Michigan OC Chip Lindsey explains why team prioritized Mikey Keene in transfer portal

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines open spring ball this week in a camp that could center around the repetitions that it gives to its quarterbacks. Between No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood and transfer Mikey Keene, a pretty competitive battle should play out over the next several weeks.

Underwood is getting the shine and the hype heading into his freshman season, but Keene was prioritized in the transfer portal as a veteran bridge that could help raise the floor of the offense, if not start outright.

Michigan offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey, who coached Keene for a year at UCF in 2022, spoke to the media ahead of the start of spring camp and discussed why he was the one they wanted.

“Having a previous relationship with Mikey, knowing how he was wired, I just thought he was the perfect fit for what we were looking for,” Lindsey said on Monday. “He’s thrown for over 8,000 yards and completed a bunch of balls. That was important. We needed a guy that could come in that had a lot of experience.

“Davis [Warren] got injured, so he’s going to be out a while. Other than that, we didn’t have a lot of experience. So, it was important to get a guy who was experienced and a guy who wanted to be here and a guy who embraced coming here and playing on this stage and was confident. Mikey is that. I think when you get to know him, he’s highly competitive himself. And what I liked about him was having that previous relationship. This portal window that they have now, recruiting is really sped up. You don’t really get to know them like you do in a high school recruiting situation. So, the one thing I always thought with the transfer portal was let’s make sure we know as much as we can about these guys, and he was one we did.

“He’s played a lot and played at a high level. Excited he’s here.”

That year, Keene made four appearances and three starts for the knights, going 60-for-83 (72.3) for 647 yards with 6 touchdowns and an interception. To date, that is his best quarterback rating in a single season (159.2).

It is a little early for the Michigan staff to compare and contrast how Underwood and Keene differ as prospects, but the poise and experience that he brings to the table. Both players have been studying and perfecting their craft ahead of their first years in ann Arbor.

“[Keene knows] exactly where to go with the ball,” Lindsey said. “He’ll get the protections right. He’ll execute at a high level. He’s never flinched in the moment, so to speak, when the moment is a big moment. He’s got a lot of experience, which you always like. Even at the next level, these guys right now are all looking for experienced guys if they have a young quarterback or whatever. So that’s exciting and probably too early to say how they’re similar or different.

“But right now they’re all working extremely hard and really just soaking everything up. You have to run them out of here at night. They’re here early getting ready. I think it’s a good mix in that room.”

Keene ultimately chose Michigan for the chance to show what he could do at a Power Four school in addition to leveraging the connections within the program to build out his network.

“One thing I liked about Mikey when we first started talking about it is he never flinched,” Lindsey said. “He didn’t even really ask about anybody else that was here. He just wanted the opportunity to come to Michigan. And he said, ‘I don’t know how long I’m going to play. I want to coach one day. I want to be involved one day. It expands my network.’

“In other words, he’s just a mature guy that was thinking way ahead down the road. So, I think the opportunity to him to come play here at Michigan, the winningest program in college football and just all the tradition and things we have here, I think was really exciting and attractive to him. And the fact that he knew me in advance I think was also a plus.

“He had a few other options and he kept me in limbo a little bit. But at the end of the day, we’re glad he’s here.”

Keene was a three-star recruit in the 2021 class and played his first two seasons at UCF before transferring to Fresno State in 2023, throwing for 2,976 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This season, he threw for 2892 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 picks. Keene started the season opener at Michigan, going 22-of-36 for 235 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, including a pick-six thrown to Will Johnson.