophomore Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng is one of the young players to watch there.

Still, I am not overly worried about the defense.

Whittingham knows defense. Michigan has talent. The secondary should be good. Daley gives the front a difference-maker.

If the offense improves, the defense does not have to be perfect.

SCHEDULE

Michigan opens with four straight home games: Western Michigan, Oklahoma, UTEP and Iowa. Then the Wolverines go to Minnesota before a bye. After that, they host Penn State and Indiana, go to Rutgers, host Michigan State, go to Oregon, host UCLA, and finish at Ohio State.

The front half is very friendly.

All four September games are at the Big House.

That is a huge change from last year, when Michigan had difficult early road games and Underwood had to learn on the fly in hostile environments.

This time, he gets to start at home.

That matters.

The Oklahoma game is massive, but it is in Ann Arbor. The Iowa game will be ugly and physical, but it is in Ann Arbor too.

Then Michigan goes to Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug game. After that, the Wolverines get an open date.

Through mid-October, that is about as manageable as you could ask for.

Then comes the real test.

Penn State and Indiana come to Michigan Stadium in back-to-back weeks.

That is a huge stretch.

Penn State is always a measuring-stick game. Indiana is the defending national champion. If Michigan wins both, the season starts to look very different.

Then the Wolverines go to Rutgers on Halloween and host Michigan State the next week.

By mid-November, Michigan will have played only two true road games: Minnesota and Rutgers.

That is incredible.

But the schedule pays it back at the end.

The final three games are at Oregon, UCLA, and at Ohio State.

That is brutal.

Going to Autzen Stadium in mid-November is hard enough. Finishing in Columbus against Ohio State is as hard as it gets. UCLA coming to Ann Arbor between them is not the same kind of challenge, but it is still a Big Ten game in the middle of a draining closing stretch.

So the schedule has two clear parts.

The first part gives Michigan a chance to build confidence.

The last part will tell us if Michigan is actually a playoff team.

OUTLOOK

Michigan is one of the most interesting teams in the country.

The Wolverines have a proven head coach. They have a talented second-year quarterback. They have a good offensive line. They should be able to run the football. They have a secondary with real pieces. They added a proven pass rusher. The schedule gives them a chance to start fast.

That is the optimistic case.

And it is a strong one.

The concern is just as clear.

Bryce Underwood was not good enough last year. The passing game was not good enough. The receiver room still has to prove it can produce against elite teams. The defense has new pieces. The linebacker group has questions. And the final stretch of the schedule is nasty.

The best-case scenario is that Underwood makes a real sophomore jump, Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter give Michigan a strong run game, Andrew Marsh becomes a true No. 1 receiver, Jaime Ffrench adds juice, and the defense stays top-25 nationally under Whittingham.

If that happens, Michigan can absolutely get back to the playoff.

The worst-case scenario is that Underwood stays too inconsistent, the passing game still cannot punish good defenses, the linebacker questions show up, and the Oregon-Ohio State finish exposes the Wolverines.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.