Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham said Monday that Bryce Underwood remains the Wolverines' starter, but the sideline boss added that he expects more from the quarterback in order to keep his role.
"He's our QB right now," Whittingham said, according to Fox. "It's not something that's infinite. At some point, we've got to turn a corner, and we've got to see improvement, as we've got to do with a bunch of stuff. We've got to see improvement out of the coaches. It's not just on Bryce, and it's not just Bryce's job that is not absolutely set in concrete."
Whittingham added: "You've got to perform week in and week out and become somebody that we feel like is playing at a level that we can win with, and that goes far beyond Bryce."
Whittingham, who's in his first season at Michigan, kept Underwood as his starter after the former five-star recruit's up-and-down 2025 freshman campaign.
Underwood stood out during training camp but didn't do much in Michigan's season opener versus Western Michigan on Saturday. He completed 12 of 22 pass attempts for 170 yards and one touchdown against one interception.
He also recorded a rushing touchdown on the game's first drive. However, Underwood didn't lead another scoring drive until the 47-yard Hail Mary touchdown that secured a last-second 13-12 victory.
"It's unfortunate, disappointing, because we see him every day and he's been very sharp all through fall camp," Whittingham said of Underwood, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "So, I don't have a great explanation right now, other than we hope to see improvement between Game 1 and Game 2 in the live action. There's nobody who wants to be great more so than Bryce."
The Wolverines have a tougher test coming up against Oklahoma on Saturday.
Michigan's quarterback depth chart also features backup Tommy Carr, who's had a few first-team reps at practice, according to Whittingham.
