What's Next!? - Michigan Mondays

Michigan Mondays on MichiganVOCFB with TJ Ronan and Michelle is a bye-week reflection after the Minnesota loss. The hosts treat it as a start-to-finish offensive disaster, with the only real credit going to the defense, and they spend most of the hour on scheme, discipline, Bryce Underwood versus Tommy Carr, and the Harbaugh-return idea.

• 00:01:41. TJ opens Michigan Monday with Michelle after a rough weekend. They skip the Lions and frame the show as reflection week: Minnesota, the Underwood–Carr debate, and the Harbaugh thesis. FanDuel shout-out.
• 00:03:02. Hate-watch talk turns to Georgia–Alabama. Michelle likes Alabama at home by more than 1.5, citing momentum off Mississippi State and Alabama’s track record against Kirby at Bryant-Denny. TJ takes Georgia on program strength. Not betting advice.

• 00:04:49. Michigan versus “the fighting PJ Fleck.” Michelle says she over-bought the roster, the stars, and the coordinator upgrades, and even kept some optimism after Iowa. Minnesota wiped that out.
• 00:05:56. “There was no fight.” Start-to-finish disaster except the defense, which stayed on the field an “ungodly” amount of time. Offense cannot do anything right. She is hesitant to sell silver linings.
• 00:06:45. TJ says last week’s optimism, multi-area growth, is gone. Kerry Combs kickoff coverage and the punt return are flagged as red marks. Andrew Marsh’s muffed punt is later cited as not Bryce’s fault.
• 00:07:22. Coaching versus talent. Michelle: coaching. Talent is there (Underwood, Savion Hyder, Buchanan, Marsh). Production, especially the run game, does not match. She calls the run regression coaching malpractice. O-line remains an ongoing concern.
• 00:08:45. TJ’s numbers: last year under Sherrone Moore, same quarterback, about 186 pass and 210 rush per game. This year through five games, passing is still about 180, but the run is down to 92.6 without Bryce’s numbers. Fan argument is that boxes are loaded because of Underwood. TJ’s counter: they loaded the box last year with worse receivers.
• 00:10:30. Fan-base split he does not like: Carr versus Underwood, and coaching versus roster talent. He says some respected people fired back at a post he made after frustration leaked publicly.
• 00:11:12. Defense credit to Jay Hill. Hill got the ball back more than twice late. Offense did not answer.
• 00:12:08. Whittingham’s presser: no answers. Michelle does not know what is worse, having answers and not changing, or admitting you are as lost as the fans. She was very high on him off the Utah resume. Camera body language looks tired, exhausted, over it. Lack of energy, anger, and answers scares her more than the score. She wonders if he was ready to step aside at Utah and this job found him.
• 00:14:28. TJ’s concern is a longer learning curve than expected, especially on offense. Beck may still be figuring it out. Two theories: personnel does not fit the scheme (Rich Rod / Ryan Mallett parallel), and the competition is harder than Utah, where Beck had two first-round offensive linemen. Week 1 Western Michigan, Week 2 Oklahoma, then Iowa and Minnesota. East-west concepts they said they would stop still showed up and failed. Spread-without-power has not been sustainable in the Big Ten outside Oregon. Fickell at Wisconsin and Maryland are the failed comps.
• 00:17:28. Michelle: he is probably capable of an identity shift, but coaches keep trying to make the scheme work. Marshall and Hyder were supposed to be among the best backs in the country. A mobile Underwood should have fit what Beck did with Devin Dampier. It has failed.
• 00:18:10. Dampier deep dive. Year 1 under Beck (New Mexico, second college season): 57.9 percent, 2,700 yards, 12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions. Fans calling for a benching of Underwood would have benched that version too. Utah was Dampier’s later year with Beck.

• 00:20:09. Frustration is leaking. TJ was told to stay quiet, then screenshots went public and a player was named. He will not name the player. Two takeaways: the team still believes in Bryce, and some players think it is the system and are frustrated with Beck. Whittingham has said the runway is not infinite.
• 00:22:28. Michelle’s top three: play-calling that does not fit personnel, penalties and discipline, and Bryce going bad when he goes bad.
• 00:23:23. TJ’s ranking: 1) Jason Beck, 2) Kyle Whittingham and discipline, 3) Bryce Underwood. Two things can be true. Do not overcorrect. Fix one thing, then evaluate. Whittingham called this the biggest challenge of his roughly 40-year career and said they will figure it out, timeline unknown.
• 00:25:48. Michelle is irked by that “biggest challenge” line. Michigan has the resources, brand, fan support, and talent. Compared with being out-resourced at Utah against Oregon and USC, this should have been the easier job. TJ: they expected a smoother jump. Cignetti from James Madison is the counterexample of a coach ready for the stage.

