Urban Meyer gives his take on Michigan Football’s QB situation

If you're a fan of anyone that isn't Ohio State or Florida , that's a mildly concerning sentence. Despite being one of the most decorated college football coaches of the 21st century, Meyer is arguably just as known for his colorful personal life, rap sheet of ethical violations and deeply unpleasant personality as he is for the trio of national championships he's won between his tenures with the Gators and Buckeyes.

This week on The Triple Option Podcast , Meyer broke down the Wolverines ' quarterback situation and the relationship between head coach Kyle Whittingham and quarterback Bryce Underwood . And he had some interesting things to say.

Meyer began by emphasizing the strength of Whittingham's relationship with Underwood, stating that Whittingham made it clear he "loves" Underwood and the issues aren't related to coachability. He then commented on how he thinks Underwood's struggles as a freshman owed themselves heavily to the Wolverines' lack of quarterback coach. But it was his take on the quarterback situation around Underwood that'll raise some eyebrows.

"Everything you're saying is dictated by something who's behind him — it's Tommy Carr," Meyer said. "Coach Whitt really loves his kid, says he's got an incredible future. But he's also underdeveloped as far as physically. So we're making decisions without knowing what's — your job as a head coach is to win the next game; whoever gives you the best opportunity, play that human being. And I think Kyle will do that."

Following Underwood's underwhelming but ultimately heroic effort against Western Michigan , the naysayers came out in force, calling for Underwood's benching. As the backup to Underwood, brother of Heisman-contending Notre Dame star C.J. Carr and grandson of Michigan great Lloyd Carr, Tommy certainly has caught some eyes. He was a lightly recruited player and widely regarded as undersized, which Meyer took note of, but camp whisperers have suggested there's potentially something there.

Meyer then continued by breaking down the offensive line and run game as criteria that point to the ugly performance more than Underwood himself, before segueing into a scenario where Tommy could potentially challenge Underwood for his job.

"So there's, I don't know," Meyer said. "If you lose the game, you're right, you probably push that button down and implode the whole thing and start over. And that means a new quarterback, maybe new other position players, but you just don't know what's around them. I would, again, say this. They have to compete with Oklahoma ."

I wouldn't really go as far as to read this as a suggestion that Underwood is in danger, though. I think Meyer's take that the Wolverines should "push the button down and implode" should they lose to the Sooners is a bizarre take. Regardless of how bad Michigan has looked so far, I don't think there's a world where it's smart to hit the reset button just two games into a new coaching era. But the quote itself isn't really singling out Underwood as someone who is at a special risk of losing his job, rather than saying the entirety of the system could change with a loss. Still a strange take, but not necessarily anti-Underwood.

Meyer then closed out by saying he thinks Whittingham will "put people on the field that (he thinks) can win the game," and that Carr "is a guy that they feel can be a quarterback and lead them to a championship at some point."

Overall, I don't think any of what Meyer said was particularly reflective of Underwood's job being in jeopardy. But there are some clues that point toward Whittingham not being hesitant on making a change if a change is what he believes would help Michigan win games. Meyer and Whittingham are incredibly close, dating back to their time at Utah coaching together in the early-2000s. Meyer is about as dialed in with Whittingham as anyone, so the likelihood of Meyer talking with Whittingham before recording the podcast and forming his opinion based off Whittingham's comments is fairly high.

However, there's also a significant amount of coach-speak relating to Whittingham and the downright nonsensical suggestion that a loss to Oklahoma should trigger the nuclear option. But Underwood would simply be caught in the blast radius of that situation rather than the reason in and of himself for a change. In fact, Meyer is genuinely fairly positive towards Underwood.

So yeah. There you have it. To sum it up, Urban freaking Meyer is surprisingly more forgiving to Underwood than some elements of this fanbase. I'm not sure what that says about us.