Kyle Whittingham gushes about Bryce Underwood, who is on the 'right track'

When Kyle Whittingham took on the Michigan football head coaching job, one of the big attractions had to be five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Michigan is Michigan. But Underwood was the No. 1 ranked quarterback and recruit in his class for a reason. People who are judging Underwood's career based on his freshman season are foolish.

For one, Underwood was better than people are making him out to be. Was he perfect? No. He was also a true freshman starter, who was still 17 last spring. He quarterbacked Michigan to nine wins, accounted for 216 yards per game, and completed 60 percent of his throws.

He did all of that without a dedicated QB coach or a coaching staff that wouldn't allow him to fully utilize his legs as a weapon. The talent has always been there. It's the development piece that Michigan football needs to get right, as Whittingham told the Crain and Cone Show on Wednesday.

Kyle Whittingham details the next step for Bryce Underwood's development

"He's a mega talent. His arm strength. His athleticism. 6-foot-4 plus, 230 pounds. The way he runs, it's incredible, considering the gifts he has been blessed with," Whittingham said. "The first order of business is to learn the new scheme. We have a new scheme. It's not a sharp learning curve. It's pretty user-friendly. But he's gotta get mastery of that. Once he gets mastery of that, which he's on the right track right now, and doing a great job, now, it's just refining a few things in his mechanics, and making sure he completely has a grasp of what we're doing and what we're expecting."

Hiring offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr. should play a significant role in Underwood's development. He's got a dedicated QB coach, plus an offensive system tailor-made for his skill set.

The spring is critical for Underwood. He needs to improve, but based on all the buzz coming out of Ann Arbor, that's exactly what's happening.