ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was a Monday in November, and head coach Sherrone Moore was asked about who will be the quarterback in 2024, and a sly grin overtook his face. There as a complete lack of concern and that made people wonder if Moore knew something they didn’t.
Fast forward to Nov. 21, and Moore managed to flip No. 1 player in the country, Bryce Underwood, from LSU. The quarterback of the future had been obtained for the Wolverines.
Moore says that he eventually learned that Underwood would flip when he got a phone call, but as he noted, he had a pretty good feeling that it would eventually happen.
“Phone call — kind of got the gist,” Moore said. “And been around him, and kind of felt like it would happen. But a phone call. So, just extremely excited for that to happen, and all the hard work that we’ve done in the communication and relationship built, felt like it was coming to that, but was really happy that it came to play.”
This wasn’t an overnight ordeal, though it may seem to be to the outside world. Many in the national college football recruiting landscape were taken by surprise because they didn’t realize what the Wolverines were working on behind the scenes.
Now, Underwood is official, as he signed with Michigan football on Wednesday evening. And Moore is thrilled for what his signing does for the program.
“Oh, it’s huge. He’s an excellent player. Obviously, he has a great skill set, elite skill set,” Moore said. “From the pocket, out of the pocket, deep ball, touch, intermediate, short.
“He’s talked to me about different things we want to do with him to expand his game and we’ll do that. But, (an) exceptional leader and he loves the game. He loves to grind. He loves to get better.
“First question he asked me, he’s like, ‘Coach, how late is the door open? How late can I be in the building?’ ‘As late as you want, buddy.’ So excited, very excited to get him here and get to work.”
Underwood shared on Wednesday that he is looking forward to the competition, especially if Michigan brings in a veteran quarterback via transfer. That’s one of the things that Moore loves about his incoming signal caller — he craves competition, and even though he’s rated as the top recruit in the country by all but one of the recruiting services, he has a humility that drives him to work and be the best.
“Yeah, I think for him, it’s about the work and continuing to start over,” Moore said. “The process of how you got to where you got to, you worked to get there. It didn’t just happen. So, for him, he’s going to have to work. He’s going to have to put the work in, day in, day out. And I think his mentality, I think his family, how he’s been brought up, I think that’s going to play a huge role into it. And who he is.
“And there’s not going to be a humbling session. Because the kid is very humble. Like, the kid wants to be good. And the kid knows it takes work to be good. It’s not just going to happen. So, he wants to be pushed, and he will be.”
Underwood is expected to join the team as an early enrollee and will have the opportunity to partake in most all of the Wolverines’ bowl practices.
