ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Kyle Whittingham has made his first major move as Michigan's coach, firing embattled offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
“The results have not matched our desired outcome, and I felt that a change in leadership was required for our offense,” Whittingham said in a statement Sunday night. “We need to put our offensive players and the entire team in the best possible position to be successful."
Whittingham named Jim Harding as interim offensive coordinator for the rest of the season. Harding is the team's offensive line coach and assistant head coach. He worked with Whittingham for 12 seasons at Utah, including two years as co-offensive coordinator.
The Wolverines (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) started the season ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 and have fallen short of expectations with one of the nation's worst offenses, shaky special teams and a defense that has been solid at times.
Michigan might fall short of earning a bowl bid as underdogs at No. 18 Oregon (6-3, 3-2) on Saturday, at home against No. 4 UCLA and against rival and 21st-ranked Ohio State on the road.
The Wolverines barely avoided being shut out for the first time since 2014 against rival Michigan State, scoring with 1:35 left in a 15-6 loss after being favored to win by two touchdowns.
Michigan was been held scoreless in the first half three times in a season for the first time since 1979.
Under Beck, the Wolverines were ranked No. 132 out of 138 FBS teams in total offense, No. 126 in scoring, No. 125 in passing offense and No. 109 in rushing offense.
Beck was Whittingham's offensive coordinator at Utah last season, helping the team rank No. 2 in rushing, No. 4 in total offense and No. 5 in scoring offense. He was New Mexico's offensive coordinator in 2024.
“We appreciate the hard work and effort that Jason has dedicated to the program,” Whittingham said. “Jason is a great man and coach, and unfortunately, it did not work out the way that we wanted it to at Michigan. We wish Jason and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
After a 20-14 loss to Minnesota last month, when quarterback Bryce Underwood did not play well one week after making many positive plays in a loss to Iowa, tight end Zach Marshall criticized Beck in group text messages that were leaked on social media.
Marshall publicly apologized, but he did not play in the following game against Penn State due to a noninjury situation, according to Whittingham.
Michigan's quarterback situation that Beck managed was closely watched with a former No. 1 recruit getting benched in favor of a backup with a familiar name.
Underwood was taken out of the game against Penn State after the team was held scoreless in a first half for the first of three straight home games. Tommy Carr, whose grandfathers are College Hall of Famers and brother is Notre Dame's quarterback, successfully filled in for Underwood in a comeback win against the Nittany Lions.
Carr struggled against the Spartans, but Whittingham said the offensive coaches wanted to stick with him and the head coach said he agreed with their call.
No matter who has taken snaps this season, Michigan has failed to consistently make plays on offense and it cost Beck his job.
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