Michigan
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood on Year 1’s challenges and what’s next
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood talks about his goals for Year 2
Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood speaks about his goals heading into Year 2 on June 20, 2026.
The expectations for Michigan football quarterback Bryce Underwood were through the roof in 2025.
Much of that came from his ranking, coming into Ann Arbor as the No. 1 high school product in the nation. Some of it came from his own doing — like going on Big Ten Network last August and proclaiming “nobody has seen a freshman like me.”
The talented signal-caller did not live up to the hype in Year 1. Not only as a team — Michigan went 9-4 and missed the College Football Playoff for the second straight season — but individually, where Underwood completed just 60.3% of his passes for 2,428 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Now with a year under his belt, Underwood kept it simple when asked what he expects going into year two.
“Better than Year 1,” he told reporters at Saline High School on Saturday, June 20, where he hosted a youth football camp. “That’s really all I can say.”
Underwood has been taking the steps behind the scenes to make it happen. He didn’t explain exactly how he got connected, but he made sure to get in contact with Jordan Palmer, a California-based QB guru, where he’s gone for multiple training sessions.
The Belleville native called Palmer one of the “best trainers around the country” and said it’s been a “blessing” to get to work with him. He says his focus this summer has been simple − training, spending time with family and jelling with teammates − but he’s already learning new lessons, much of which isn’t as much focused on the physical side, but mental.
“How to simplify the game for myself, how easy I can make the game,” he said. “[Focusing on] the consistency in everything I have going on, so that was really my main focus this offseason.”
Underwood also acknowledged Year 1 wasn’t what he expected it would be. He went 50-4 at Belleville, led the Tigers to their first undefeated season in school history (2023), was Gatorade National Player of the Year that season and MaxPreps National Freshman (2021) and Sophomore (2022) of the Year the two years prior.
There had been very few learning lessons or moments of failure, but the Big Ten proved to be a different animal. While his physical tools are widely considered enough to be a solid player − or even elite − Underwood said there were more cerebral requirements than what he expected.
“How much the mental aspect of the game really matters,” Underwood said of what he learned. “How mentally stable you [have] to be, how mentally strengthened.”
Recently, new head coach Kyle Whittingham told the Free Press he felt like Underwood had a “pretty tough situation” in his first season. Much of that was due to not having a dedicated position coach on staff, which is a major reason Whittingham hired Koy Detmer Jr. to lead the quarterbacks room in Ann Arbor.
Underwood says the relationship is already off to a good start.
“That’s my guy,” he said of Detmer. “We talk every single day, how we can be better as a player and coach and how we’re going to produce on the field.”
While Underwood’s offseason has been focused on improvement, it hasn’t been without headlines. Recently, former NFL All-Pro safety Eric Weddle made waves when he said he didn’t think Underwood “could throw or play quarterback” and told people to “mark [his] words” that one of U-M’s backups may see the field “early.”
Underwood didn’t want to put any stock into the comments, but instead looked forward to the season opener.
“I mean, Game 1 is September 5,” he said. “I’ll let that speak. … I’m not putting no energy toward one person.”
For the most part, Underwood seemed to be a bit more intentional with his remarks than this time a year ago. Prior to playing in college, he talked about winning national championships, a Heisman Trophy and while walking around Cedar Point amusement park said “I can run all of Ohio” in a now-viral video.
This time he said a realistic expectation for this season as a team is”winning,” and his individual goals are “whatever my team needs to win.” After the response, he was asked if he needed to tone down his rhetoric.
“I mean, no matter what, I stand by what I said then,” he said. “It’s over now, time to move forward with that.”
As a household name in the state for a handful of years, the still-18-year-old knows he has room to grow. He says this year is about working “smarter” and raved about the new staff.
He says he thinks the transition has been “for the better” and added he feels like the team is “more prepared” while also adding the team is player-led and “player-driven”. It’s a big year for the Wolverines, who will always be a national brand but want to get back to the top of the national landscape.
It’s also a big year for Underwood, who wants the same for himself.
“I want to prove to myself that I am what I think,” he said. “I feel like I’m the best player to ever come out of Michigan … because I worked for it.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Harmful algal blooms have been reported on two notable lakes in West Michigan: Gun Lake and Muskegon Lake.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says cyanobacteria was reported on Muskegon Lake July 3, but no tests have confirmed it.
The Barry-Eaton District Health Department says a harmful algal bloom was confirmed Thursday on Gun Lake. The lake remains open, but the BEDHD is encouraging visitors to use caution and avoid water that has “visible algae.”
Visitors are encouraged to avoid any contact with water that appears bright green, blue-green, brown or red or has “floating mats of scum.”
Pets should also avoid the water. If they come into contact with the algae, pets should be rinsed off as soon as possible with clean, fresh water.
Exposure to algae can cause a rash or irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat. It can also cause stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever and trouble breathing.
“If you become sick, contact your healthcare provider. Seek medical care right away if you have trouble breathing, severe vomiting, or other serious symptoms,” the BEDHD said in a statement. “If your pet was exposed, rinse them well with clean water and do not let them lick their fur until they have been washed. Contact your veterinarian right away if your pet has vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, trouble walking, excessive drooling, shaking, or seizures.”
