Big Ten Football Analyst Howard Griffith shares his thoughts on Bryce Underwood and Michigan

[What’s going on, Michigan fans? Welcome back to another episode of The Breakdown. I got my guy Howard Griffith with me: Big Ten football analyst, two-time Super Bowl champion and Fighting Illini great. The list goes on. Griff, how you doing, brother? Good, my man. Good to catch up with you. How you been? Hey, listen, man. I can’t complain, man. The older I get, the younger you keep looking, though, so I don’t know what’s going on. Well, let’s keep the trend going. Keep the trend going.

Right. Right. Right. Man, I appreciate you coming on. Griff, I kind of want to talk a little bit about Michigan football, but I kind of want to attack it in kind of in sections, right? I kind of want to go back to last year’s spring, right? Michigan is coming off of back-to-back wins. You know, they beat Ohio State again, which I couldn’t believe, with absolutely no quarterback play. They go into the postseason, they play Bama, they beat Bama. And then we go into this spring, right?

Michigan lands the No. 1 quarterback in the country. They get Donaven McCulley out of the portal. Justice Haynes as well. And one of the biggest things I think for Michigan was quarterback play, right? So, it seemed like a lot of things were aligned and looking in the and going in the right direction.

When you think back to then and you guys go to Michigan in that spring and you’re evaluating this team, what was your expectation kind of going into what was you thinking going into that spring to evaluate?

Yeah, For me, what I thought they would be able to do without a doubt was control the line of scrimmage. Yeah, even though that they were going to be replacing some people, to me the staple was being able to run the football. That really had to change. And to me, that was going to allow the quarterback to continue to develop, not at a fast pace, but bring him along because, you know, at some point, you know, the young guys are going to hit a wall.

So, you need to be able to rely upon other parts of the game to be able to take that stress and that pressure off of him so he can continue to play free. But, you know, to me, when I think about Bryce, it’s just the fact that he’s so good at what he does, right? I think he’s an outstanding young man. I think he’s a hard worker. A guy that immediately when you think about teammates guys coming in with a lot of hype, he’s one of those guys that is going to work hard.

You know, he’s working hard. He’s in the building. He’s doing what he needs to do. So, the team was going to gravitate to him as a leader, but he still had to learn to play the position. I thought it was going to take some time for that to happen, but you know, and it did. It took some time, but I still think the sky’s the limit. He’s going to continue to get better. You know, he’s going to benefit from the fact he’s got a quarterback coach in place now and I think he’s going to continue to grow in this new system.

New system.

Yeah. I think, you know, for me, Griff, when I remember when we landed one, I couldn’t believe we landed him, but you know, NIL is an eraser these days. Yeah. And when I ended up watching a lot of his tape, one of the things that I took away from it was he was clearly the best athlete on the field. Every single game that he played, he was the best athlete on the field. I kind of noticed a little bit of his mechanics were going to need some work. His footwork was going to need some work, but overall you understood that the talent was there.

But as I try to tell people a lot of times that this is college, you can get away with a lot of things in high school, but when it comes to college, the field is different. Every five-star ain’t necessarily five-star and every four-star ain’t necessarily a four-star. It becomes a level playing field. And so I knew that there were going to be kind of some hiccups there. And I remember at one point I remember they talked to Bryce’s parents and they were okay with Bryce if he had to sit and wait for his opportunity.

But I think because of the quarterback position at Michigan being so depleted, right? You had Davis Warren who I think he was coming off of injury. You got the kid Mikey Keene from Fresno State. He was coming off an injury. Then you had I think Jake Garcia from ECU who was there on campus. I don’t even know if he even showed up. So he was automatically going to play whether or not he was ready or not. And sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes that’s a bad thing.

For me, I was more concerned about was I knew the offensive line could run the ball, but could they protect him? My biggest concern was I saw the same thing kind of happened when Devin Gardner got to Michigan when he finally got his opportunity. He had all the talent, sky’s the limit, had all the talent in the world, but the offensive line wasn’t able to protect him the way he needed to. What do you think for Bryce going into this next season? What’s the biggest thing Bryce needs to work on and how can Michigan protect?

