What did Michigan’s Citrus Bowl loss to Texas say about the future for Kyle Whittingham?

Orlando, Fla. • After the month Michigan just had, it would have been hard to blame the Wolverines for not showing up to a four-hour Cheez-It commercial on New Year’s Eve.

Teams have opted out of snack-themed bowl games for lesser reasons than the firing and arrest of the head coach. But Michigan did show up for the Citrus Bowl, if only to try to be the foil for Arch Manning’s 2026 Heisman Trophy launch.

A month that felt like a lifetime for Michigan ended Wednesday with Bryce Underwood throwing passes into the teeth of the Texas defense and the Longhorns running away with a 41-27 win. The Wolverines gave a better effort than anyone had a right to expect, considering all that has transpired since Sherrone Moore’s firing and arrest three weeks ago. They even had a lead in the fourth quarter before the wheels came off. Still, the best part of this season is that it’s now over and the Kyle Whittingham era can begin in earnest.

Michigan’s new coach kept a low profile this week in Orlando. Instead of coaching Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl, he was meeting individually with every player on Michigan’s roster, trying to get to know the personnel and the personalities that make up his new program. He watched the game from a suite inside Camping World Stadium and popped into the ESPN booth in the third quarter.

“We’ll be locking ourselves in the film room this weekend,” Whittingham said on the broadcast. “Job 1, 2 and 3 is to get to know the personnel here, find out what we’ve got, find out what we need.”

Whittingham had to be encouraged by much of what he saw on the field. Other parts probably made him grind his teeth. That’s what Michigan signed up for when it put this season in the hands of a freshman quarterback. Once the coaching staff is in place, the next big domino will be Underwood’s decision: Stay at Michigan and play for Whittingham, or test what should be an active market in the transfer portal?

If Michigan can finish 9-4 with a freshman quarterback and a head coach who was clearly in over his head, imagine what the Wolverines might be able to do with Whittingham and a more polished Underwood. That’s the optimistic pitch for next season. The more sober-minded take is that Underwood is a long way from being a finished product, as his three second-half interceptions showed.

Underwood’s freshman year wasn’t a total loss, but he didn’t develop as hoped for a player ranked No. 1 in his recruiting class. Moore and Michigan’s offensive staff didn’t do him many favors. Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck, Whittingham’s choice to run Michigan’s offense, should bring a scheme that can accentuate Underwood’s strengths as a runner and a passer — strengths that weren’t fully utilized this season.

“I ain’t going to say a whole lot, but I just think this game, he had the handcuffs off,” wide receiver Kendrick Bell said. “There are some things we’ve got to work on. We’ve got to be there for him, too, especially as a young guy. He’s going to be just fine in the future.”

Michigan went conservative against Ohio State and never had a chance. Interim coach Biff Poggi opened things up Wednesday and got the good and the bad from Underwood: two touchdown passes, a touchdown on the ground and three picks.

Poggi was adamant that Whittingham isn’t walking into a rebuild. Michigan played Oklahoma and Texas, two power programs from the SEC, and was competitive in the fourth quarter against both. The Wolverines hung with Texas despite playing with a depleted roster that was missing both starting edge rushers, three starting offensive linemen and starting running back Jordan Marshall, who was medically cleared but still dealing with a shoulder injury.

If Michigan can hold on to Underwood, Marshall, freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh, offensive tackle Andrew Babalola and a few other young stars, the Wolverines should be able to retool quickly under Whittingham. And even if they lose a few players, as they inevitably will, this shouldn’t be the complete meltdown that some Michigan fans feared when the transfer portal was looming and Michigan didn’t have a coach.

“This isn’t a rebuild at all,” Poggi said. “I think that would be short-changing the kids and where they are. I think coach Whittingham is going to do a fantastic job here. … I think he is going to find a very, very full cupboard, a bunch of very willing kids that are just great kids.”

Even if the core of the team returns, Michigan will look significantly different next season. The sense of finality hung over the locker room as players said goodbye to coordinators and position coaches, most of whom will be looking for new jobs. As brutal as the past month was at Michigan, it had a galvanizing effect on the people who lived through it.

For all intents and purposes, Michigan’s season has been over since late November. Now it’s really over. The Citrus Bowl was mostly a formality on the way to whatever Michigan is becoming under Whittingham, but the Wolverines still managed to show up. Now it’s on to whatever comes next.

“Any year, the bowl game is always the last time you get to play with your team,” linebacker Cole Sullivan said. “We know it’s going to be different next year.”