Freep: For Michigan football, it's the Bryce Underwood show: 'He does everything like a pro'

# For Michigan football, it’s the Bryce Underwood show: ‘He does everything like a pro’
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But imply that he’s not ready for the spotlight? Well that’s underselling a player who every college in the country likely would love to have wearing its colors for the next three seasons.

Underwood, at 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds, already has the physicality of an NFL quarterback. That’s no exaggeration − his summer workouts featured a sequence that had him executing a play-action fake, rolling out to his right and, with no effort at all, flicking the ball 35 yards downfield to the sideline.

And yet, it’s possible the only trait that surpasses his talent is, in the modern palance, his aura.

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“A workhorse, a unicorn,” is how private QB coach Donovan Dooley, described Underwood. "(The fans) haven’t seen it yet, but it’s just truly what it is. Talk about a kid who ascended upward, worked on his craft since he was 5 years old in the backyard with his dad, I got him when he was 8.

“Ultimately what (Michigan is) getting is a competitor, a winner and you will see some special things come out of the Wolverine camp soon.”

Soon? Perhaps.

But remember: Underwood wasn’t even able to vote until 11 days before the Wolverines 2025 opener – his 18th birthday. For all the tools he brings, he’ll be applying them at a whole other level.

For perspective’s sake, just two of the past 10 top-rated prep QBs in a given class (per 247 Sports’ rankings) have stepped up immediately as Power Four starters: Josh Rosen at UCLA in 2015 and Trevor Lawrence at Clemson in 2018. Rosen led the Bruins to an 8-5 record – down from 10-3 the previous season – and a loss in something called the Foster Farms Bowl; Lawerence led the Tigers to a 15-0 record and the College Football Playoff championship

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Underwood’s lore in Ann Arbor has only grown with his extended stay in the city (he arrived in December, in time to practice with the Wolverines ahead of their ReliaQuest Bowl victory in Florida). There are stories of how one day he outperformed defensive linemen in summer workouts. On another day, Underwood was messing around and throwing spirals at “40-50 yards” … with his left hand, according to offensive lineman and team captain Gio El-Hadi. More recently, after gaining a sponsorship from Beats by Dre, he got headphones for each of his teammates.

“He’s not no average 17-year-old,” senior defensive lineman Derrick Moore said. "With a lot of money that’s coming in, he’s pretty humble. If he does anything wrong, he takes full accountability for it. You don’t really hear too much trouble out of him, you know?

“He does everything like a pro.”

A pro he will need to be, almost from Day 1 of the 2025 season – certainly from Day 8

Even after that, Underwood will also be without his top coach for two weeks in a row in September; Moore is set to serve a program-imposed two-game suspension in Weeks 3 and 4 − home against Central Michigan and then the Big Ten opener on the road at Nebraska.

While that could be reason to go with a veteran passer for more experience, it doesn’t seem like the staff feels that will be necessary.

“Our kids here are really resilient, as is our staff,” Casula said. “What coach Moore has built here is incredibly sturdy and strong, and I think we can face anything.”

What Moore has built, a group billed as deep, insulated and cohesive, is also one with top-end talent – and more potentially on the way: Last week, the Wolverines landed Savion Hiter, the highest-rated running back recruit for 2026.

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# Michigan football: Linebacker depth flying under the radar

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Those who’ve recently left Michigan football like to refer to the program as “DL U.” – Defensive Line University.

And why not, with 17 linemen drafted by the NFL over the past 11 years (including at least one each year)? But for 2025, the strength of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s unit appears to stand a bit farther from the line.

The Wolverines return both starting middle linebackers, Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham. Behind them on the depth chart are Jimmy Rolder – who has been referred to as a “third starter” by position coach Brian Jean-Mary – and Cole Sullivan, singled out by coach Sherrone Moore multiple times as one of the biggest risers in all of fall camp.

Put it all together and Jean-Mary’s group is arguably among the deepest on the roster.

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“The system is still the system that we’ve been running the last four years,” Jean-Mary said. “But whether that’s blitzing or different things we’re going to do in coverage, because of their knowledge and experience, we’re just going to ask them to do a little bit more within the framework of the actual defense."

Each player brings his own value to the room.

Hausmann, is the “green dot” linebacker, tasked with calling plays on the field from the the headset in his helmet, after constant communication with Martindale.

Hausmann led Michigan in tackles last season, with 89, and was named one of six captains on Thursday, Aug. 21. More impressive is the skill that hearned him the nickname “Xerox” from Jean-Mary; after seeing a formation once, Hausmann can immediately recite where all 11 players need to be and what their assignment is.

Barham, meanwhile, has been a “game-wrecker” this camp, according to Jean-Mary. Barham needed time to learn to play within Martindale’s system last season, but even still he finished with 66 tackles, with just four misses – for a missed-tackle rate that ranked eighth out of 181 Power Four linebackers, per Pro Football Focus.

It’s a setup that evokes the successes of 2023 (though that was before the arrival of Jean-Mary in his current position); that season, Junior Colson and Michael Barrett patrolled the middle as U-M went 15-0 and won the College Football Playoff championship.

“You can see the fourth-year maturity for those guys that played a lot of snaps, and they’re playing at very, very high levels,” Jean-Mary said. “They’re playing at a very high level.”

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For a backup, Rolder is quite experienced: He had 29 tackles (with one miss), seven pressures and seven run stops in only 200 defensive snaps in 2024. But the room feels especially deep because of the emergence of Sullivan.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore is now at 230 pounds, eliciting a comment from Martindale: “A guy like Cole Sullivan has completely changed his body (you can see it) just walking around," he said. "And you can see it going through drills and all those things.”

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