TAMPA, Fla. — The Michigan football quarterback room was going to be thin regardless, but it appeared to be getting thinner.
The Wolverines are losing at least a few quarterbacks. Alex Orji, Jayden Denegal and Anthony Arnou entered the transfer portal while Jack Tuttle (out of eligibility, regardless) medically retired near the end of the season. That meant Michigan would enter 2025 with incumbent starter Davis Warren, redshirt freshman Jadyn Davis and true freshmen Bryce Underwood and Chase Herbstreit.
Underwood, of course, has a strong chance to be the starter despite Warren having started the bulk of games in 2024. But Sherrone Moore needed to go out and get a veteran in the transfer portal, and he promised to do that.
Though Miller Moss was bandied about, he ended up transferring to Louisville, where he doesn’t have to worry about being unseated by a generational freshman. Baylor’s DeQuan Finn, a Detroit native, was another option, but ultimately, Moore opted to target former Fresno State QB Mikey Keene, who the Wolverines faced in Week 1 of the 2024 season.
So what did Moore like about Keene? Why was he the choice?
“Yeah, I mean, an experienced guy that’s played a lot of football,” Moore said. “And I’m really excited about him. We played him in the first game, so we know how tough he is. We know the type of throws he can make. I just heard great things, impactful things about him as a leader. And I’m really excited to push that in our room and give us an experienced guy that we feel that could go win his games. And that was the most important piece of it.”
Given Underwood’s talent, Michigan needed a guy who not only would push him, but that could start to begin the season while Underwood is being brought along.
Given Keene played for new Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey while both were at UCF, he ended up being a good fit. And Keene’s willingness to come to Ann Arbor despite Underwood’s presence made him a good choice for the maize and blue.
“Yeah, it’s open competition,” Moore said. “Nobody’s promised to start but he’s gotta earn it. And he really understands that even with the guys being brought in. So, he’s really excited to push the whole room and he’s a guy that’s played a lot of football and has a lot of experience and made plays at all different levels. And his familiarity with Chip Lindsey was really huge. They had a connection previously so that helped but just all the reviews that we got from him as a person, as a player — and it was huge that we played him this year.
“We saw him live in action, we saw him make some really good throws and do some really good things. Dynamic, so we’ll be ready for him to get going in this program.”