TAMPA, Fla. — He didn’t say those words specifically, but Michigan football Head coach Sherrone Moore made one thing clear Monday: Wolverines will enter the 2025 season with another quarterback competition.
This will be the third time in four years that UM will enter a season without an anointed starter: JJ McCarthy and Cade McNamara battled for the role in 2022; Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle competed in 2024.
In 2025, it will be between two players who have never thrown a pass for the Wolverines.
A month ago, the presumptive favorite for the job was the No. 1 high school recruit in Belleville superstar Bryce Underwood.
UM prides itself on being a meritocracy — starters are selected based on merit, not recruiting rankings — and many thought that would be put to the test this offseason with Underwood, a 17-year-old in charge of eight-figure name, image and likeness deal enter the locker room.
Instead, the opposite happened.
According to Moore, Underwood was one of the players pushing the staff to make sure they added a proven college passer. Enter his main competition for the job, graduate student and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, who officially signed Sunday.
“You just want to make sure there are enough guys in the room that can push each other,” Moore explained of the decision. “A big thing when we recruited Bryce (he said) was ‘who’s going to push me, who’s going to make me better?’ All his life he has been pushed to become better, he doesn’t want to receive anything.
“Mikey has been a great addition. Just the discussions I’ve already had with him. He’s excited to push Bryce, really excited to try to compete for that starting spot. It’s not cheap, anyone one is going to have to go earn it.”
MANDATORY READING: Adding Mikey Keene makes sense for Michigan football
Keene started four seasons at UCF (2021-22) and Fresno State (2023-24), played in 39 games and completed 67.8 percent of his passes (793-for-1,170) for 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. It included a season in 2022 with Chip Lindsey, recently named UM offensive coordinatorwhen he completed over 72% of his passes for six touchdowns and a pick in four games before missing the rest of the year with injury.
According to Moore, Underwood and Keene have already started connecting, saying “it’s like they’ve known each other for a long time.”
Last week, the Free Press got its first live look at Underwood in Maize and Blue, with the 6-foot-4, 210-pound signal-caller taking part in ReliaQuest Bowl practices at Jesuit High School as UM prepares to face Alabama (Underwood cannot play in the game as an early starter). Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale Maybe it’s better: “He can throw it, Stevie Wonder can see it.”
“He’s an incredible kid, the players love him,” Moore said. “They love him and he’s just… all he wants to do is get better and be a great teammate. But he’s extremely talented. He’s got great arm strength. He can do anything throws. He can run.
“He’s going to be an incredible player. When will that happen? I don’t know, and we’ll find a solution.”
As for the rest of the room, the Wolverines hope to keep Jadyn Davis, freshman and continue to try to develop the former four-star, top-150 recruit as future insurance behind Underwood. Senior starter Davis Warren still has a decision to make regarding a potential return.
BEGINNING: Watch Bryce Underwood throw passes for the first time in a Michigan jersey
No one gave him a chance to win the job this year, but UM went 4-3 with him as the starter, with all three losses coming to teams that made the College Football Playoff. Warren completed 125 of 197 (63.5%) passes for 1,126 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“Right now I feel like he’s leaning (toward a return) but I don’t want to make the decision for him,” Moore said. “At the end of the day, we want him here. We want Davis here. He helped us win the most important game of the year (at Ohio State) and he’s a vital part of our locker room and this team room. quarters.
“And he’s done a great job of pushing Bryce right now and teaching him, so it’s been great and we want to keep him around as long as possible.”
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Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on @RealTonyGarcia.
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Bryce Underwood vs. Mikey Keene is Michigan football’s new QB battle
