Michigan's Jason Beck Fired Amid Kyle Whittingham Hot-Seat Buzz, Was CFB's Highest-Paid OC

The Wolverines fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck following Saturday's 15-6 loss to Michigan State.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and The Athletic's Bruce Feldman and Austin Meek first reported the news

Per The Athletic's report, head coach Kyle Whittingham "brought Beck from Utah and made him the highest-paid OC in the country at $3 million per season. Beck's offense was supposed to bring out the best in five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who is also earning roughly $3 million per year, but the pairing never clicked."

Michigan's offense has been absolutely brutal this season. The team ranks tied for 226th in passing offense (173.9 YPG), 109th in rushing offense (128.7 YPG) and 126th in scoring (19.6 PPG).

If it wasn't for a stout defense—and an extremely controversial Hail Mary against Western Michigan—the Wolverines might be far worse than an already-disappointing 5-4 record.

Even more troubling is that Underwood, the top overall recruit in the Class of 2025, has been so poor under Beck that he was bench midseason and replaced by Tommy Carr.

Even with the Wolverines struggling against Michigan State, Underwood remained on the sidelines.

"That was a conversation. Whether or not Bryce should go in late in the third quarter. Should that switch be made? Just felt like it wasn't going to be the answer if we would have done that. In hindsight, maybe we should have done that," Whittingham told reporters following Saturday's loss. "But we've got some serious issues. I don't know what else to say other than we're not going to just give up on the season. We've got three games left. We've got some kids in that locker room who have a lot of pride and a lot of want-to. We just got to find a way to get back on track."

The hope will be that offensive line coach Jim Harding can provide some answers in that regard as he takes over as interim offensive coordinator.