A new chapter for Michigan football starts on Saturday when the team opens the 2026 season with a home matchup against Western Michigan.
All eyes will be on head coach Kyle Whittingham in his first game leading the program after departing from Utah, and while Team 147 will feature familiar names like Bryce Underwood, Jyaire Hill and Rod Moore Jr, Whittingham’s Wolverines are the fanbase’s first true taste of a post-Harbaugh/Moore vision of the Maize & Blue.
To that point, Whittingham’s coaching staff boasts a bevy of names that have followed him to Ann Arbor from his previous stints at Utah and BYU. For starters, Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill, Offensive Coordinator Jason Beck and Defensive Ends Coach Lewis Powell all have prior roots in Coach Whittingham’s coaching tree, while Tight Ends Coach Freddie Whittingham and Linebackers Coach Alex Whittingham have ties that go back much further with Coach Whit.
In with the New
Days out from the matchup with Western Michigan, the new Michigan HC offered a measured and optimistic outlook when speaking with the media about the start of the Wolverines’ season.
“Fall camp went about as good as it could have possibly gone. Very healthy,” Whittingham shared, before adding, “Our guys are looking forward to being able to hit somebody else. We’ve been beating on each other for eight months, and we’re looking forward to lining up against an opponent.”
One of the players who surely shares Whittingham’s enthusiasm to start their Michigan career is defensive end John Henry Daley, who followed his head coach from Salt Lake City to Ann Arbor after delivering a First Team All-American season for the Utes. Daley, who was a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award last year, is positioned to be a standout addition to the Wolverines’ D-Line after recording 11.5 sacks in his first full season as a starter.
When asked by Michigan alum Rich Eisen which player he aspired to be like growing up, Daley gave a candid and unintentionally humorous response.
“JJ Watt. He’s the most dominant defensive player at the time. (I think) he had two consecutive 20-sack seasons – I want to emulate his game.”
One can forgive Daley for not knowing that Watt’s 20-sack seasons (2012, 2014) were non-consecutive, but a proud Michigan man like Eisen couldn’t resist pointing out the elephant in the room.
“You do know that he will not be rooting for you as a collegiate player – now that you’ve joined Michigan, and he’s a Wisconsin Badger.”
There’s something new and refreshing to be found in the candor and level-headed demeanor that key additions like Whittingham and Daley are bringing Team 147, a more elective enthusiasm to start stacking success at Michigan, rather than an unmoored intensity that comes from being an heir apparent waiting in the wings of Schembechler Hall for years.
Building from the Core
While it’s impossible to overlook the hefty additions and turnover that Michigan has undergone in the last ten months, there’s no question that many of the biggest names from last season are back this year – and will be eager to improve upon middling results that kept them outside of playoff and Big Ten title contention. Chief among them is starting quarterback Bryce Underwood, who comes into 2026 with plenty of motivation to improve on a sub-2,500-yard passing season in which he recorded almost as many interceptions (9) as passing touchdowns (11).
Underwood has spent a fair share of the offseason working with former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer to elevate his performance to the next level, which the sophomore signal-caller says has meant simplifying things.
“It’s just about making the game easier, not doing too much. Being calm and relaxing in the pocket,” Underwood shared, adding that the biggest difference between the player he was last season and now comes down to how he’s built up his mental fortitude. “Being mentally stronger. I feel like last year was more about seeing if I’m physically gifted, and now it’s about seeing how mentally strong I can be.”
Much of Michigan’s hopes of elevating back into contention in the Big Ten and nationally will come down to how Whittingham’s staff and Underwood perform together to make good on his promise as a player, but the fact that Bryce is suggesting that his mindset coming into this season is less Superman and more Clark Kent is an encouraging course correction from last year.
CB Jyaire Hill, who has his sights on entering the NFL after his senior season, says he can see the difference in Bryce from last year’s training camp.
“Feel like he got more comfortable, especially in the new scheme and with the wide receivers we’ve got – I feel like they’re all working as one,” Hill shares, before playfully adding that Underwood had ‘turned in a demon’ in camp.
When asked what individual goals he’s set out for this season, Hill shared that he’s aiming for the highest accolade in the nation for a defensive back.
“I want to win the Jim Thorpe Award. That’s my goal. And you know, championship mindset. Whatever it takes to win a championship.”
Opportunity Abounds
While non-conference matchups are often easy to overlook or draw lofty expectations from, the Wolverines get a taste of deja vu in the form of a Week 2 rematch with Oklahoma. But this year, it’s Michigan that will host the Sooners at the Big House with a chance at exacting revenge front of mind. The meeting also marks the third consecutive year that Michigan has faced a ranked opponent in the second game of the season – an occasion for which they are still seeking their first win.
The Wolverines enter this year as a team that most have penciled for 8-9 wins, which would keep them out of contention for any postseason title once again. With three opponents ranked in the Top 10 of the AP preseason, including reigning national champions Indiana and longstanding rivals Ohio State, Whittingham and Michigan are tasked with delivering the Maize and Blue faithful with a reason to believe that this program and the talent it puts on the football field are capable of competing with the best teams in college football.
Michigan faces Western Michigan this Saturday in the season opener.
