Unacceptable doesn’t even begin to describe what we have seen from the Michigan Wolverines through five games this season. Kyle Whittingham was meant to come to Ann Arbor and bring in stability, laying the foundation for a return of a disciplined product and program. Instead, the team is reeling heading into the bye week after losing consecutive games and being a Hail Mary away from 2-3.
As we head into the bye week, here are two critically important things we learned about the state of this football program.
Michigan has failed Bryce Underwood
This is a chicken or egg situation, in my opinion. But what has been echoed across the pros recently is “organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations.”
Underwood was a five-star quarterback coming out of high school, and he has the arm and physical attributes to back that up. Where he is most criticized is between the ears, and rightfully so. Without a doubt, the young quarterback has struggled to read defenses and perform at a high level on the road. Some of the blame falls on the player. But if you step back and honestly assess Michigan’s reportedly $12 million investment, you have to question if the program has done right by him.
As a freshman, Underwood was thrown into the lion’s den and went an entire season going through a grueling schedule without a quarterback coach to help him. Then, he stuck with the program that underserved him in his first season through a head coaching scandal — only for the school to bring in a defensive-minded head coach in Kyle Whittingham that was supposed to bring stability to the program. It’s been anything but that.
Jason Beck came in as offensive coordinator. He was highly regarded on his way in, but has been nothing but stuck to his ways despite seeing almost no success against formidable opponents. In fact, he convinced the staff to go to Underwood and tell him he needs to acclimate for his offense to be more successful by using his legs more. At the same time, not rewarding his quarterback, instead, continuously takes the ball out of his hands in all of the largest moments of the season. All the while, Underwood has been criticized all over social media, is constantly remarked by the national viewpoint of not being good enough, and even has had to speak to the press about head coach’s comments about his job secruity.
Imagine the headspace all this puts on a 19-year-old quarterback.
Yes, Underwood has certainly fallen short of expectations, and by a wide margin. For every step he seemingly takes forward, a game later, he slips right back into his old ways of forcing the ball downfield, struggling to make the right reads, making questionable ball security decisions and being horribly inefficient with the football. In his worst moments, he looks like someone incapable of performing at this level.
I thought Underwood played one of the best games of his career against Iowa. That made the 10-for-21, two-interception performance at Minnesota even more stunning. Given the situation, it might have actually been the worst performance of his career.
At this point, his career at Michigan could be all but over, with national championship and Heisman hopes seeming like a far off fantasy. But for what might be the beginning of the end of the Underwood era at Michigan, you have to take a step back and honestly assess everything. And Michigan failed spectacularly at developing a potentially generational talent.
Kyle Whittingham likely isn’t the man for the job
A week ago, I mentioned this coaching staff has to prove itself at this level. It was something that was shocking to write with Whittingham being a head coach with more than two decades of experience. After the Wolverines lost to Minnesota in Minneapolis for the first time in nearly 50 years, the first-year Michigan head coach all but admitted he is in over his head.
“I’m still trying to figure it out. I’ve been in this profession for 40-plus years and this is the biggest challenge I’ve had,” said Whittingham postgame. “We will get it figured out, I promise you that. I’m not sure what the timeline is, but I promise you we’ll get it figured out at some juncture. A lot of answers that we’ve got to come up with, because we’ve got so many deficiencies.”
This quote comes just days after admitting earlier in the week he feels like the team is 0-4 instead of their 3-1 record at the time, while constantly criticizing himself, the coaching staff and the discipline of his players. Not only that, but it feels like there is some comment from Whittingham that’s making headlines every week, and it’s almost always negative. Prime example: Whittingham said Underwood’s spot as a starter wasn’t “infinite” after Week 1, forcing Underwood to be asked about it the same week.
It’s becoming more clear there is disconnect between this coaching staff in regards to what the expectations of the program are. With every week and every bad performance, it becomes increasingly more likely that Whittingham isn’t doing what was promised when he came in: being the “adult” in the room that steadies the ship.
Source: www.maizenbrew.com
