{"id":657739,"date":"2026-01-06T06:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T06:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/657739\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T06:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T06:10:13","slug":"bryce-underwood-returning-to-michigan-in-2026-after-kyle-whittingham-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/657739\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryce Underwood returning to Michigan in 2026 after Kyle Whittingham hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest questions for new Michigan<\/a> coach Kyle Whittingham<\/a> has been answered. Quarterback Bryce Underwood<\/a> is returning to the Wolverines in 2026, per On3\u2019s Pete Nakos.<\/p>\n

Underwood showed flashes of his potential through his first year at UM, earning the starting job during preseason practice. He completed 61.1% of his passes for 2,229 yards and nine touchdowns, to six interceptions. He also ran for 323 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.<\/p>\n

One of Underwood\u2019s biggest games of his freshman year came in October as Michigan took down Washington<\/a>. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns as he went up against another top young Big Ten quarterback in the Huskies\u2019 Demond Williams<\/a>. UM won that game, 24-7.<\/p>\n

Michigan announced Whittingham\u2019s hire Dec. 26, days before taking on Texas<\/a> in the Citrus Bowl. Speaking with reporters Dec. 27, Underwood expressed excitement to meet the new coach and learn more about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery excited to figure out what kind of guy he is,\u201d Underwood said, via Wolverines Wire<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t really know too much about him.\u00a0I\u2019m just excited to figure out what kind of guy he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retaining Underwood was sure to be a priority for Whittingham as he took over the Michigan program. The Belleville<\/a> (Mich.) product was a Five Star Plus+<\/a> prospect and the No. 1 overall player from the 2025 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking<\/a>. His flip from LSU<\/a> was a seminal moment for the Wolverines\u2019 program.<\/p>\n

Underwood was also one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in college football<\/a> this past season, On3\u2019s Pete Nakos<\/a> previously reported, as part of a multi-year deal<\/a> with the Wolverines. The deal does not include a buyout, On3 reported Dec. 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Booger McFarland: Kyle Whittingham \u2018perfect fit\u2019 for Bryce Underwood<\/p>\n

After news broke of Kyle Whittingham\u2019s hire, ESPN analyst Booger McFarland said he saw a strong fit<\/a> with Bryce Underwood considering Utah\u2019s<\/a> success with Devon Dampier<\/a>. On3\u2019s\u00a0Pete Nakos<\/a> also reported Utes offensive coordinator\u00a0Jason Beck<\/a>\u00a0would be a\u00a0name to watch<\/a>\u00a0for the same role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about this. When he chose his quarterback at Utah, he chose\u00a0Devon Dampier<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 dual-threat quarterback,\u201d McFarland said Dec. 27. \u201cHe\u2019s got a better version of that in Michigan with Bryce Underwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, he\u2019s got to work to keep him because we all know the transfer portal is going to open up in a week or so. If he can keep Bryce Underwood there in Michigan, the fact he\u2019s bringing that style of offense with this quarterback, I think it\u2019s a perfect fit if you\u2019re Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the biggest questions for new Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham has been answered. Quarterback Bryce Underwood is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[5977,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-657739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-bryce-underwood-25-belleville-high-school","9":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115846673156296492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}