Kyle Whittingham’s Utah-led era is finally beginning at Michigan. With spring practice looming, Whittingham turns to players, giving them the responsibility to choose their leaders directly. As the team announced four spring team captains and an 11-member Leadership Council, while making an announcement involving star QB Bryce Underwood.

The players choose the team captains whom they truly trust and resonate with. These players work with toughness, ethics, and consistency. So, this way, Whittingham can rely on them for keeping the locker room intact. With that approach, Michigan chooses four spring captains: RB Jordan Marshall and QB Bryce Underwood as offensive captains, and DL Trey Pierce and safety Rod Moore as defensive captains.

With them, Michigan also established its Leadership Council, consisting of 11 players across multiple positions, to ensure accountability and proper communication among the players. It includes Nico Andrighetto, Zeke Berry, Cameron Brandt, Mason Curtis, Enow Etta, Blake Frazier, Jake Guarnera, Jyaire Hill, Andrew Marsh, Zack Marshall, and Andrew Sprague.

For those who think such an approach is novel for Kyle Whittingham, they’re mistaken. He did the same thing during his stint at Utah last year. Before the 2025 season commenced, Whttingham deemed OT Spencer Fano, right tackle Jaren Kump, linebacker Lander Barton, and defensive lineman Logan Fano as captains, and they served on the leadership council chosen by their teammates.

This way, players choose one among them, so later on, the rift is smaller. Even Maize and Blue Review’s Trevor McCue praised Whittingham for this approach.

“Something Whittingham did at Utah and Michigan will benefit from,” McCue said. “You can draw some conclusions from the names chosen as well as what the team thinks about them, and Whitt and Co. sold many of them on to get them to return.”

The selections reflect a clear trust in veteran leadership. All four team captains know the program inside and out. Even though Bryce Underwood came in last year, he stayed hooked with the team, facing struggles with 20 sacks in the 2025 season. Then there’s Jordan Marshall, who’s the team’s leading rusher in 2025, making a return for the 2026 season despite Sherrone Moore’s firing. The same is the case with Trey Pierce and Rod Moore, a valuable duo for the team that provides crucial stability.

Old players taking charge helps the team teach their culture to new transfer players or freshman recruits. They can do it really well, resonating with the success Kyle Whittingham saw at Utah last year.

“I would say great leadership. We have tremendous captains this year,” Whittingham said. “Not that we haven’t in the past, but fortunately, they’ve all been able to stay healthy and intact. That’s a big part of it.”

With spring practice starting on March 17 and ending with an annual Spring Game on April 18, all eyes are on Bryce Underwood’s turnaround.

Kyle Whittingham shows trust in Bryce Underwood’s game

Bryce Underwood came to Michigan with a lot of hype, as a five-star recruit and with $10.5 million backing. But things turned ugly for him during the 2025 season, as he finished his final six games with 4 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions, and got sacked 20 times this season. However, Kyle Whittingham isn’t blaming him since he believes the issue stemmed from the lack of a dedicated quarterback coach under former coach Sherrone Moore.

“You know, first of all, from what I understand, there was no dedicated quarterback coach working with him daily, which has to happen,” Whittingham asserted. “You’ve got a young man, 17 years old. He didn’t turn 18 until like midseason. And so he’s a guy that really could’ve been in high school last year, as far as his age. But there’s some things in throwing mechanics and just things to smooth out in his fundamentals and technique.”

Now, that’s not the case, as offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterback coach Koy Detmer are already closely working with Underwood, making sure he gets a massive boost during his sophomore season. He’s got undeniable potential, ending his season with 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions with a 60.3% completion rate. So, it will be interesting to see, with proper mentorship, how things turn around for him.