I think you just mentioned it. When you talk about his mechanics, his footwork, we know everything starts with your base and going up. It’s no question. I mean, athleticism is off the charts. You understand that. But how do you take that and become an elite quarterback, which you know, Michigan would absolutely benefit if he gets to that level where he’s, you know, there’s no question what type of talent he is and where he can lead the team. But it comes down to a lot of it’s got to be mechanics.

A lot of it’s got to be him being able to put himself in a great position, be on platform, be able to make the throws, the athleticism, as we talked about, those plays, those dynamic plays he’s going to make, pulling it down and running with it. That’s there. But I think where we have to see him grow into the fall and this summer is what he’s doing with the football when his eyes are downfield and how he’s going through his progressions. That’s really to me the next step for him because everything else is a given.

Now it’s okay. How do you take that athleticism and now make it make him an elite quarterback and not just an athletic quarterback, a guy that can do it all? Yeah, I think and you brought it up earlier, the fact that he did not have a quarterback coach was the craziest thing I think I had heard coming out of this. Yeah. Do you think Michigan just relied too much on status quo and not really going out and addressing because I feel like they had time to address that situation and they did.

Yeah, it’s always tough, man. You look at these staffs and the way they’re put together and particularly now, listen, it’s no secret Michigan has the resources. If they want to have 20 extra coaches, they can have it. I think sometimes you have to be able to maximize what you’re doing and making everything and finding those people and those coaches that are going to be able to elevate the program even if they don’t have the title quarterback, coach, offensive coordinator. There’s still a lot of people that can come in and really support the program.

But it’s kind of hard, you know, on the outside looking in because you don’t know necessarily what the dynamics are from a coaching staff. And it appears that there were a lot of other things that were in the air when it came to the coaching staff as well that they had to try to maneuver and work through. But to me, if you can go out and hire as many people as you need to hire to put your team in the best position, that’s what’s going to work. Then it’s hiring the right people to make sure you know, not that Bryce has to agree with who the hireer is or needs to be in on the hire, but you need to know that person has a track record and you know that he’s going to be able to get the most out of them cuz it’s to me he you know what type of worker he is.

He’s going to work. He’s willing to stay in there and you know come in at 1:00 in the morning and watch film. He’s a guy you have to kick out of the building. So, you know, he has that part. Now, it’s coupling with coupling that energy and that thirst for knowledge with the guy who’s going to be able to work the mechanics. And, you know, you mentioned something earlier and I think we see this particularly at the professional level when you talk about playing young quarterbacks in a system where you talk about not being able to protect and that’s what happens when you talk about top five, top 10 quarterbacks.

Normally, it’s a reason that those teams are picking in that position because they don’t have the quarterback. They don’t they have the issues. But the issue becomes when they play early, they start to develop poor mechanics because they’re trying to get out. They’re just trying to survive, get to the next play. But when you have an opportunity to sit back and wait and learn, you know, it’s better for everybody. I think it’s going to drive competition in the room. And that’s not to say if you’re not just playing the best quarterback, but you’ve got to be able to make sure that he’s not going to start creating those bad habits.

And you see it a lot. And I think you saw some of it this past spring. You saw some of the habits that he had during last season. You saw him in the spring. And you want to try to erase some of that stuff and get that out of here. But, you know, continuing to work the rest of the summer, I’m sure he’s going to continue to get better cuz the work ethic is there. But that’s one of the challenges when you play young people particular particularly now when you look at NIL you know he’s expected to start everyone on campus everyone around the country that’s that’s following Michigan that expects if you have the number one player in the country walk onto your campus he or she has to play and that’s not always the best recipe for success but I think the other thing is too I mean Michigan wanting to get back into the fight, wanting to get back and, you know, do what they need to do to get back to a national title, and get into the playoffs and make those things happen.

And it’s, it’s hard, man. It’s really hard. It’s a tough to me. This is, this is really a difficult time when you talk about athletic departments trying to evaluate whether or not your program is doing all the right things or maximizing their resources. We know for me when I look at Michigan, Michigan is a team that needs to be competing for the Big Ten title and they need to be in the playoff. That’s that’s the bare minimum when you talk about that program and you know it just because of you know the players that they get and the tradition and all of that and they continue you know to bring those players in and you know quite frankly college football’s better when Michigan is right there in the thick of things each and every year.

