Bryce Underwood: What Does the No. 1 Recruit's Flip Mean for Wolverines?

Underwood, from nearby Belleville, conjured up thoughts of Rick Leach and Drew Henson, his predecessors as Michigan's top schoolboy QBs. They proved that success can come, but is hardly guaranteed.

Photo by Sports Illustrated

Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment to LSU on Thursday, setting off a party in Ann Arbor.

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Rick Leach and Drew Henson.

Those are the first two names that came to mind Thursday evening, when word spread that Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood had flipped his commitment to LSU and declared he was staying close to home to play for the Wolverines.

Underwood is rated the No. 1 high school prospect in the nation.

He reportedly wrangled a $10.5 million NIL deal with the University of Michigan, and is now expected to sign when early recruiting season begins Dec. 4.

This was a huge get for first-year Wolverine coach Sherrone Moore, whose team is a disappointing 5-5 entering Saturday’s home finale with Northwestern. Moore got Belleville teammate Elijah Dotson to flip from a Pittsburgh commitment earlier this week, and that couldn’t have hurt in his pursuit of Underwood.

As I walked toward Crisler Center for Thursday night’s Michigan-Tarleton State basketball game, I half expected the Michigan Stadium scoreboard to be proclaiming Underwood’s decision.

That’s how excited Wolverine fans are about this. However, just to set the record straight, Michigan can’t officially announce Underwood until he signs on the dotted line.

Moore tweeted Thursday night from @Coach_SMoore: “YES SIR! The best players in Michigan go to Michigan!”

Names can’t be exclaimed by the Wolverines until recruits are officially in the fold.

All of this had me thinking of Leach and Henson because they had been the two most highly-recruited and highly-acclaimed high school quarterbacks from the state of Michigan over the last half century…Until Underword supassed them in hype.

Nobody reported anything on recruiting until the 1970s, when Leach was a three-sport star at Flint Southwestern. Bo Schembechler, for all his success, hadn’t really landed a big-time quarterback before Leach.

Leach started all four seasons and lived up to the billing.

He finished third in 1978 Heisman Trophy voting, and was the Big Ten’s MVP after finishing his career with three Rose Bowl and one Orange Bowl appearance. Michigan finished in the Top 10 each season, and Leach threw for 4,045 yards and 46 touchdowns while running for 2,171 yards and 34 touchdowns.

He was a fifth-round pick by the Denver Broncos because he ran an option attack and wasn’t a pro-style quarterback, and also because he was a better baseball prospect. The Detroit Tigers took Leach in the first round, and he never became a star but did have a solid career.

Henson committed to Lloyd Carr after his junior season at Brighton High, where he was a Parade All-American and threw for 5,662 yards and 52 touchdowns. But he also was a great baseball prospect, and the New York Yankees drafted him in the third round in 1998 even though he said he was playing football for the Wolverines.

He very likely stunted his football development by playing for the Yankees in the minors each summer, and eventually left Michigan before his senior year when the Yankees signed him for $17 million.

Henson had a modest college football career, getting beat out by Tom Brady for most of his first two seasons and becoming the starter as a junior. Brady, it should be noted, was not a big-time recruit. However, he was on his way to becoming the GOAT in football. Henson finished with 2,146 yards passing and 18 touchdowns for the Wolverines in 2001 – his only season of significance.

The Houston Texans took a flier on Henson in the sixth round in 2003, and he ended up playing briefly in the NFL for three teams with 98 yards passing and one touchdown pass. His baseball career also didn’t pan out as Henson ended his MLB career with exactly one hit – an infield single for the Yankees.

So, all the hoopla about Henson never translated into much after an unbelievable high school career just a half hour up the road from Ann Arbor.

Underwood, who lives about a half hour east of Ann Arbor, is guaranteed nothing except all that money. That’s just how it works. No matter how great you were in high school, there have been countless busts.

However, Underwood has been a beast for Belleville. The five-star recruit threw for 2,095 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior, and 5,500 yards and 71 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions over three seasons. Underwood (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) has a rifle arm and runs like a deer. He rushed for 489 yards (16.9-yard average) and three scores for the Tigers.

He committed to LSU on Jan. 6, picking them over the Wolverines and Alabama.

However, Moore came after him in a full-court recruiting press this fall, and got what he wanted. He lost four-star QB commit Carter Smith from Fort Myers, Fla., in the process. But Moore won the gamble to go for broke with Underwood.

This might be the recruit the turns things around for Moore, who now has Underwood for three seasons. He should have no trouble recruiting receivers and offensive linemen out of the transfer portal and high schools.

Great quarterbacks are player magnets, and Michigan now has the one it so desperately needed after a QB-challenged season. When J.J. McCarthy left after his junior season with a national championship under his belt, it created what was a huge void with Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle all struggling.

Now, Underwood gets a chance to start as a true freshman. He’ll probably hook up for conversations with Brady, who tutored McCarthy, the first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings. And J.J. should be calling Underwood, too.

Jadyn Davis, a four-star recruit, hasn’t played as a freshman. Will he stay to compete with Underwood and possibly back him up?

We shall see.

But the good thing is that Underwood provides Michigan another shot at greatness.

Leach made good on that shot.

Henson did not.

Underwood has displayed great pocket presence. Watching him step up in the pocket to throw a dart 55 yards in the air to hit his receiver in stride for an 87-yard touchdown in a recent state playoff game against Saline shows what he’s capable of.

It should be exciting.

However, Underwood now has to prove worthy of all the excitement he’s created simply by saying “Yes” to Michigan.