Michigan
New Michigan OC Chip Lindsey talks position battles as spring practice begins: Takeaways
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Chip Lindsey talks quickly, with a southern twang that signals a new direction for Michigan’s offense.
Lindsey has been all over the map in his coaching career: Southern Miss, Auburn, Troy, Arizona State, UCF and North Carolina. When he wants to make a point about his coaching philosophy, he often references his time as a high school coach in Alabama. That experience should come in handy with Lindsey’s current pupil, 17-year-old quarterback prodigy Bryce Underwood.
Lindsey, Michigan’s new offensive coordinator, was around the program during bowl preparation, but the start of spring practice on Tuesday will mark his first chance to evaluate Underwood and Michigan’s other quarterbacks in a live setting. The plan is to give Underwood, Mikey Keene and Jadyn Davis equal reps and see which one emerges. There’s no timeline to name a starter, but don’t hold your breath waiting for a decision in the spring.
“I don’t think that’s probably realistic, just to be honest,” Lindsey said. “You’d love to know when you know.”
Here are five takeaways from Lindsey as Michigan opens spring practice.
Starting a freshman QB
Lindsey doesn’t have much experience with playing true freshmen at quarterback. Nick Mullens, the quarterback Lindsey coached at Spain Park High in Alabama, started as a freshman at Southern Miss, but that was the year before Lindsey joined Todd Monken’s staff. Many of Lindsey’s other quarterbacks, including Drake Maye at North Carolina, Gunnar Watson at Troy, Jarrett Stidham at Auburn and Manny Wilkins at Arizona State, were upperclassmen or returning starters.
It’s fair to say Lindsey hasn’t had a freshman quarterback quite like Underwood or a competition quite like the one that will unfold at Michigan. If Underwood is ready to play, Lindsey said, Michigan won’t hesitate to put him on the field.
“In the South when I was growing up, in the ’90s, nobody became the starting quarterback until they were redshirt juniors and they were 20 or 21 years old,” Lindsey said. “It’s just different now. Kids are more advanced in general throughout the country. A lot of trainers now start with these kids really young. You go to different parts of the country when you’re recruiting and you can tell these kids have been working a long time.”
Developmentally, Underwood is ahead of the curve, Lindsey said. The quarterback running game is an element of Lindsey’s offense, and Underwood is built to carry the ball at 6-foot-4. The goal for spring is to put the quarterbacks in as many situations as possible — red zone, two-minute drills, third-down blitzes — and see which one performs the best.
“At the end of the day, it’s about who affects the other 10 guys the best,” Lindsey said. “I think (that’s) the guy that’s going to play.”
Developmentally, true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is ahead of the curve, according to Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. (Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
The case for Keene
Underwood and Keene come from different ends of the QB spectrum. Underwood has prototypical size and arm strength but lacks experience. Keene is undersized at 5-11 but has a veteran’s savvy in the pocket, backed by two years as a starter at Fresno State.
Another point in Keene’s favor: He wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of competing against the No. 1 recruit in the nation.
“He never flinched,” Lindsey said. “He didn’t even really ask about anybody else that was here. He just wanted the opportunity to come to Michigan.”
Keene was thinking ahead to a career after his playing days, Lindsey said, and wanted to take advantage of the platform that comes with playing at Michigan. In the meantime, he’ll try to show that he’s capable of leading the team if Underwood needs more time to develop.
“Having a previous relationship with Mikey, knowing how he’s wired, I thought he was the perfect fit for what we were looking for,” said Lindsey, who coached Keene at UCF in 2022. “He’s thrown for over 8,000 yards and completed a bunch of balls. I think that was important. We needed a guy who could come in that had a lot of experience.”
Battle begins at left tackle
Spring practice is a phase for learning names, not a phase for naming starters. The competition at left tackle, like the competition at quarterback, isn’t likely to be resolved in the next month. But it appears the competition will pick up roughly where it left off in the ReliaQuest Bowl, with Evan Link at left tackle and Andrew Sprague at right tackle.
