What is OC Jason Beck's vision for Michigan football offense in 2026?

Michigan football will begin spring practice in just 40 days and that's when the seeds of the new team will officially be planted.

It's a new-look staff from top to bottom with head coach Kyle Whittingham, offensive coordinator Jason Beck and defensive coordinator Jay Hill at the three primary spots.

There are only two staff members who were part of the 2025 team still in Ann Arbor in running backs coach Tony Alford and defensive line coach Lou Esposito.

Naturally, with this much turnover, there's a lot of intrigue into what the Wolverines will look like under a new regime. For the first time since he came to Ann Arbor, Beck spoke about how he envisions the Wolverines' attack.

“We want to install kind of a base of what we’re going to do, what we’ve had success with, what’s been good for us,” Beck said on the team's in-house podcast "In The Trenches," with former offensive lineman Jon Jansen. "But we’re very much driven by the personnel, and so we’ll adapt the offense to the people we have and what they do well. So, we’ll be versatile that way."

When Whittingham was introduced in a ballroom in Orlando in the final week of 2025, he said the team's "base" offense was going to be rooted in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers). While he didn't contradict that, Beck implied it was going to be a bit more open to interpretation once the team got some practices under its belt.

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First and foremost, he wants to cater an offense to the strengths of quarterback Bryce Underwood, the rising sophomore who the new staff made a priority to keep in the fold. Underwood completed 60.3% of his passes in Year 1 and threw for 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Once the Wolverines have figured out how to maximize his potential, it will move to Phase 2.

That will be centered around the personnel on the offensive line and last but not least, the skill position players.

"It’s kind of putting in the base stuff, evaluating to see who’s emerging, see what guys are doing really well and then start building the offense toward those strengths and those capabilities.”

There's little doubt, this staff will want to run the ball frequently and efficiently. Last season at Utah, Beck led an offense that was tops in the nation per attempt (6.02 yards per carry), No. 2 in rushing yards per game (266.3) and No. 7 in rushing attempts per game at more than 44 per contest.

The Wolverines' backfield is in good shape with Jordan Marshall coming back after rushing for 932 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, plus they're bringing in the nation's No. 1 running back recruit from the high school ranks, Savion Hiter. They also convinced last year's RB3, Bryson Kuzdzal, to come back to the program.

The Utes also ran frequently with quarterback Devon Dampier (146 carries for 835 yards and 10 touchdowns), which is a skillset Underwood flashed, but not as often, rushing just 88 times.

Beck doesn't like to see himself as a run-first or pass-first guy, rather sticking to the principle of tailoring his attack to what will bring out the best in his various weapons who are on the field.

"That will kind of play out as the players and the personnel show what they’re capable of and how we build this thing," he said. "But there’s no doubt, it’s always going to start with being physical, being able to run the ball, because any time you can out-rush the other team, you’ve got a great chance to win the game.

"You’ve got to be balanced enough and dynamic enough doing both."

The Utes played two Big Ten teams last year, beating UCLA in the regular season and then knocking off Nebraska in their bowl matchup. While neither is a traditional member of the conference, it was a taste of the physicality that the conference is known for.

Whittingham saw a number of leagues during his three decades at Utah (playing in the Mountain West, ACC and Big 12) and his teams have been more than able to adjust. But this offense's ceiling will likely mirror Underwood's growth.

U-M made a point to add quarterback depth this offseason "because you're just one play away from that next guy going in," according to Beck, but Underwood is the one who holds the keys. To this point, Beck and the newcomers have been impressed with Underwood's elite athletic ability and "presence about him" but U-M knows in order to go from a fringe top-50 offense to something much higher, Underwood's development is a non-negotiable.

"[The] first year starting for a guy to second year starting, guys take a jump just from the experience," Beck said. "Just from being through the ups and downs, the game slowing down. Just the improvement they make, you make a jump from your first year as a starter to Year 2. Now, not many kids are starting as a freshman, and so that even kind of adds to it a little more to be able to come in and play as a freshman is really challenging."

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What is OC Jason Beck's vision for Michigan football offense in 2026?