Michigan Wolverines football head coach Kyle Whittingham helped make Utah a power out west, and is now tasked with getting the Maize and Blue back to ‘Champions Of The West.’

“I’m here to help this football team get to where we believe we can be,” Whittingham said on On3’s Crain And Cone. “I’m not here to change traditions or mess with that. The traditions here and the history is incredible, and it’s just steeped in tradition, this program. So, it’s not my place to meddle with that.

“We’re going to put a physical, tough product on the field. That’s the expectation at Michigan is to be physical and tough. That’s what we’re striving for.”

That process started in January, with Whittingham hiring his strength coach from Utah, Doug Elisaia.

“High-level athletes, like what we have here at Michigan and in Division-I football, seem to thrive on structure and discipline and a routine,” Whittingham said. “And you’ve got to be consistent. You can’t have highs and lows, you can’t be a rollercoaster. Players need to come into the facility every day, know what’s expected, know what’s expected at practice, know what’s expected in the weight room. They seem to thrive in a very structured environment. We certainly have that here.

“The first thing we did was overhaul the strength program, because a lot of the toughness and grit in the football team is developed in the strength program — and we feel we’ve got one of the best in the business in Doug Elisaia running our strength program.”

Bryce Underwood is a ‘mega talent’

The first meeting Whittingham had with a player was with sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood, a 6-foot-4, 228-pound Detroit native who started all 13 games last season. Underwood completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 2,428 yards and 11 touchdowns with 9 interceptions last season, adding 88 carries for 392 yards and 6 scores, including sacks.

Whittingham provided an update on how he’s performed this spring.

“First of all, he is a mega talent — his arm strength, his athleticism,” the Michigan coach said. “He’s 6-4-plus, 230 pounds. The way he runs. It’s incredible, the gifts that he’s been blessed with.

“Obviously, the first order of business is to learn the new scheme. We have a new scheme going in offensively. It’s not a sharp learning curve. It’s pretty user-friendly. But he’s got to get mastery of that. Once he has 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 with his mechanics and making sure that he completely has a grasp of what we’re doing and what we’re expecting.”

Two Michigan position groups standing out

Whittingham was asked which position groups are standing out most this spring, and first pointed to the running backs. There, junior Jordan Marshall is coming off a 150-carry, 932-yard, 10-touchdown season, even while missing time at the end of the year. Freshman Savion Hiter enrolled early and has turned heads, too, a five-star prospect.

“I really love our running back room,” Whittingham said. “We have Jordan Marshall coming back, who’s a proven commodity, and Savion Hiter, who was the top running back in the country in some polls. He’s really lived up to that. He was a mid-year guy, and he has looked terrific through his first six practices. [Senior] Bryson Kuzdzal is another guy in that room. So, we feel like we’ve got a very strong running back situation.”

Michigan’s defensive line is also strong, per Whittingham, despite returning just one starter, senior tackle Trey Pierce.

“Defensively, the front,” Whittingham said. “We feel like we have a good front coming back, and that’s something that is always critical. Your defense starts at the line of scrimmage, and we feel like we’ve got some dudes up front.”

A Florida man was sentenced to two to 20 years in prison Tuesday, March 31 for his role in a fraudulent petition scandal that derailed the candidacies of five Republican candidates for Michigan governor in 2022, according to online court records.

Macomb County Circuit Judge James Maceroni also ordered Willie Reed to pay nearly $334,000 in restitution to the campaigns that were victimized, records show. The judge ordered about $137,000 of that amount to go to Oakland County businessman Perry Johnson, who was disqualified from the primary ballot for governor in 2022 and is running again this year, and about $119,000 to former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, whose bid for Michigan governor ended when he was disqualified from the 2022 primary ballot.

“The actions of the defendants deliberately undermined our electoral process and denied voters their choices in our primary,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a news release. “I hope this outcome serves as a deterrent to others who attempt to subvert our system.”

In February, a jury convicted Reed, co-owner of Mack Douglas LLC and owner/operator of Petitions Reed LLC, of about a dozen fraud-related charges and conducting a criminal enterprise, while acquitting him of about 17 other charges. Convicted of 22 fraud-related charges, including conducting a criminal enterprise, was co-defendant Shawn Wilmoth of Warren, owner/operator of First Choice LLC and co-owner of Mack Douglas LLC. A third defendant, Jamie Wilmoth of Warren, was acquitted of all charges.

Prosecutors said the defendants charged campaigns more than $700,000 for valid signatures but knowingly delivered tens of thousands of forged signatures on nomination petitions to eight campaigns, including three judicial campaigns. The fraudulent signatures were later discovered by Michigan Bureau of Elections officials, after which the Board of State Canvassers ordered disqualifications. The candidates themselves were not accused of wrongdoing.

Michigan backup quarterback Colin Hurley is no longer on the roster. 

“Colin has departed the program,” Michigan football spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed Tuesday. 

Hurley, who has not yet played a game in college, transferred to the Wolverines from LSU. He participated in winter conditioning and spring practice, which is ongoing. 

More: Why Colin Hurley’s coach is ‘super excited’ about Michigan QB room

Head coach Kyle Whittingham had said Bryce Underwood, who started every game last season as a freshman, is the starting quarterback.

Whittingham also praised early enrolled freshman Tommy Carr when asked early in spring practice about who might be the backup. 

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, a graduate transfer from Colorado State, is expected to arrive in Ann Arbor this summer. He has started 27 games.

achengelis@detroitnews.com

@chengelis