What have you seen from the wide receivers? I know that Michigan has made a lot of moves on in the offseason. Have you seen anything on the wide receiver side as far as guys being more consistent? Yeah, to me that’s where they have to continue to grow. They had to grow last year and they have to continue to get that done. They need more than just to win. They’ve got to have, you know, that tight end position. You know, that’s traditionally now it’s turned into a spot where they’re going to have a guy each and every year.

So, as you continue to grow that, and then who’s going to be the number two? Who’s going to be the number three? There are some talented young people on that roster. I do know that. So, their ability to find those guys that are going to be able to stretch the field is going to help them a lot because that also will open up that run game and they’ve got some guys back there that can run the football. So, you know, to me, it’s continu to the passing game and that’s interesting, Chris.

We talk about the passing game because of Bryce, but you got to be able to protect them and you got to be able to have those guys be able to get open and effective coverage downfield so that now all of a sudden, you know, it could be third and three, third and three could be a position where, you know, we’re solid up front. We can run the ball cuz you don’t know the offense is really that good and humming that way. So, you know, being able to get there to me is going to be a big part. You know, who’s the number two, who’s the number three, who’s number four receivers is going to be an important part of one of the things that I want to see when I see him this summer.

When Kyle Whittingham gets the job, what are your thoughts when you hear that he’s the guy that’s going to be a toughness, no nonsense, and strong defense. I mean, he kind of fits the model to me of what who Michigan has been and wants to continue to be. And to me, it’s just a matter of, you know, from an offensive philosophy, is it going to be it’s I still think it’s going to be run first is what they want to do. That’s, you know, most of these offenses are about, but he’s going to probably spread him out a little bit, too.

Going to have a little bit of that in it as well. But, you know, I think the toughness part of it and the consistency that he’s had when he was at Utah is something that, you know, is going to obviously be able to show up in the way Michigan wants to play this year and the way he’s going to coach him. So, you know, the reality is you mentioned the record, Michigan isn’t far off. I mean, what are we talking about, right? It’s not like this thing has fallen off the cliff, although it seemed like that, but it hasn’t, right? When you look at the success that they’ve had that you guys have had.

So, you know, I think they’re going to continue to grow. But the other challenge too, right, when you start to look at it is we know Ohio State’s not going anywhere. Oregon’s not going anywhere. Washington’s a really tough team. USC can be right back there in the mix. So, you start to look around and there are other people that are entering, you know, entering the fray. So, the Big Ten has gotten stronger. And I think, you know, from a coaching standpoint when you look top to bottom, you know, these are unbelievable coaches that are playing in this league.

And, and the other thing that really jumped out to me last year about this conference was the quarterback play. I think the quarterback play is as high as it’s ever been right now with the type of guys that are out there that are leading teams right now. So, I expect that trend to continue this year as well. And obviously, we’ve been talking about Bryce, that’s that’s a big part of he’s a big part of that as well. So, as he grows to me, you know, he’s going to be able to put Michigan in that position, you know, where they’re going to be right there in the thick things.

And I told people, I said, you know, honestly, I mean, Michigan could not have fell into a better position than to have Kyle Whittingham waiting in the wings as your next head coach, right? Like, you could not have asked for a better situation coming out of a terrible situation. And I think what I try to tell people the most is like Kyle Whittingham feels about as close as you’re going to get to old school Michigan as I can think of since Lloyd Carr, Gary Moeller, and obviously Bo Schembechler.

Hard nose, consistency, accountability, all those things that have really been kind of the cornerstone of what Michigan is. I think you get all of that within Kyle Whittingham, but also he’s built a staff around him of guys that have been with him for years, but it’s not like they’re a bunch of like older guys or whatever. Some of you got guys like Jason Beck who’s been around football for a long time who is, you know, considered a great offensive mind. There’s some young people in there as well that kind of balances everything out that I think gives it that kind of consistency.

