Michigan Wolverines 2026 Season Preview

The season turns on Bryce Underwood. The former No. 1 overall recruit learned on the fly as a true freshman, throwing for 2,428 yards on 60.3 percent passing with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions while adding 392 yards on the ground. He flashed the ability that made him the most hyped signee in the class but faded late, as seven of his nine picks came after November 1, and he was intercepted three times in the bowl. New quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr. and Beck are tasked with unlocking him, and the plan is to lean on his legs more in a wider-open spread. The staff has veteran insurance in Colorado State transfer Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who threw for 3,460 yards in 2023, while five-star freshman Tommy Carr drew rave reviews in the spring.

Andrew Marsh headlines a young, retooled group. He barely played early before erupting for a freshman school record 12 catches for 189 yards against Northwestern and finishing with 45 grabs for 651 yards and four scores. Michigan restocked through the portal, landing Utah's JJ Buchanan (427 yards, 16.4 average) and Texas speedster Jaime Ffrench, and Indiana import Donaven McCulley adds a proven 588-yard target. Channing Goodwin and a tight end room led by Hogan Hansen and Zack Marshall fill things out, though the receiver corps still has plenty to prove after losing its next three pass catchers.

The ground game should be the strength. Jordan Marshall returns off a breakout 932-yard, 10-touchdown season that included four straight 100-yard games down the stretch, and he profiles as a workhorse in Whittingham's downhill scheme. He gets dynamic help from five-star freshman Savion Hiter, widely regarded as one of the best backs in the country and a candidate to share the field with Marshall in two-back looks.

Four starters are back for a front that ranks among the best returning units in the country. Blake Frazier anchors the edge at left tackle, while center Jake Guarnera and right tackle Andrew Sprague give Whittingham the physical push he demands. Senior Evan Link and Nathan Efobi round out an experienced group with more depth than a year ago. Pass protection remains the swing factor: clean it up, and the line can open the offense for Underwood.

The front is again the calling card. John Henry Daley follows the staff from Utah as an All-America edge who piled up 11.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss in just 11 games before a torn Achilles ended his year. He is expected to be full speed by the opener and should be a disruptive anchor and first-team all-conference caliber rusher. Returning tackle Trey Pierce, one of the team's most improved players a year ago, and veteran Enow Etta give Michigan size inside even after the line sent a productive group to the NFL, including a pair of drafted linemen. The staff has repeatedly called this unit a team strength.

Linebacker is the clear question mark. The Wolverines must replace their two leading tacklers and are leaning on Chase Taylor, transfer Troy Bowles and North Dakota State import Nathaniel Staehling to fill larger roles. There is talent here but little proven production, and the inexperience in the middle is the defense's one soft spot heading into the fall.

The secondary is seasoned and full of playmakers. Jyaire Hill is back at corner after a 22-start run that produced 79 tackles, 13 pass breakups and two interceptions, joined by veteran Zeke Berry. Safety Rod Moore is the emotional core, a 29-game starter with seven career interceptions who is finally healthy after two years of knee trouble, and his return steadies the back end. Whittingham imported All-Big 12 nickel Smith Snowden from Utah, a ballhawk with 17 pass breakups and four interceptions over his last three seasons, while Memphis transfer Chris Bracy adds another disruptive body. Mason Curtis gives the group experienced safety depth behind the starters.

Coombs inherits a unit that struggled with fundamentals in 2025 and dropped near the bottom nationally, and he leaned hard on the portal to fix it. Pittsburgh transfer Trey Butkowski, who made 20 of 23 field goals as a freshman, is the favorite at kicker, and UNLV's Cam Brown, who averaged better than 42 yards a punt, takes over the punting. Marsh is the front-runner to keep the return job after making explosive plays a year ago.