“We’ve got a good young group, for sure,” Lindsey said. “Some of them haven’t played as much as you’d probably like. I think we’ve got a great idea of how we’re going to rotate guys during spring.”
Michigan has to replace left tackle Myles Hinton and guard Josh Priebe but returns center Greg Crippen and guard Giovanni El-Hadi. After an up-and-down season at right tackle, Link started at left tackle in the bowl game and held his own against Alabama, as did Sprague on the right side. It would take a lot for freshman Andrew Babalola to shoot to the top of the depth chart at left tackle, but for Babalola, Ty Haywood and Michigan’s other freshmen, the answer is the same: If they’re ready, they’re going to play.
“Realistically, are they going to be ready to play left tackle as freshmen?” Lindsey said. “(Babalola) is going to be a really good player. Is he ready yet? I don’t know. There’s probably some more veteran guys in front of him.”
McCulley expectations
Lindsey isn’t spending a lot of time analyzing what went wrong with Michigan’s passing game last season. Missed throws, breakdowns in pass protection and a lack of playmakers at wide receiver all contributed to a passing attack that ranked dead last in the FBS at 5.4 yards per attempt.
Michigan addressed the quarterback situation by signing Underwood and Keene. The upgrades at wide receiver weren’t as dramatic, which means Michigan will be asking a lot of its biggest acquisition, Indiana transfer Donaven McCulley.
“He’s a long, athletic guy that’s somewhat of a veteran guy, a little bit older,” Lindsey said. “He can really sink his hips and get in and out of breaks, which I think is, for a tall guy, sometimes a hard thing to do. I’ve been really impressed with that.”
The challenge for McCulley is to win one-on-one matchups, Lindsey said. The same goes for the rest of Michigan’s wide receivers, a group that collectively struggled to create separation last season.
“My challenge to those guys has been, ‘Who’s going to be the playmaker?’” Lindsey said. “We’ve got to figure that out. Who do we need to get the ball to? It’s a great opportunity this spring for those guys to get a lot of reps, get a lot of balls. Who can make one-on-one contested catches? Who can get open versus tight coverage? Who can play the position at a high level?”
Underwood’s confidence
Underwood’s comments on the “Rich Eisen Show” about hoping to win “a couple Heismans and at least one natty” didn’t cause much of a stir inside Schembechler Hall, at least not in Lindsey’s view.
“I didn’t even know he said that, to be honest with you,” Lindsey said. “One thing about Bryce is, he’s confident in himself. Since he’s been here, he’s not come across as too confident or over-confident or anything. I think he’s just confident in our program and in himself and his ability.”
Lindsey isn’t worried that Underwood’s confidence might be shaken if he takes some lumps during the spring. Great quarterbacks want to be pushed, Lindsey said, and Underwood is no exception. This spring will be an early chance to challenge Underwood and see how he responds.
“At the end of the day, I’m going to coach him just like I coached the rest of ’em,” Lindsey said. “We’ve had that conversation. I think that’s what he wants. That’s what he’s excited about.”
(Top photo by Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
A decade of Celebrate Michigan: See the images that won from 2015 to 2025
The Detroit News’ Celebrate Michigan photo contest is 20 years old. We’ve assembled the best of the best: Winners and runners up from 2015 to 2025.
The Detroit News
Gotion Inc. has asked a federal judge to order the Michigan township where it was supposed to call home to repay the roughly $23.7 million it owes the state in taxpayer-funded incentives.
Green Township’s actions opposing Gotion’s planned battery parts plant made it all but impossible to move forward, the company argued, leaving Gotion in default under its agreement with the state and on the hook for the $23.7 million in taxpayer-funded incentives it received for land purchases and improvements.
“Now that it is clear the project cannot move forward in the face of this continued opposition and the state of Michigan’s withdrawal of support, Gotion seeks to add these constitutional claims and request damages as a result of the township’s breach of the development agreement and violation of Gotion’s constitutional rights,” a May 29 court filing in the case said.
Last week’s filing seeks to amend an earlier lawsuit Gotion filed against Green Township over zoning changes that made its development all but impossible to proceed.
