New head coach Kyle Whittingham intends to keep football the priority at Michigan as the program tries to move on from its negative recent history.
"There has been a lot of drama, as I mentioned before," Whittingham said Thursday, acoording to On3's Daniel Hager. "We hope that we've come to the end of that, and we're ready to proceed just with the business of playing football, winning football, graduating players, and putting the emphasis on things that should have the emphasis. But, there was some unfortunate things that happened. That's not my place to speak out on it. I wasn't there, and I was not involved."
The Wolverines were dogged by controversy under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, including a sign-stealing scandal involving former staffer Connor Stalions. The school fired Harbaugh's successor, Sherrone Moore, in December 2025 for having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore confronted her after his firing and later pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in order to resolve a felony criminal case related to the incident. Moore was sentenced to 18 months probation in April.
Michigan also announced earlier in July that athletic director Warde Manuel will step down at the end of the calendar year. The 58-year-old led the athletic department for over a decade, during which the school won national titles in football and men's basketball.
The 66-year-old Whittingham was brought in to bring consistency to a program that lacked an identity last season. Michigan finished with a 9-4 record but lost its regular-season finale to rival Ohio State and the Citrus Bowl to Texas. The Wolverines are nearly three years removed from winning a College Football Playoff National Championship.
Whittingham is eager to to get the Wolverines back to "winning football games" in 2026. The coach praised sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood, who's expected to take a leap after his freshman campaign last year.
"He's cleaned up some of the footwork in the pocket, his read progressions," Whittingham said, according to On3's Anthony Broome. The coach added: "He does a good job of throwing on the move. And we've got to get him involved in the run game."
Whittingham will attempt to import the winning culture he cultivated in Utah after leading the program to a 10-2 mark last year. He owns a 177-88 career record.
Michigan opens its season against Western Michigan on Sept. 5.