What have you seen from the coaching staff at this point as far as like consistency, intensity? I know coaches Lewis Powell and Larry Black are no joke, but talk to me a little bit about that. Yeah, they’ve got a nice combination of some veteran coaches and then guys that are going to have an opportunity and you know, you think about, you know, what they’ve brought to the table. To me, it’s a combination of things. And you mentioned it, you talked about, you know, the toughness, hard nose, that type of coaching style.

We I think you look around college football, that’s the that’s the coaching style of the best that are competing each and every year for championships. Sure, you know, some people want to throw it around, but people get people start to think, well, if you’re just throwing it around every day, you’re not a tough football team. That’s one of the things that SC has been trying to fight and battle with for the last two years because even though they could run the football, people saw them as a finesse team and so they’ve been working as hard as they can to change that.

And you know, they’ve done a great job in recruiting. So I think they’ve gotten that part of it figured out for them. But that’s who Michigan is. And to me, you look at when you have, you know, that young influence of coaches, you know, they see the game a little bit different, too. So, it’s not that it’s that far-fetched from or that far away, but to me, it’s it’s about being able to also bring those young guys who have young thoughts. I thought one of the best things that Jim Harbaugh did during his tenure was go in a different direction when he started to make all the coaching changes.

He went with guys that he there was no connection to outside of Yeah, sure he may have coached for my brother, but I didn’t have a personal he didn’t have a personal relationship with. And to me in talking with him about that, it really opened his eyes to football as well because now all of a sudden he’s learning the game and learning a different way, a different way of playing, a different way of calling it. And I think that’s when you have that young influx of talent and coaches, that’s what it gives you.

And it’s not that, you know, the game has passed you by, but that what you have to do and continue, particularly if you’ve been in it a long time. You’ve got to be able to know what those adjustments are that you need to make. Maybe you can tweak it. Maybe it’s maybe it’s as little as going from a if you’re doing an inside drill, going from 15 plays to 10 plays. It’s it’s it’s little things like that you know I think when you have a nice balance of young and veteran coaches on your staff.

So I’m I’m anxious. Can’t wait to see Powell and Black, the defensive line coaches, work. It’s funny. I’ve been watching them since it’s funny because I’ve gotten to the point now, right, where not only was I covering guys when they were in high school, watching their videos, then I cover them while they’re in college. Now all of a sudden they’re coaching and they’ve been in coaching for five or six years and it’s like man I’m getting old. But it’s fun to see some of that happening and it’s going to be fun to see you know Michigan how Michigan handles you know not only the challenges they have during the season but also how those new coaches and the new influence comes in and affects that locker room.

And I think it’ll be a positive effect for those guys. Like I said the standard is the standard at Michigan. I mean, you can veer away from it a little bit, but you know, it got quickly. It’s back on the tracks and what’s going to be expected. And it doesn’t hurt at all that the team that your basketball team got a championship. So, everybody’s going to be fighting for those championships in that respect around. So, it’s I mean, again, not far away at all. It’s just a matter of, you know, continuing to get better as a team and a program.

Griff, I want to switch gears a little bit and talk on the defensive side of the ball. A few weeks ago I did a video on who’s going to rush the quarterback. Michigan has been historically great at developing defensive ends. Just probably one of the stronger positions that I’ve seen in the last, you know, five, six, seven years that Michigan has produced a lot of quality defensive linemen, defensive ends, guys that can get after the quarterback. I’m a little concerned about this year’s crop and mainly because I don’t we haven’t seen them play.

They’ve they haven’t played a lot of football. They played a lot of backup minutes, right? A lot of those guys were kind of like in the two deep, three deep were able to get in a little bit. That’s my biggest concern right now is on the defensive line and what type of defense that Jay Hill is going to run because from my understanding he runs a very different defensive concept but he also believes in giving them a lot of information, right? Because he wants to keep the offense off balance.

He wants to keep them guessing. He doesn’t want to be vanilla.

