Sherrone Moore discusses 'open' QB competition, potential suspension and upcoming NCAA ruling

LAS VEGAS — Predictably, Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore was asked about freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood within minutes of taking the podium at 2025 Big Ten Media Days.

The second-year head man was happy to discuss the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder, but also made it clear that the Wolverines will continue their quarterback competition into fall camp. Underwood isn’t the starter — at least not yet.

Moore noted that he believes Underwood taking half of the snaps during spring practices helped advance his development.

“Yeah, I mean, I think you only get better at football by playing football,” Moore said. “It’s definitely helped him and helps his progression.

“But before anybody asks, it’s an open competition, so he is not the starter right now. There is no starter. We’ll figure out who that is in camp, and we’ll do a really good job evaluating that position to make sure we have the best person to lead our program at the quarterback position.”

Moore was asked when coaches know who the starter will be — and the Michigan coach pointed to how the team reacts to that individual.

“When they’ve grabbed the team,” Moore said of when that moment will be. “Because they’re going to make throws, they’re going to make plays, but when they’ve got the team — we knew it with J.J. [McCarthy] when he had the team — when we’ve got that person there at the front, then we’ll know we have our starting quarterback that will help us.

“The starting quarterback is not only the guy making the throws and touching the football first, but he’s the guy that they’re all looking to when adversity strikes. So, he’s gotta do a really good job in those moments, so whether it’s Bryce, whether it’s [graduate] Mikey [Keene], whether it’s [sophomore] Jadyn [Davis], whether it’s [graduate] Jake [Garcia], whether it’s whoever, they’ve gotta do a really good job in those moments in camp, when we provide them a little chaos, to be great.”

Moore has been pleased with how Underwood — the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, a five-star+ prospect — has handled potentially being the starter at Michigan, a job that comes with immense pressure.

“First of all, he’s 17 years old, so he doesn’t really know what he doesn’t know yet, and there are expectations as a high school student-athlete and the light he’s been in, but it’s different at Michigan,” Moore stated. “It was the same when J.J. was here.

“To be the starting quarterback at Michigan, it’s a lot. There’s quote-unquote pressure, but there’s not pressure. His job is to just go be the best teammate, best football player he can be, whoever that person is.

“It’s gonna take a village. For us to be a successful program and football team, we’ve gotta do a great job surrounding that person with the weapons on the football field and weapons mentally to be successful.”

Sherrone Moore discusses potential suspension

Michigan representatives had an NCAA Committee on Infractions hearing in early June regarding the case on alleged illegal off-campus scouting (bylaw 11.6.1), and a ruling is expected to come before the Aug. 30 kickoff to the 2025 season.

With that comes potential complications for Moore, who allegedly deleted innocuous text messages that he ended up turning over with his device, which could be seen as a lack of cooperation. Moore said what the NCAA does is not at the top of his mind.

“Obviously, can’t talk about that, but not hard, because you’re just so excited with what’s going on and the program and the team,” Moore said when asked how difficult it is to prepare for the season with that looming. “And our players just don’t get distracted by all that. Our coaches don’t get distracted by all that, because you can’t worry about things you can’t control.

“So, all we’re gonna do is worry about what we can control and go play.”

If Moore is suspended — like has been reportedly proposed, him sitting for weeks three and four against Central Michigan and Nebraska — he won’t be with the team during the week or on game day of those weeks. He’d have to appoint an acting head coach, and while he’s prepared with contingencies, he won’t share them with the public just yet.

“Yup,” Moore said when asked if he has a plan in place.

Asked if he will share it, he said, “We’ll wait and see if that happens.”