Beginning Year 2, Bryce Underwood aims to grow as Michigan's leader
Underwood was challenged by new head coach Kyle Whittingham to take on more leadership of his team.
Ann Arbor — There are two Bryce Underwoods, and that seems to be a conscious choice.
There’s the Underwood we all see: The brief, deferential answers to media, indicative of a late teenager navigating his perch publicly leading one of the nation’s premier college football programs, trying to dodge soundbites that would define his day, week or month. It’s a seemingly natural response for someone who has lived life in a media fishbowl since he was 15.
Then there’s the Underwood we don’t see, nor hear: The teammate in meetings, practice huddles and sidelines, or just in life, generally, who by various accounts has a far more expansive personality — and stronger voice — than he generally lets on in his time speaking with reporters. And it’s that version of Underwood that has the Wolverines excited about following their sophomore quarterback as spring practice rolls on under a new coaching regime.
“He's a leader,” running back Jordan Marshall said. “He's a born leader. That's how he is.”
Underwood begins his second season at Michigan with lofty expectations. Kyle Whittingham named him QB1 at the beginning of spring practice, placing the sophomore on a pedestal that will demand heightened leadership throughout the offseason, as did naming Underwood a captain. One of the first challenges Whittingham threw down for Underwood upon their first meeting, the quarterback said, was to keep stepping up as a leader on the team.
“Overall for this year, my mindset is whatever my team needs instead of, like, ‘What do I need to do better?’ I feel like I'm gonna do whatever my team needs to be the best,” Underwood said.
The first way Underwood led the 2026 Wolverines is by choosing to stay.
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He met with Whittingham in Florida in December after the new coach got officially hired and announced ahead of Michigan’s bowl game. Leaving Michigan wasn’t a consideration, generally, Underwood said. His meeting with Whittingham had him quickly sold on the vision for Michigan, focusing instead on the future possibilities instead of litigating the recent, messy past at Michigan.
“If they were going to talk about the past or were we going to talk about what we're going to do next?” Underwood said. “That was really one of the main things I was looking forward to hearing. And it was everything I wanted to hear.”
With Underwood locked in, lots of fellow Wolverines followed suit.
“A reason why we all wanted to come back here and make this place better is because of this reason: We want to put Michigan back at the top,” Marshall said. “And Bryce being an in-state kid, and knowing how much Michigan means to him and his family, and — he loves this place. He truly does.”
Whittingham’s first big challenge for his new quarterback, Underwood said, was taking on more ownership in leading the Wolverines.
Underwood had to be a leader in 2025, by virtue of winning the starting quarterback job and being a de facto leader of the team, fair or not. There’s plenty to take from that experience, and now Whittingham and Co. seem intent on dedicating themselves to cultivating Underwood as a leader.
Plus, the quarterback said, it’s not something new for him, having been one of the best players and the quarterback on his various teams since he was a little kid. It’s also something his parents instilled in him, he said.
So while Whittingham and the new coaching staff are empowering and propelling Underwood to be more of a leader, they’re not demanding he follow some specific template, either.
“Just letting me be me, you know? My parents have been raising me to be a leader since I was, you know, yay high, you know?” Underwood said, holding his hand down by his leg to indicate a short, little kid. “So overall, that's been my mindset. And me just being in that position now is something I'm naturally able to do.”
Underwood is, by most accounts from teammates, a more open and loquacious individual when the cameras are off and he can lower his guard. He’s opinionated and not afraid to speak up.
He got named a captain this spring, a title Underwood was pleased to earn but not necessarily expecting to get.
“Was I expecting it?” Underwood said, pausing. “I was hoping for it. You know, I wouldn't be able to say, like, ‘Oh, I should be a captain, this is why,’ because everybody — I see a lot of leaders on this team.”
And aside from titles and his willingness to take on the mantle of leadership, Underwood inevitably leads by example, to an extent, as his abilities can create a high standard for the Wolverines practicing with and against him.
“I think what stands out to me when I watch films, like, we'll get pressure, we'll get guys back there, and then we'll have good coverage, and then he'll just make a throw that's, like, probably him and 30 guys in the world can make,” defensive lineman Trey Pierce said. “And then it’s like, man, that kid’s pretty good.”
It’s not a secret that Underwood and his bundle of physical abilities are a rare package. There aren’t many guys who show up to college, turn 18 a few weeks before their freshman season, and are still one of the best athletes on the field while playing quarterback.
Underwood is a special talent, capable of leading the Wolverines to great places. Now it’s about getting to the business of making that hypothetical more tangible, with a challenge from his coaches that’s fairly straightforward, but far from simple.
“How much of a leader I could be and how I could be the best me every single day,” Underwood said.