How difficult and how big of a challenge is that going to be for him? And then also being able to find guys that can get

Yeah, I think the biggest part of it is he’s found out already how much he’s going to be able to put, you know, on these players plate already going through the spring. So, he’s got a great idea about how much they’re going to be able to retain and how much they can continue to grow and add. And to me, that’s part of being a really good coach is understanding your personnel and what they can handle. I know most defenses now, they want to dictate pace. They don’t want to allow offenses to just go out there and do everything they want to and just be reactionary.

To me, that’s one of the things that Michigan has done a really good job of being able to dictate to teams what they want to do and watching the offenses trying to adjust to what Michigan was able to do defensively. But that was when you had some unbelievable defensive tackles. Then you talk about having some unbelievable ends, linebackers that can run with everyone. And so when they start to look at just how they’re going to attack, it all ultimately is going to start with what type of production do they believe that they’re going to be able to get out of these players up front.

And again, they’ve done a an unbelievable job, a great job of recruiting. They’ve gone into the portal and done some things there as well. So, I again I know that there’s some things that are just known facts and I know that they’re going to play solid defense. It’s just a matter of okay, how aggressive can they be? What happens? Are they going to be taking the ball away? You know, what is going to be the calling card and who and to me that’s one of the things that’s that’s really interesting and fascinating about, you know, college athletics because yes, you can have some stars, but there’s always some new guys coming in.

And that’s why, you know, right now with the advent of the transfer portal and NIL, you can go get the players that you need right away. And they’ve got some young guys, you know, on that D line particularly that should be able to get out and really contribute to this team and help them in a big way. Yeah. Going into the summer, Griff, what are you looking for that’s going to help you kind of give you a clear picture of where this team could potentially end up at the end of the season.

You think about Michigan being able to compete for championships. That’s what it is to me. The difference becomes the quarterback play because we know what type of quarterback play they’re going to get. Other teams are going to have what they have coming back. Whether it’s Oregon, whether it’s Ohio State, they’ve got guys that have done it at a really high level. So, that’s going to be a big indicator. But, I’m also going to sit here and tell you it’s not it can’t all be on his shoulders.

So, we talked a little bit about the wide receivers, you know, what’s got to happen there. The depth that they’re going to need at that position and who those guys are going to be. That’s going to be a big part of it, too. But, if they can continue, we just talked about defense. The defense can continue to limit big plays, not giving up those big plays. That’s a big indicator to you as well with this new system. But there the balls aren’t just, you know, going deep and just flying over guys heads.

That’s a big part of it. So to me, quarterback play, what’s happening on the wide receivers position, and then as we talked about defensive line, just how dominant can they be and how quickly can they get to a point where they can control games when the offense may stutter a little bit? Can the defense really take over and be dominant at that spot?

Is there a game on the schedule, Griff that you’re that you’re most excited about that will tell you a lot about this Michigan team? That’s that’s a good question. I don’t have a schedule pulled up on me right now. But you know, they got big that is obviously a big test for him. That’ll be a big test. And the reason I think a couple things, right? This is an Oklahoma team that you know, the expectations are high for as well, right? So having those type of games early to me really kind of set the tone through camp as well because you know what’s out in front of you.

You know what you got what you’ve got to go out and handle. But I think that listen the schedule for the most part Michigan is a lot of times has as good or better talent there. Right. So how do you maximize those abilities? Do. And as you talked about, how long is it going to take for the offense to get up to speed? And you know, it’s I’m kind of repeating what you said, but it’s important that you can come out of the gate flying around as a defense.

And normally they do. I mean, you look at practice, who’s who’s normally going to be out in front, the defense is, cuz there it’s just it’s the way college football really all football has always been. You know, defenses have an opportunity to really be aggressive and go out and play their style and there just so many there’s so many nuances to the offensive game. Heck, you got to get the ball snapped. The quarterback’s got to figure out so much stuff going on that timing is always going to be important, but it’s a really to me if they can come out and be dominant from a defensive standpoint early, it’ll be a big tell for this team and can you continue to get better throughout the year?

And again, this is where I go back to what are you able to hang your hat on? You know, you can run the ball whenever you get ready to run it. That’s going to bode well for the pass game. And to me that pass game can open up and do a lot of things. And as it continues to get better, as you have those weeks, but you have that marquee game in there, you know, you expect them by the time the Big Ten play rolls around to really be, you know, firing on all cylinders.

