Bryce Underwood is back with his second season at Ann Arbor. Under a new head coach and with improved offensive weapons, the Michigan QB1 is vying to prove his naysayers wrong. However, that doesn’t mean he’s still not answering for his returns in his freshman year.

“I feel like overall I give myself a C-plus-B,” Underwood said during his appearance at the Cover 3 podcast on July 30 after he was asked what he would grade his first year as a Wolverine. “You know, with everything that we had going on throughout the season, I feel like we handled it the best way we could as a team and everything like that.”

Underwood arrived at Michigan as a generational five-star talent after flipping his high school commitment from LSU. Despite the price tag, he was coming to a team in transition. The offense didn’t have many weapons, and that didn’t help the freshman QB as he was learning to play college ball.

On top of that, Underwood didn’t get the necessary institutional support to succeed. We later learned that he didn’t have a dedicated QB coach.

During the 2025 campaign, Underwood threw for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions with a 60.3% completion rate. The lowest point in his first year came when rival Ohio State held him to a season-low 63 passing yards in a disappointing 9-27 loss. When opposing defenses blitzed, Underwood struggled heavily with pocket presence.

Instead of stepping up or navigating the pocket cleanly, he tended to fade backward or drift out of structure, resulting in a high volume of erratic throwaways or sacks. The sophomore quarterback openly acknowledged that he did not spend enough time watching film in 2025. This directly limited his ability to diagnose defensive coverages before the snap. However, the new head coach, Kyle Whittingham, also took a stand for his starting QB.

“First of all, from what I understand, no dedicated quarterback coach was working with him daily, which has to happen,” Whittingham said on his appearance at Triple Option back in January. “You got a young, young man, 17 years old. He didn’t turn 18 till like mid-season. And so, he’s a guy that really could have been in high school last year as far as his age, but there are some things in throwing mechanics and just things to smooth out in his fundamentals and technique.”

In his second year, Underwood is under immense pressure to prove that he’s the person who can lead Michigan to success in Whittingham’s era. The QB’s off-season moves prove that he understands that.

The 2.0 version of Bryce Underwood

Bryce Underwood is ready to rewrite his trajectory under coach Whittingham in the upcoming season. He spent the offseason working in California with notable quarterback guru Jordan Palmer, who also trained Joe Burrow, to rebuild his footwork, pocket presence, and delivery zip.

Underwood noted he is actively molding his mental game after Burrow’s signature calm-in-the-storm pocket presence. Whittingham also brought in Koy Detmer Jr. as Michigan’s dedicated quarterbacks coach. He brought in offensive coordinator Jason Beck to tailor an explosive, dual-threat playbook around Underwood’s exact strengths. 

“We already got a good start on that,” Whittingham said. “And Jason Beck and Koy Detmer, outstanding quarterback developers and coaches, and so we’re already going down that path. But you talk about a ton of upside. I mean, Bryce got it all. He’s 6’4 and 225 plus and has a cannon arm, and so he’s the whole package.”