In February, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Gotion’s lawsuit, arguing that it was moot because the state had already found the project in default and had demanded back roughly $23.7 million that had been given to the subsidiary of a Chinese company to purchase and prepare land in Green Township. In light of that ruling, Gotion is seeking to amend its lawsuit to seek additional damages.
“…the Sixth Circuit implied that given the facts of the dispute at this point, the correct form of damages for Gotion’s breach of contract claim against the township is likely monetary damages and no longer injunctive relief,” Gotion said in the May 29 filing.
The amended filing includes demands for damages arising from the “millions” Gotion paid or spent in reliance on the project moving forward, lost profits the company would have made if the manufacturing facility were built, attorney fees and an amount “not less than $23,670,873.56 for funds advanced towards land and development costs related to the project that the state of Michigan is now claiming should be repaid.”
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which is seeking to recoup the $23.7 million on behalf of the Michigan Strategic Fund, said it was aware of Gotion’s May 29 filing against Green Township and is “monitoring the situation.” The office declined further comment, citing attorney-client privilege.
Gotion first sued Green Township in March 2024 after the board — all of whom had been replaced in November 2023 with members concerned about the Gotion project — rescinded two resolutions needed for the project to move forward. Gotion sued in federal court for breach of contract, and a U.S. district court judge issued a preliminary ruling in Gotion’s favor.
But the Sixth Circuit later blocked the case after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration, last fall, found Gotion to be in default of its grant agreement.
The state’s finding of default was in part due to the Green Township lawsuit. The company’s agreement with the state prohibits involvement in a suit that “would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the project or the grantee’s performance of its obligations under this agreement.”
The state also maintained Gotion’s “cessation of eligible activities” for a period of 120 days constituted an “abandonment” in violation of the grant agreement.
The Michigan Strategic Fund said it would seek to recoup the $23.7 million used to purchase and prepare land for Gotion in Green Township.
The Gotion project in Green Township was fraught with controversy shortly after its announcement. The company had planned to locate a battery parts plant in the Big Rapids area, creating up to 2,350 jobs and receiving about $175 million in taxpayer-funded incentives for the project.
Local opponents pushed back on the project because of the secretive nature with which it was negotiated, the unknown environmental effects of the project and Gotion’s parent company in China. Those concerns were amplified by Republican candidates in 2024, including both Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump.
The legal maneuverings with Gotion have already come at a cost to the township.
For the past three years, the state Treasury Department has flagged Green Township in Mecosta County because its expenditures have exceeded the amount of money authorized in its annual budget. In a corrective action plan submitted to Treasury last month, the township said its deficits were “primarily due to the legal fees.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
A group of residents on Holland Road in Taylor, Michigan, say they are now doing everything they can to keep their neighborhood the way it is after some of them received a letter saying the city is considering rezoning their neighborhood.
“People across the street from me could have warehouse front property instead of woods and nice residential homes,” said Matthew Streicher.
Streicher, whose family has owned property on Holland Road for more than 100 years, says that has been his concern after he received a letter from the city about a proposed rezoning from residential to light industrial directly behind his home near Wick and Holland roads.
“So that’s when I also decided to start knocking on doors around here and saying this is what is going on, we need to speak out and have a voice as to what happens in our backyards, literally,” said Streicher.
Streicher told CBS News Detroit that three of his neighbors received that letter, informing residents that there’s a possibility of a new cold storage warehouse development if this land is rezoned.
“Nothing that belongs in a neighborhood,” said Tim Adkins.
“Heartbreaking, heartbreaking, you know,” said Denise Haggadone.
Many who live on Holland Road say this possibility is even more disturbing because of how long everyone has lived on this quaint road. And these same homeowners say that an industrial facility would only bring in more traffic and take away natural green space, most likely hurting their property value as well.
“It’s nice to see the wildlife, you know, there’s so few places left,” said Adkins.
On Tuesday, CBS News Detroit spoke off-camera with City Council Chairman Charley Johnson, who also lives on Holland Road. Johnson says he understands all of his neighbors’ concerns and agrees with them.