At least that’s what you hope. And if they can do that, they’re going to find themselves right in the thick of things. Yeah.

And last question, Griff, how do you feel about NIL?

I do like NIL. I do I think that the student athletes to the time for them to have an opportunity to make money on their name, image, and likeness is finally come. But like anything, you know, there are no guard rails to this thing right now. And what makes it difficult is, you know, you’re throwing a lot of money if you don’t handle this right. And to me, that’s why the person that’s sitting in that corner office, they got to be as solid as it comes because most of them, although a lot of programs now have a general manager that’s involved and have a whole another staff that’s handling that stuff, to me, you’re still dealing with young people, and you still have to try to manage those expectations.

But the challenge is now, I mean, you it’s pay for play. I mean, you’re having guys go out and, okay, I need a wide receiver. It’s free agency. Okay, I’m gonna I’m gonna offer you this. Come on into our program. And, you know, if you’re the type of program that has the money to go out and do it, then you’re going to you’re going to continue to do it. I think does it even the playing field? I don’t not so much to me because the haves still have it.

They just have more of it. And you have some other programs. Indiana is a great example of it, but I think that example with Indiana is they’ve also got a great coaching staff. I mean, it’s it is unbelievable what those guys have done the last two years and what they’ve done with NIL. They’re they don’t have they’re not spending the kind of money some other programs are spending in this conference or around the country, but they’re getting the right guys and they’re coaching them up and they’re making it happen.

But getting back to your question, man, it there’s got to be some guard rails to it. It but it’s it’s a tough deal because, you know, everyone’s complaining about how much TV money. Well, they’re not complaining. They’re happy about how much TV money is and what’s being generated, but the reality is a lot of places are spending. They’re way over the numbers. I think the numbers of I would be surprised if more than 25 teams out there are in a positive position in their athletic department right now because of not just natural costs are going up but also there’s other spending that’s happening as well and it’s going to be tough man. It is going to be tough for teams to compete at a high level and that’s I know there’s a lot of talk about going to 24-team playoffs.

There’s a lot of talk there and I think that has a lot to do with job security for coaches because I think with the 12-team playoff for me it was it’s kind of like you know in basketball the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight you make it to a point then oh you’re good you should have some security and feel good about it but things can change so quickly. So, you know, the long answer is I like what it’s been able to do, but there are just some things that are happening in it right now that look kind of bad that are bad.

And I think they have to continue to try to massage it, make it better. I know they say when, you know, once the once they’ve gotten out of the stable, horses out of the stable, there’s nothing you can do about it. But I think there still is. It’s just a matter of making sure that you’re doing the right things, not only by the student athletes, but also these programs have to be fiscally responsible if they want to continue to make the money that they need to because I think the reality is you look at these institutions and also you look in television.

I don’t know how much more revenue is out there unless you start to and you know I know there’s a lot with streaming and there those are some areas where they feel like there’s some opportunities and that’s why I think you know you look at the 12-team and 24-team playoffs creating better games hoping to see you know games that are out there but you know it’s going to be tough it’s going to be tough but one thing we know about college athletics is it’s is nothing like it.

I mean, once he gets you strip away, you get the adults out of the way and just talk about the teams that are playing, man, it is, as you know, it is an unbelievable sport and athletics at the college level is tremendous. And, you know, 99% of the young people that are playing these that are participating, it is a great deal for them. You know, some others obviously make going to make a lot of money, but for 99% of us, you know, getting that education and having an opportunity to compete and understanding what team and being a part of a team is all about really continues to help us as we, you know, move down the line or you move away from athletics and move into your career,

Griff, man, I appreciate you coming on the podcast, brother, as always, man. It’s it’s always a pleasure to see you and talk to you, man, and get some knowledge. And I’m always I appreciate it, man. I have to get with you after I see him this summer and give you some intel. See what I see. Absolutely, brother. I appreciate it. All right, Griff. Appreciate it, man. If you like this kind of content, please like, share, follow, and subscribe. And as always, go blue!]