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Sherrone Moore: The players 'love' Chip Lindsey and ‘adore' Bryce Underwood – 'he’s going to be unbelievable’

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•12/30/24•

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Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Bryce Underwood on his U-M visit. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)
Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Bryce Underwood on his U-M visit. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

TAMPA — The Michigan offense will be headed in a different direction under new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and — eventually — quarterback Bryce Underwood. Both are with the program now, and early returns are the duo is exceeding all expectations. 

Given how high those expectations were, that’s saying something. And while Underwood’s big arm has been on display down here in Tampa in preparation for the ReliaQuest Bowl with Alabama, it’s the intangibles that have really impressed everyone, especially head coach Sherrone Moore. 

“First of all, he’s an unbelievable kid. The players absolutely adore him,” Moore said. “They love him. All he wants to do is get better and be a great teammate. But he is extremely talented, great arm strength, can make all the throws, and he can run. He’s going to be an unbelievable player. When that is, I don’t know, and we’ll figure that out.”

Landing him was the coup of the 2025 recruiting cycle. Moore got help from boosters, of course, but his relentless approach and relationship building with Underwood played a huge role. 

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“For me, the biggest thing is I just want to get the best players possible,” he continued. “When you’ve got a kid who’s right down the road [in Underwood], you want to make a big, huge emphasis on keeping the best players from Michigan in Michigan. When you’ve got the best [player] in the country right down the road, it was vital for us to go get that guy.

“We want to do that every year, keep those players in Michigan and not let them go to these different schools. That was a huge emphasis for me.”

Getting someone to coach Underwood up and use him correctly was just as important, and Moore believes he’s gotten that in Lindsey. An unsolicited phone call from former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye helped make the difference when Moore was evaluating candidates. 

Maye, now with the NFL’s New England Patriots, was the third pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

“There were different things I felt we needed … we didn’t want to go too far from what we are, how we want to play football, but obviously the explosive passing game [Lindsey] has had, stuff he’s done really appealed to me,” Moore said. “Different things in the RPO game … we’ve been part of that and seen that, but I wanted a different perspective, and also a guy who wanted to run the football. He had an over 1,000 yard back this year, the year before had Drake Maye … ultimately, that was the best decision for us. 

“[Maye] was a factor [with Underwood], and it helped that Drake called me, too. It was a great conversation. He spoke so highly of [Lindsey].”

And the coach has already made an impact. He’s offering some input on the game plan for tomorrow, though Steve Casula will be calling the plays and is “doing a great job.”

“I really love Chip. He’s been great,” Moore said. “The players love him, the coaches love him, and I think he’s going to be invaluable for our offense.

“[Maye] said he felt he progressed more in his career in that year with Chip than he did at any point in his career. He really felt like without him, he wouldn’t have had the chance to go so high in the draft. Getting that stamp of approval was really huge for me, and just talking to chip bringing him in on an interview was really huge for us.”

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