Harmful algal blooms are powered by the sudden growth of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria occur naturally in lakes, rivers and ponds but is often boosted by a sudden excess of nutrients, often caused by fertilizer runoff from farms or failed septic systems.
They can last for several days and sometimes even months. The water will look “scummy” or like “spilled paint or pea soup.” They are typically found in the summer and fall — usually peaking in August or September and dying off by the end of October.
You can report a suspected harmful algal bloom to EGLE at AlgaeBloom@Michigan.gov or 1.800.662.9278.
Sterling Stamping Plant is the largest in the world
Ed Daniels, vice president of North America injection and stamping operations, discusses the process of producing metal parts for Stellantis models.
Warren — Hulking metal presses line one wall of Stellantis NV’s cavernous stamping plant here, punching out the raw shapes of Jeep doors, Dodge hoods and Ram tailgates in rapid succession.
Nearby, swinging yellow robots continue the tightly choreographed work, gluing and pressing and welding smaller components to the sheet metal that eventually will start to resemble the shape of a truck or SUV.
Seven miles north, in Sterling Heights, Stellantis operates an even larger stamping plant — the biggest in the world, at 2.7 million square feet — that does much of the same work, churning out various shapes of steel and aluminum 24 hours a day.
Together, these lesser-known links in the manufacturing supply chain support all of Stellantis’ big North American assembly plants — from next-door Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where the Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV is built, to facilities in Windsor and Mexico that make minivans and pickups.
Inside Stellantis’ Huge Detroit Stamping Plants
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the automaker’s Sterling and Warren stamping plants, which are key to the company’s turnaround plan.
The Metro Detroit stamping plants, the automaker’s only two such facilities in the United States, have at times struggled in recent years, facing major job cuts and worker morale issues amid slowing sales and shifting production plans. But under Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, the facilities are expected to cram in more workload — and add staff — as Stellantis begins a new five-year strategic turnaround plan, which includes a heavy focus on its most profitable North American market.
The carmaker’s goal: grow sales by more than a third to 1.9 million annually by 2030 as it launches 23 vehicles, including 11 all-new models. The company also is directing billions of dollars of investment into its U.S. manufacturing footprint due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Stamping has never really been viewed as the sexy side of automotive manufacturing, we’re relatively invisible,” said Ed Daniels Jr., vice president of North America injection and stamping operations. “Because when you look at the commercials and advertisements, it’s always a beautiful Ram rolling off the assembly line or climbing the side of a mountain.
“But we’re the inception of that vehicle,” he said. “This is where raw materials are turned into commodities and parts.”
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the two plants that combined employ about 3,000 people. The automaker wanted to show off a newly-installed blanking press at Warren Stamping and other machinery like a high-speed transfer press and a robot that spots flaws in the metal.
Hiring expected
The blanking press unspools long coils of metal and chops them up into pieces that can then be shaped into roofs, fenders and floor pans. Stellantis shipped the massive machine to Warren from its idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois last year.
After upgrades to the machine, executives said it’s able to produce as many as 120,000 metal blanks per week. It will save Stellantis money since the plant will no longer need to pay a supplier to break down the coils before the metal arrives there.
The blanker addition is a big deal for the plant and signals that the company wants to bring more work in-house and invest in the facility over the coming years, said Romaine McKinney III, president of United Auto Workers Local 869, which represents workers at the factory.
The plant has already brought back all of its laid-off UAW workers, and McKinney said he anticipates more hiring to get underway if sales grow and new Stellantis vehicles come to market.
In another corner of the Warren facility, one of the fastest press lines in the world — known internally as the Hellcat — pushes as many as 15 pieces of metal through per minute. Dies that weigh up to 50 tons apiece squish the material into the shapes of doors and hoods before robotic arms snatch them out and place them on conveyor belts. Midway through a shift, workers can reconfigure the machine to make a different component, a process that takes just five minutes.
Robots check for quality
Curtis Booth, who manages Warren Stamping, said manual processes inside the plant have become increasingly automated, and safer, over the last couple decades, even as the automaker’s two stamping factories still utilize some presses that were installed in the 1960s.
The latest high-tech addition is the Automated Body Inspection System, or ABIS. It’s a camera system mounted on a robot that automatically checks the quality of components and flags anything in need of repair.
Auto plants of all kinds are increasingly turning to these types of camera systems, infused with artificial intelligence, to catch flaws in sheet metal and other components before they are shipped. Booth said worker visual inspections are still used. But in some cases the human eye has too much subjectivity, and the ABIS removes the guesswork.
Greg Bauer, who manages Sterling Stamping, said his plant has added staff over the past year, and expects to continue hiring as more work is assigned to the facility. There is no space at the plant to add more presses, but officials have figured out how to increase efficiency — quickly toggling back and forth between making doors for a Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger on on a single machine, for example.
“We want to bring high-volume parts into the plant, and we want to maximize the capacity of the equipment,” Daniels said.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
MENOMINEE, Mich. (WLUK) — 24-year-old Ethan Raymond Masters of Menominee was arrested on sexual assault charges June 30th, according to the Menominee County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office, deputies learned of an incident involving a 24-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl which happened in Menominee June 22nd. Following a sexual assault investigation, police charged Masters.
Masters was arraigned July 2nd on 2 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct First Degree. He remains in the Menominee County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
Menominee City Police and the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory of Marquette assisted with the investigation.
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