It took a miracle from Michigan Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham to keep quarterback Bryce Underwood in Ann Arbor. And in preparing for the coming season, Underwood has gone as far as training with a former QB of the Wolverines’ arch rivals, Ohio State.

Bryce Underwood recently posted a picture on his Instagram story, where he was training alongside former Buckeye and Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow, both of whom have QB Summit consultant and former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer as their personal quarterback coach.

Underwood joined the Wolverines as a five-star quarterback and the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. At Belleville High School, he finished his exquisite career with 11,488 passing yards, 152 touchdowns, adding 1,200+ rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. However, his freshman season in college saw him perform below expectations, often showing glimpses of his brilliance, but at an inconsistent rate. He threw for 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

And after Whittingham shut down his escape via the transfer portal, Underwood has been keen on living up to the expectations placed on him. Underwood is now training alongside Burrow, whose college career went down as one of the most prolific in history. Though Burrow is more famous for his time with the LSU Tigers, he spent his first three seasons of college football with the Buckeyes. But he soon left after being frustrated by a lack of game time.

After three seasons with the Buckeyes, Burrow moved to Baton Rouge, where he won the Heisman Trophy, a national championship, set numerous college football records, and went into the NFL draft as the No. 1 overall pick in 2020. In his final season, he had 60 passing touchdowns, 65 total touchdowns, and 5,671 passing yards. He famously pulled off one of the greatest performances in college football history at the College Football Playoff semifinal, where he totaled eight touchdowns within 35 minutes against the Sooners.

Surely, there is so much Underwood can pick up from Burrow beyond the drama of the Wolverines-Buckeyes rivalry. Underwood is struggling to replicate his high school exploits, while Burrow has taken his college wonders to the NFL. Burrow is a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time winner of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, and has led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns.

Underwood has also been said to have looked more slender in the picture than he was a year ago, despite the program still listing him at the same 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds. The last time Underwood said anything about his weight, he made an intentional weight gain to improve his speed and explosiveness. \However, as Underwood keeps improving, his prospective backup in the 2026 season has been recovering from an injury.

Injury update on Bryce Underwood’s backup QB

The new recruit, Brady Smigiel, had a high school career-ending injury after diving across the goal line to score what became his final touchdown in high school. He is now recovering fast from the ACL tear he picked up in October, according to reporter Brice Marich.

Smigiel was also a dominant high school quarterback, with over 11,000 passing yards and 147 touchdown passes, despite picking up an early injury in 2025. Smigiel is joined by Tommy Carr, Colin Hurley, and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, making up a QB room that should make Whittingham proud in the coming season.