Michigan Football Recruiting: Battle for Bryce Underwood Heating Up

With the season underway, the battle for Bryce is in full swing

Bryce Underwood ranked as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2025 class, is an extremely coveted prospect. He also resides in Michigan football’s backyard. The star quarterback attends Belleville High School, about 30 minutes away from Ann Arbor.

Underwood is possibly the most important recruit of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, and the Michigan football staff is doing everything possible to keep him home. And right now, it appears that they’re doing a great job.

Underwood seems to have an unofficial top two of Michigan and LSU. Those are the two programs that Underwood continues to visit and has shown the most interest in.

Kirk Campbell completely revived Michigan football in this recruitment, and now he may have the Wolverines in the lead.

Did Michigan football get a boost?

Since Saturday, Michigan may have received a massive boost in the recruitment of Underwood. The Wolverines took down East Carolina 30-3, in a game that saw quarterback J.J. McCarthy throw the ball 30 times. McCarthy reached 30 attempts just three times last season and did not throw the ball 30 times until the sixth game of the season.

Michigan football talked all offseason long about being balanced, but they’ve now shown that they’re committed to having a dynamic passing attack. That’s huge for a recruit like Underwood. McCarthy is a potential first-round draft pick, and seeing him throw the ball more has got to be a plus for Underwood.

Checking in on the other contender in this recruitment, LSU suffered a devastating loss against Florida State that makes it nearly impossible for the Tigers to make the playoff; they’d likely have to win 11 or 12 games straight, with two of those opponents being Alabama and likely Georgia.

All in all, the Tigers’ playoff chances have become very slim. That’s very important for Michigan football because Bryce Underwood is planning on announcing his commitment on January 6th, right before the national championship game.

Playing in that game, or at least reaching the playoffs, is now that much more important for Michigan because it could push them over the top in this recruitment. If the Wolverines can make the championship on the back of the first-round quarterback, it’s tough to see them losing Underwood.

While NIL is a big topic here, it’s not going to play as much of a role as it would for other elite recruits. Michigan football has talked to Underwood about an NIL package similar to McCarthy’s, which is estimated to be around $2 million. When it’s all said and done, Underwood is going to make WAY more money in the NFL than in college.

So if it’s between a $2 million offer from Jim Harbaugh, who has a good track record with quarterbacks, or $5-10 million from Brian Kelly who has struggled mightily to develop quarterbacks, I’d expect the decision to be Michigan.

NIL is not going to be the determining factor. It’s still very early in this recruitment, but Michigan is off to a tremendous start. LSU was dealt a tough blow by Florida State, and it’ll be interesting to see how this develops over time. Underwood wants to win championships. If Michigan provides the opportunity to do so, it will be in great shape.