• 00:27:46. TJ: fans are letting Minnesota erase Oklahoma-to-Minnesota progress. Until the second half, Bryce was the best offensive player, and that was close to unanimous. Penalties, a turnover, and the muffed punt wrecked drives. If Bryce is not the sole problem, Carr is not the sole solution. Carr has one notable throw against UTEP backups.
• 00:29:25. Michelle agrees he is not the primary problem. Discipline and unclean play put them in bad spots. She does not love the interceptions. Bryce plays better when the staff shows confidence. Mechanics erode when that confidence looks gone. Not an excuse, but observed. Premature Carr start risks trashing a promising backup and spiraling Bryce. Season is likely over for the Big Ten title and the playoff at 0-2 in league play. Oklahoma win looks worse by the day. Next year matters more: Bryce and Marsh as juniors, Hyder still there. Do not scrap the future with this year’s quarterback panic.
• 00:47:45. Leadership question. Players want Bryce to succeed. He is described as a hard worker with locker-room respect. Carr is younger and has not been asked to lead. TJ: players think it is Beck, not Underwood. Bryce still did not play well Saturday.
• 00:56:52. TJ’s position: Bryce starts against Penn State out of the bye and sinks or swims. If consistency is still not there, open a real competition. Michelle does not want alternating drives. She would rather see Carr in packages, the way JJ McCarthy was used behind Cade McNamara in 2021, not a full start that symbolically buries Bryce. JJ’s first year was not clean either, and that roster had a Joe Moore line and a staff with a pulse.

• 00:49:29. Has Witt lost the locker room? TJ: no, but frustration is normal and part of growth. Michelle: Utah’s room was built by him. At Michigan he was retaining portal-risk guys from a messy end to last year. Hold is more tenuous.
• 00:51:50. “Fire everybody, take Fleck, Braun, or Chesney.” Michelle: overreaction. Fleck would not be the name if Michigan had won. She has long liked David Braun. Bob Chesney is real, and she was wrong to doubt him. TJ has had some Chesney curiosity.
• 00:53:20. Ryan Hall wants a QB1A/1B into Penn State and Carr to start. TJ: already 0-2 in the league, but ripping the band-aid feels irresponsible.
• 00:54:13. Confirmed leak: Beck sat with a position group. Also accurate: surprise team meeting at 5:30. Separate chat says Beck was told to mold the offense around Bryce. Both hosts think the scheme was adjusted for him.
• 00:54:56. Devin Gardner line that Bryce is guessing, not reading. TJ pushes back: reads showed up against Iowa and UTEP. Work in progress, not a finished product.
• 00:55:50. Mike Middleton: fix the run, stand with Bryce.

• 01:03:32. Ben Herbert is the piece Michelle did not want to lose in 2023. Secret sauce was strength and endurance, not Connor Stalions. Make Herbert say no, even if the role is S&C only.
• 01:04:44. Chargers struggling, Herbert not looking like the quarterback Harbaugh sold. Seat could warm. Show-cause: appeal window closed, Michigan did not appeal, suing the NCAA now is dead. He is not coming back.
• 01:06:12. Even without the show-cause, Team 144 is not rebuildable. Pre-NIL roster (McCarthy, Corum, that line, Roman Wilson) plus selective portal pieces. Harbaugh advocated pay but was not a portal/NIL operator like Cignetti. Different era.
• 01:08:41. Jay Harbaugh as a future name? Michelle: interesting, but no head-coaching experience. After Sherrone Moore, she will not elevate a first-time head coach. Special teams are a real problem. Freudian “special needs” slip, walked back.
• 01:10:55. Other names: Braun, Rhett Lashlee (translation question), Fleck. Fleck’s veteran years look like 8–10 wins, young years dip, similar shape to Ferentz. Michelle does not want to be Iowa either. Her current interesting name is Chesney / James Madison. Portal and NIL fluency matter. Fleck reads more old-school to her.
• 01:13:50. TJ walks Fleck’s Minnesota arc, including an 11-2 and Outback year and a COVID dip, and says he is better than the reputation. Joke landing spot: “Fuck Ohio.”
• 01:15:20. John Gruden. Michelle was not ready for the question, would be in as a fan, does not see the university hiring him. TJ thinks Gruden would take the job and the energy would be a problem for opponents. Not happening.

• 01:16:22. They went over an hour. Disagreeing is fine. TJ frames himself as risk-averse. Off next Monday for the bye. Michelle suggests enjoying a weekend Michigan cannot lose. Penn State is the next real test. Tuesday show with John D’Adamo. Thursday call-in. They will watch the Blueprints Bryce breakdown and react, not live-react. Ryan Hall gifted 10 memberships.

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