Michigan hasn’t had a one-and-done football coach since 1900.
That year, Biff Lea led the Wolverines to a 7-2-1 record with losses to Iowa, Chicago and a tie against Ohio State in the second meeting between the schools.
Lea would leave for his alma mater Princeton, Michigan hired legendary coach Fielding Yost, and the rest is tradition and history.
This season might feel like 1900 in Ann Arbor, at least on the offensive side of the ball. The Wolverines rank 116th in the FBS in scoring offense at 19.6 points per game, which ranks 17th in the Big Ten. The last-place scoring offense, Michigan State, just beat Michigan 15-6 without scoring a touchdown, which left first-year coach Kyle Whittingham grasping at the future.
The Wolverines (5-4) play at No. 16 Oregon (6-3) on Saturday.
“It doesn’t get any easier, we’ve got three tough games in a row,” Whittingham said after the Michigan State loss. “We’ve got Oregon, UCLA and the guys in Ohio. So, we’re 5-4. Very disappointing. On the other hand, I thought the defense played pretty good.”
That’s an accurate summation, even if it’s a gigantic understatement, of Michigan’s messy season to this point. Will three more losses mean the end of the Whittingham era? That’s an easy answer.
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Kyle Whittingham’s rough first year in Ann Arbor
Self-accountability is important. Here’s what I wrote 10 months ago. “Whittingham has built a reputation as one of the ‘good guys’ in the sport, and now we get to see it on the biggest stage in the Big Ten.” I graded this hire as an “A-“ when Michigan brought in Whittingham, 66, in place of Sherrone Moore, who was fired on Dec. 10 after yet another Michigan scandal.
That was the consensus, right? Whittingham had a 177-88 record in 21 seasons at Utah, including three 10-win seasons in the last five years.
The Wolverines had been embroiled in scandals off the field, and Whitingham seemed like the right fit to help make a transition from the problems that enveloped the program through the end of the Jim Harbaugh and Moore tenures. And it’s been relatively quiet off the field.
On the field is a different story. The “one second” controversy clouded a 13-12 victory against Western Michigan in the season opener. Michigan upset Oklahoma 17-10, and a 3-0 record heading into Big Ten seemed encouraging.
It unraveled after a 20-19 loss against Iowa on Sept. 26. The Wolverines lost the Little Brown Jug in a 20-14 loss at Minnesota the following week. Five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood was benched the following week in a 21-18 victory against Penn State in favor of Tommy Carr. An overtime loss to Indiana. A close shave at Rutgers. And now they lose the Paul Bunyan Trophy to in-state rival Michigan State.
“It’s my fault for not getting our guys in the right frame of mind,” Whittingham said. “We never said it’s not important to us. It’s really important. It’s very important.”
This is where Whittingham seems out of his element, which is stunning because he coached in the “Holy War” against BYU. Those rivalry trophies, as quirky as they are, are not just trinkets in Big Ten country. Harbaugh and Moore never lost to Minnesota. Michigan had won four straight games against Michigan State. Does Whittingham know what he’s getting into when the Wolverines go to Ohio Stadium on Nov. 28? The Wolverines have won the last two at The Shoe.
The Buckeyes, for all the problems in Columbus right now, are going to want the Wolverines’ soul. A victory there might be the only job-saver for Whittingham at this point.
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Can Michigan fix offense without Jason Beck?
Michigan won the national championship in 2023. Look at the key pieces from that team. JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum and Colston Loveland all have found success at the NFL level.
Michigan’s offense was bad under Moore the last two seasons, but the Wolverines still averaged 27.5 points per game last season with Underwood as a freshman. That number dropped to 19.6 points under offensive coordinator Jason Beck, including 15.7 points per game in Big Ten play. That bottomed out against the Spartans with six points.
“There’s nothing productive about this game,” Whittingham said. “It’s not one step back. It’s three steps back. … I can’t come up with one positive thing offensively about this game.”
So Michigan fired Beck on Monday. Underwood and Carr have combined for seven TDs and nine interceptions, five-star freshman Savion Hiter leads the Wolverines with 336 rushing yards and three TDs, and Utah transfer JJ Buchanan is the bright spot at receiver with 646 receiving yards and six TDs. The Wolverines haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Jeremy Gallon put up 1,373 yards and nine TDs in 2013. They haven’t had a first-round pick at receiver since Braylon Edwards in 2005.
It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. Who are they throwing the ball to? That’s a fundamental problem for this offense in the last three years. Underwood is a prime transfer candidate at the end of the season, which means Carr could develop into a solid quarterback for the next few years. Michigan needs to modernize its passing attack to complement pieces such as Hiter.
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Will Michigan part ways with Kyle Whittingham?
The Whittingham era is at a low point right now, and that was reflected in his answers after the loss to Michigan State.
“I’m as disappointed as I’ve ever been as a head coach, and I’m as frustrated as I’ve ever been as a head coach,” Whittingham said after the loss to the Spartans.
He should be, especially with No. 2 Utah (9-0) in line for the program’s first playoff appearance. This was supposed to be the carrot for Whittingham coming to Michigan. Remember, the Utes went 5-7 in 2024. The long-time coach is finding out that potential for a 5-7 season does not go over anywhere close to the same with the Wolverines.
This isn’t as bad as Rich Rodriguez’s first season with Michigan in 2007. The Wolverines went 3-9 that year, and it didn’t get better. If the Wolverines finish 5-7, that would match Brady Hoke’s final season in 2014. Michigan hired Harbaugh afterward, and that re-energized the program. Aside from the 2-4 record in the COVID-impacted 2020 season, Michigan was solid – albeit with a series of NCAA investigations toward the end that peaked with Connor Stalions.
Can the Wolverines get back to that with Whittingham, who is in a stop-gap role to whatever comes next? Michigan still has not replaced athletic director Warde Manuel, who is stepping down at the end of the season, so that answer is uncomfortable. This is a three-game referendum that will determine whether Michigan takes a look at candidates ranging from UCLA coach Bob Chesney – who the Wolverines will see on Nov. 21 – to Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea – who is 21-14 with the Commodores since 2024? Chesney is the popular choice right now, but a coach like Lea could do well in Ann Arbor given the chance.
So Michigan better take a few steps forward with Whittingham fast, otherwise “one and done” will be the best course of action.
