Ann Arbor, Mich. • Kyle Whittingham walked away from Michigan’s 15-6 loss to Michigan State intending to wait until after the season to evaluate offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
A second viewing of the game was enough to make the Wolverines head coach change his mind.
“When I turned the film on and really dove into it, it just became apparent to me that we needed to make the change now,” Whittingham said Monday, a day after Michigan fired Beck and installed offensive line coach Jim Harding as interim OC. “There was just too much regression in the offense in that particular game, and that was what led to the decision.”
Michigan finished with 192 yards, 75 of which came on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive after the game was out of reach. The Wolverines (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) scored fewer than 20 points in six of Beck’s nine games as offensive coordinator and topped 30 points only once, in a 52-17 win against UTEP.
Beck’s firing capped a stunning flameout for a coach who came to Michigan on one of the most expensive deals given to an offensive coordinator in college football. Beck had a three-year contract worth $9.15 million, plus a $1.74 million signing bonus. Michigan also guaranteed him $3.1 million in retention bonuses. If Beck receives the full value of the contract, Michigan will pay him $14 million for nine games, minus anything he earns in his next job.
Whittingham said the decision to fire Beck was his alone, with “zero outside influence.”
“It was not easy,” Whittingham said. “I’ve had to do it before. That’s the nature of the business. I owe it to the program to do what’s best for the program.”
Beck came to Michigan after orchestrating a one-year turnaround at Utah with an offense that emphasizes pre-snap motions, unconventional formations, gadget plays and the quarterback running game. Aside from wide receiver JJ Buchanan, who transferred from Utah, Michigan’s offense relied on a core of returning players, including quarterback Bryce Underwood, running back Jordan Marshall and wide receiver Andrew Marsh.
Those returning players struggled in Beck’s offense. Underwood threw five touchdowns and six interceptions and lost the starting quarterback job to freshman Tommy Carr, though Whittingham said Michigan will reevaluate the job this week before Saturday’s game at Oregon. Marshall, who had two carries for 4 yards against Michigan State, has 323 rushing yards and is averaging 3.7 yards per carry after running for 932 yards and averaging 6.2 yards per rush last season.
Fans criticized Beck’s offense for relying too heavily on a sixth offensive lineman known as the “rhino” and for failing to establish a downhill running game. Whittingham echoed those criticisms at times and also questioned some of Beck’s calls, including a roll-out pass near the goal line that cost the Wolverines a chance at a touchdown in a low-scoring game against Indiana.
Whittingham acknowledged Monday that Michigan hasn’t done enough to adapt the offense to the strengths of the roster.
“You can’t just say, ‘Here’s what we’re doing on offense, period. We’re not gonna be flexible. We’re going to be very rigid,’” Whittingham said. “You’ve got to be able to adapt to your personnel, and we just didn’t do a good job of that this year.”
Whittingham said the Wolverines won’t make wholesale changes under Harding, a veteran offensive line coach who was Utah’s co-offensive coordinator under Whittingham in 2015-16. The Wolverines need to win one of their final three games against Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State to qualify for a bowl game.
“You can’t do major changes at this juncture,” Whittingham said. “There will be a few new wrinkles, but to say it’s a complete overhaul, that’s not how it is.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.