A familiar name may have helped flip Bryce Underwood from LSU to Michigan

Bryce Underwood, the number one recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, flipped his recruitment from LSU to Michigan on Thursday. Underwood plays at Belleville High School, located about halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor, so flipping to his home state school of Michigan isn't a crazy, out-of-nowhere decision for Underwood.

Fans, though, have noticed that a certain someone with a strong connection to Michigan is Belleville's current offensive coordinator. Connor Stallions, known for being the leader of Michigan's controversial sign-stealing scandal a season ago, joined Belleville two weeks ago. Stallions was dismissed from Michigan in the wake of the scandal, and fans are now speculating he helped flip Underwood to the Wolverines.

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It seems like an impossible coincidence that Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore landed his biggest recruit just a couple of weeks after Stallions joined Underwood's team. Michigan definitely isn't employing Stallions this year, but he's still helping his former school. Michigan needed some good news. A year after winning its first National Championship since 1997, the Wolverines have fallen out of national relevance, at least for a season.

With two games left to play, against Northwestern and Ohio State, Michigan is 5-5. The Wolverines began the season ranked ninth, but losses to Texas, Washington and Illinois dropped them out of the Top 25. Michigan should take care of business at home against Northwestern on Saturday, making them bowl-eligible for the ninth time in the last ten seasons.

A likely 6-6 season is not what Michigan fans envisioned in a year following a National Championship, but with Underwood under center next season, Michigan should find its way back into the national spotlight.

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