He says the company proposing this rezoning has every right to do so, and that the planning commission will vote on it Wednesday evening.
“It’s sad, I raised my kid here, and he’s planning on having this home after I pass or retire or what have you,” Haggadone said,
The residents hope to see a big turnout at Wednesday’s planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, at Taylor City Hall.
The Sterling Heights City Council is set to consider a resolution Tuesday evening opposing tax policy bills in Lansing that one councilmember contends put every municipality “at risk.”
The Michigan House voted in May to pass several bills that would slash property taxes across the state, but skipped a vote on a bill needed to replace some of the more than $5 billion in lost tax revenue.
At its Tuesday evening meeting, Sterling Heights City Council is slated to consider the adoption of a resolution opposing Michigan House Bills 5872 through 5879 due to “their potential negative impact on local government revenue, financial planning, and administrative operations,” a city document said. Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said the city would lose about $5 million in annual revenue from the bills. He said there’s no “guaranteed replacement” for the lost revenue, and the city would need to cut services, he said.
“So we’re deeply concerned about that,” he said.
The House’s sweeping tax cuts can’t be implemented without the passage of a separate bill levying a loosely defined 6% sales tax on services that has yet to be revealed. Republicans who control the House did not hold a vote on the sales tax hike bill, which remains in committee.
All combined, the four property tax cuts passed by the House are estimated to result in a tax revenue loss that could progress from $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion a year, according to a series of nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analyses.
Vanderpool, the Sterling Heights city manager, said he wants the state Legislature to work “hand in hand” with cities, townships and villages to come up with a solution for “guaranteed revenue replacement.”
“We are more than willing ― I think our reputation precedes us ― to work with our state legislators hand in hand to come up with viable solutions that … may reform property taxes without harming communities across the state,” he said.
Sterling Heights Councilwoman Barbara Ziarko said the legislation reduces the city’s revenue without a guarantee of what it will be replaced with. She said that in the future, the legislation could prevent the city from maintaining positions that it has promised residents it would maintain, including public safety roles.
“When they put the burden on our local government, they’re actually putting it on the residents of whatever community it is,” she said.
State Rep. Steve Frisbie, a Calhoun County Republican, previously said that Michigan residents need to see tax relief immediately. He noted a ballot proposal collecting signatures last year would have eliminated all property taxes in the state. That citizens’ initiative, known as AxMiTax, fizzled out and won’t be on the ballot this fall.
“They realized that our property taxes are too high and they demand that we take action now,” Frisbie said.
More on the bills
The cuts passed by the House in May would eliminate the 6-mill State Education Tax and eliminate the 0.75% real estate transfer tax assessed on the sale price of real estate.
House Republicans also signed off on eliminating the personal property tax. That bill, largely intended to benefit utility companies, is tied to separate legislation that requires utilities such as Consumers Energy and DTE Energy to pass on personal property tax savings by cutting electric and gas rates for their residential customers. It also requires utilities to freeze rates for two years.
Jennifer Varney, Sterling Heights’ finance and budget director, said the elimination of the personal property tax would result in a $4.3 million annual revenue loss for the city. She said the personal property tax refers to the taxes that businesses pay on their assets, such as their machines and vehicles.
Another tax on the chopping block is the so-called “pop-up tax,” an increase in a property tax bill that occurs when a house transfers from one owner to the next in Michigan, uncapping a constitutional limit on the property tax increase on a home’s taxable value.
Under the state Constitution, a property’s taxable value cannot increase by more than the rate of inflation or 5% each year. But when a property is sold, that cap lifts and is reset at a new, often higher taxable value, resulting in a “pop-up” in property taxes.
Varney said the “pop-up” is the only way cities “recapture” the true value of a home. Michigan also has the Headlee Amendment, a state law that requires local governments to roll back millage rates if taxable property values rise faster than the rate of inflation.
“If you take away the pop-up … and you keep the rollback of the millage, you’re basically limiting any kind of growth in taxable base for municipalities,” she said.
Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc contributed.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
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