Michigan has already rallied behind freshman Bryce Underwood

BELLEVILLE, Mich. — Before flipping his dedication from LSU to Michigan, prized quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood had a query for Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore: How late may he keep within the soccer facility?

Moore informed him 24/7 — then he needed to take it again.

This spring, Moore obtained phrase that Underwood was nonetheless throwing passes at 2 a.m. on the indoor apply area. He needed to toss him out.

“You gotta sleep,” Moore informed him.

Underwood turned 18 solely two weeks in the past. Yet at the same time as a young person, he is already giving the No. 15 Wolverines hope they will return to the College Football Playoff after a one-year hiatus.

This Saturday, Underwood leads Michigan right into a top-20 conflict at Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Sooners coach Brent Venables in contrast Underwood to former Clemson star Trevor Lawrence, who in 2018 turned the primary true freshman quarterback to win a nationwide championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985.

In 2021, Lawrence additionally turned the No. 1 decide within the NFL draft.

“Quick, decisive, accurate, poised, tough, consistent — there’s a reason [Underwood] was the No. 1 [recruit] in America,” stated Venables, Clemson’s defensive coordinator when Lawrence performed there. “And he’s got a maturity and a work ethic and leadership ability to go along with that.”

During a scintillating debut — a 34-17 win over New Mexico — Underwood threw for 251 yards, greater than any Michigan quarterback tallied in a recreation final season.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound true freshman, who added 15 kilos of muscle over the summer season, even threw a key block for operating again Justice Haynes on a 5-yard landing run.

Still, Underwood gave his efficiency a mere C+, noting he had “a lot of things” to work on.

“He’s always been a grinder,” stated Donovan Dooley, who has coached Underwood since he was 8 years outdated. “He chases perfection.”

Even into the evening.

Former Belleville High School soccer coach Jermain Crowell stated Underwood used to cease by his home at evening to borrow the stadium keys to throw. Underwood ultimately obtained his personal keys, and the college athletic director would flip the lights on till he was completed.

“If you drove by the school late and the lights were on, you’d be like, that’s probably Bryce,” stated Mychal Darty, a safety guard and assistant basketball coach at Belleville.

Underwood has had that very same work ethic for so long as anybody can bear in mind.

His dad, Jay, who performed youth soccer for Dooley’s mother and father, launched his son to the passing coach a decade in the past. Dooley, founding father of Quarterback University, requested Underwood what he deliberate to do if soccer did not pan out.

“What’s plan B?” Dooley quizzed him. “And he said, ‘Plan A.'”

By then, Underwood was already dominating little league soccer. Donald Tabron II, a blue-chip quarterback recruit for the category of 2028 from Detroit, recalled watching Underwood hurdling smaller defenders at 10 years outdated.

“He was a monster even back then,” Tabron stated. “He was a man child.”

Tabron and Trae Taylor III, a 2027 ESPN 300 quarterback recruit dedicated to Nebraska, skilled below Dooley with Underwood in recent times. Late-night exercises with Underwood weren’t unusual.

“We’ve gone out and gotten work in at midnight until early in the morning,” Taylor stated. “Bryce has always been like that.”

At Belleville, Underwood went 50-4 with two state championships, whereas successful 38 straight video games.

After practices, Underwood usually saved a rotation of receivers and operating backs with him to proceed operating routes.

“He’s the hardest working kid I’ve ever seen,” stated Calvin Norman, who took over for Crowell as Belleville’s head coach for Underwood’s junior season. “We’d have a three-hour practice, and he’d be out there running another practice. That’s part of the reason why the other players were getting so good.”

Underwood pushed his teammates as arduous as he pushed himself. Over his 4 years, he by no means misplaced a single conditioning dash. Belleville large receiver Charles Britton III made it his mission final yr to lastly dethrone him.

“I tried to beat him every single day,” stated Britton, now a junior. “And I failed every day.”

During final yr’s playoffs, the Belleville coaches tried to finish a apply early after a sluggish effort. But Underwood made everybody keep on the sphere for one more quarter-hour so they might end on a greater notice.

In the offseason, when the soccer crew wasn’t understanding, Underwood would ask Darty if he may elevate weights with the basketball crew. And when no one was lifting weights that day, he would simply ask if he may get into the load room on his personal.

“He definitely took his craft seriously,” Darty stated.

Because of how a lot time he spent on the faculty, Underwood grew shut with Darty, who was additionally the sideline get-back coach for the soccer crew. Before leaving for Michigan, Underwood coordinated with an area dealership to shock Darty with a brand new Chevy Equinox.

“Just knowing that I meant something like that to someone who’s going to affect more people than I ever could was very humbling,” Darty stated. “I never expected anything like that.”

But Darty recollects a second that touched him much more.

Underwood remained dedicated to LSU by his closing season. But as hypothesis grew that he may flip to Michigan, Belleville’s playoff video games turned a spectacle, with Ann Arbor solely a 20-minute drive down the street.

When Belleville was eradicated from the regional closing earlier than a crowd of just about 8,000, the college organized for Underwood to have an escort to a police automotive. As police ushered him off the sphere, a boy with a selfmade Underwood jersey missed his alternative to get an autograph.

But whereas ready within the police automotive, Underwood hailed one of many officers to go seize the shirt so he may signal it. Then he had the officer seize the telephone of the boy’s mom so he may take a selfie for him.

“Just think, that is your toughest high school moment, your high school career is done,” Darty stated. “But you take that time to show this kid some attention. The people who witnessed that were like, ‘I’m rooting for you forever.'”

Nobody round Belleville, together with Darty, knew for positive if Underwood would truly flip his dedication and signal with the hometown Wolverines.

A couple of days later, after faculty, Darty noticed Underwood within the hallway flash a sly smile to Belleville security Elijah Dotson, who had simply flipped from Pitt to the Wolverines. Darty turned to a different safety guard and stated, “I think it’s happening.”

Not lengthy after, Underwood switched his dedication to the Wolverines, giving them their coveted quarterback of the long run. It was additionally some of the seismic recruiting flips of school soccer’s NIL period.

Moore informed Underwood he would not be given the beginning job. He’d need to earn it. Underwood responded he would not have it every other method.

Michigan’s gamers realized Underwood was completely different lengthy earlier than his first snap. Linebacker Ernest Hausmann and defensive finish Derrick Moore took discover of how Underwood could be the primary on the sphere throughout spring ball, simply going over the performs by himself.

“He’s not no average freshman,” Moore stated. “He does everything like a pro.”

That received over the crew lengthy earlier than he was named the starter.

“Bryce is as good as advertised,” Hausmann stated. “Mature beyond his years. And he’s fit right in.”