Michigan football flips Belleville's Bryce Underwood, nation's No. 1 recruit, from LSU
Michigan football has pulled off the biggest recruiting flip in its history.
Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines were able to secure a commitment from Belleville star quarterback Bryce Underwood on Thursday afternoon ahead of their matchup with Northwestern this weekend, with Underwood announcing the news on social media.
"Hometown. Hero," the caption for the post from Underwood simply said.
Moore also seemingly confirmed the news on social media, while avoiding a direct comment.
"YES SIR! The Best players in Michigan go to Michigan," Moore said Thursday.
Underwood, the nation's No. 1 overall recruit, and coming out of Belleville High School, originally pledged to the Tigers back in January, less than one week before the Wolverines claimed the national championship.
Over the last few months as Michigan's quarterback situation fell apart, the Wolverines conducted a full-court press to keep Underwood in the state and after a roller coaster ride, it appears to have worked.
As late as last week, Underwood was believed by many to be headed to LSU, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press at the time.
Underwood, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound dual-threat passer even took to social media last Thursday night to share a post indicating he had turned down Michigan's reported massive Name, Image and Likeness package worth roughly $10 million per year, saying "the No. 1 overall prospect ... is unlikely to accept Michigan's lucrative NIL offer," but the post was eventually deleted.
The post came roughly a week after Underwood took a visit to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Nov. 9 to watch the Tigers play Alabama — a game the Crimson Tide won easily, 42-13.
As of last week, Michigan had offered a four-year NIL deal worth nearly $10 million over four year, including win-based and championship-based incentives.
At this time, it's not clear if the Wolverines and their collective increased their offer, if Underwood had a change of heart or something else.
Michigan doubled back on its efforts with Underwood this fall as the quarterback outlook on its own roster came into question.
The unit went from Davis Warren to Alex Orji to Jack Tuttle and back to Warren — and all the while U-M began to increase its pursuit of the nation’s most coveted high-school athlete. In the meantime, four-star quarterback Carter Smith, who had been pledged to U-M since November 2023, got wind of U-M's increasing efforts to land the local product, and bowed out of his pledge to come to Ann Arbor
"I would like to start by thanking the coaching staff at Michigan for everything they have done for me," Smith posted on social media. "I would especially like to thank Coach Campbell for everything and giving me such an incredible opportunity. With that being said, I would like to announce that I have decommitted from the University of Michigan.”
Underwood immediately changes the outlook for Michigan going forward. He is the second No. 1 overall consensus player to join the Wolverines joining edge Rashan Gary (2016) and is the program’s highest-rated quarterback commit to in the modern recruiting era (2002).
It also breaks a trend of the top quarterback in the state not picking the Wolverines. Dante Moore, the nation’s No. 1 prospect out of Detroit King (2022), ended up picking UCLA, while CJ Carr, a four-star out of Saline High School but the state’s No. 1 prospect in 2023, picked Notre Dame. Michigan did land a four-star quarterback in the 2023 cycle in Jadyn Davis (Providence Day).
Underwood has all the size and tools of a top quarterback at any level. His prolific high school career came to an end last weekend when Belleville was taken down by Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 35-21, in the MHSAA football playoffs. Underwood completed 11 of 23 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
With Underwood’s commitment, the Wolverines’ class leaped to No. 9 in the country.