Two seasons have passed since the Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship in January 2024. It was the same season when Michigan won the Big Ten Championship. Now with Kyle Whittingham in Ann Arbor, the new head coach has put the locker room on high alert with a blunt message.

Over the past few months, the Wolverines have gone through some huge changes. Sherrone Moore was dismissed in December after having an "inappropriate relationship" with a female staffer. In his place, Whittingham has stepped in after coaching in Utah for two decades. But from the beginning, he has set the expectations straight.

“Well, at Michigan, I believe every year you’ve got to be challenging for the Big Ten Championship, that’s expected," Whittingham kept things straight. "There’s probably half a dozen schools in the conference that feel the same way every year. We do have new schemes on both sides of the ball. There was some uncertainty there, but that being said, no excuses.”

Under Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines reached the Big Ten Championship stage in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and in 2023. Coming with two decades of experience in Utah, Whittingham is no stranger to conference championships.

He has led the Utes to three conference championships. Under him, the program went to the Pac-12 championships five times. But he is not counting on his excellence.

Instead, Whittingham made changes in Ann Arbor. Much of the spring discussion centered on Whittingham bringing back a sense of discipline, something that’s reportedly had a strong, positive impact on the program.

For instance, he wants his offense and defense to be simple enough that the players can learn the schemes and signals in one offseason. 

“You can’t have a scheme on either side of the ball that takes a year or two to learn,” Whittingham said. “You don’t have that luxury. I don’t want to say we’ve dumbed things down, but we’ve simplified things.”

At a school like Michigan, there is no luxury when you are expected to compete for the Big Ten Championship year in and year out.

Kyle Whittingham on Where Things Stand After Spring

With just a few weeks gone by after the spring, Whittingham is not ruling out his freshman players from playing in the 2026 CFB season. 

Bryce Underwood started as a true freshman quarterback for Sherrone Moore, and like him, there could be more players who play this season. 

“These guys are more ready-made, I can tell you that,” Whittingham said.

In the spring game, two players stood out from the rest: quarterback and legacy recruit Tommy Carr and running back Savion Hiter. 

“A lot of those guys are going to help out right away,” Whittingham said. “The tailback, Savion Hiter, is special. There’s another handful of guys that we think in that freshman class are going to be major contributors for us right away. We didn’t have that luxury at Utah very often.”

Tommy Carr completed 21-of-30 passes for 143 yards while also rushing ten times for 61 yards. At the same time, Savion Hiter recorded ten carries for 44 rushing yards. 

Kyle Whitingham will have an experienced roster and freshman players to use when called upon.

How will he fare in his first season as HC of the Michigan Wolverines? Share your thoughts.

Read more at Michigan Football Community.

Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar