The 2024 season was always going to be a bit of a mess for Michigan. They were dealing with a lot of NCAA drama over their sign-stealing and tampering scandal, plus the team was losing players left and right. Still, the first-year head coach pulled off a big win against Ohio State and wrapped up the season with a decent 8-5 record. But there was a big issue: the quarterback situation was a total mystery. Sherrone Moore tried out three different QBs, and none of them really impressed.

After their game against Alabama, the head coach jumped into action and went after the top quarterback available, Bryce Underwood. It wasn’t a walk in the park, but with a $12 million offer, a FaceTime call with Tom Brady, and some backing from Oracle founder Larry Ellison, they managed to convince Bryce to switch from LSU to Michigan. Things started looking up, and it seemed like Michigan was unstoppable with its recruiting and transfer moves. But now, everything seems to be falling apart, including Bryce Underwood’s enrollment.

“Michigan understands something harsher than a two-game suspension for Sherrone Moore is coming. […] I’ll admit the storm clouds on the horizon look a lot darker than they did a month or two ago.” Josh Pate, in his recent podcast episode, aptly summarized the troubles Michigan is in. And who is at the center of all of this? Sherrone Moore. With the NCAA adamant on “making an example” out of Michigan, those 52 deleted WhatsApp messages to Connor Stallions are coming back to haunt Moore. With the hearing scheduled for June 6th and 7th, not much time is left for Moore and Michigan to make amends. So, Bryce Underwood, in the background of all this chaos, is speculated to switch camps again.

On 14th May, ‘Message Board Geniuses’ posted a rumor about Bryce Underwood wanting to go back to LSU. “Rumors are circulating that Bryce Underwood is talking to LSU again. One rumor has him and his mother scheduled to visit LSU. Another is the University of Michigan is not making good on NIL, and Bryce is looking elsewhere.” The rumors were touted initially to be highly speculative and had no serious backing. But just recently, Underwood and his mom were on a flight to Baton Rouge for some respite, and the rumor mill started churning faster and faster.

But the 2025’s No. 1 overall player was watching all of this and has now come out with a reply for all the users posting speculations on social media.

Bryce Underwood, on his 6:17 AM Instagram story on May 16, laughed off all the rumors with a one-line message. “Lol, y’all say anything on social media.” The message is short and simple, and might end speculation about the rumors that are circulating. Maybe that Baton Rouge visit didn’t have any meaning other than being a regular visit. The internet may have made a mountain out of a molehill for no reason. Even if we assume for a moment that the move is likely, it doesn’t make sense.

Bryce Underwood came to Michigan for two major reasons: the $12 million reported NIL money and the fact that he hailed from Belleville, Michigan. The proximity part still remains intact, even if the NIL money isn’t coming to the table. Moreover, what’s the guarantee that LSU will be willing to pay that kind of money? For starters, last year, LSU offered the guy $1.5 million annually. That was even way below what non-QB players are getting right now in CFB. Just recently, Jackson Cantwell came to Miami, and the deal was reported to be $5 million. That being said, even if Bryce stays, tensions are still rising for Sherrone Moore.

Sherrone Moore’s absence confirmed, with detrimental effects on 2025 performances?

With the NCAA tightening its screw, Michigan meanwhile has come out with their own devised plan to prevent Moore from getting harsh punishment and mitigate the loss ahead of the hearing on June 6th. The plan? Well, before the NCAA hands out game suspensions against Sherrone Moore, the program is proposing its own two-game ban that Sherrone Moore is set to serve in week 3 and week 4 of 2025. The two games are against Central Michigan and Nebraska. But will the suspension be detrimental to the team?

Chris Balas, on May 13th, with Journalist Anthony Broome, speculated on the issue. “He’s not going to be involved in the day-to-day putting together of the game plan. Jim Harbaugh was able to do that. They changed the rule. They call it the Harbaugh rule now. I don’t know, but they probably should. So, clearly it didn’t work for them to keep Michigan from winning games without their head coach. So they’ve got to do something a little bit more to make it tougher“.

Well, Sherrone Moore’s predecessor, Jim Harbaugh, also served a three-game ban in the 2023 season, and it didn’t affect Moore’s performances. Moreover, everyone knows that even with the ban, the coaches always remain in constant communication with and the bans have become more formality than an actual punishment.