Through nine weeks of college football, Michigan has the third-worst offense among Power Four teams. Only Minnesota and Michigan State rank behind the Wolverines and that's not what Michigan brought Jason Beck in to do.

In fact, Beck is the highest-paid offensive coordinator in college football. What has he done? Michigan offense is worse than it was in 2025 and the Wolverines' run game is as bad as it's been in recent memory.

Fans, and alumni, would like to see Kyle Whittingham move on from his guy, but money talks and that could be more challenging than just giving Beck his pink slip.

Who is going to pay his buy-out?

According to a recent article by the Detroit Free Press, if Michigan were to fire Beck without cause, the Wolverines could have to pay Beck up to $9 million. Beck is currently making $2.8 million this season and will make $3.05 million in 2027-28, before making $3.3 million in 2028-29.

With that being said, in his contract, it reads that Beck would have to seek employment and once he found a new job, Michigan would have to pay the difference between what he was going to make with the Wolverines, compared to what he makes at a new job.

Award-winning author and long-time Michigan insider, John U. Bacon, posted on his X account on Sunday morning, questioning whether the Wolverines would fire Beck because of his buy-out amount.

"Likewise, for those who say Michigan should fire OC Jason Beck (and I agree), it's probably not that simple. UM would owe him $3M/yr for 3 more years - another insane buyout, unchecked by UM's vacuum of leadership - and his staff similar terms. Does UM want to pay that? Donors?," Bacon wrote.

Fans probably don't want to hear about Michigan not being able to find money to get rid of an underperforming offensive coordinator, but Bacon said the donors he has spoken to aren't willing to to pay for the buy-out amount.

"For the record, the major donors I've talked to told me they're not paying for this buy-out. Someone might, or UM might, but it's not as easy as many fans think;" said Bacon.

However, Michigan is expected to compete at a high level and that's certainly not happening this season. Kyle Whittingham is also under fire, but it's more possible that he gets another year over Beck. If the next four games go poorly for the Wolverines' offense, we would expect someone to come up with the money to go in a different direction.

What about Bryce Underwood?

Speaking of money, Michigan reportedly gave Bryce Underwood $12 million to come play for the Wolverines. As fans know, it's the Tommy Carr show right now and Underwood is learning by watching on the sidelines.

Is it the end of the Underwood era in Ann Arbor? It's more than possible, but Bacon also questioned if he would want to take a pay cut by going elsewhere.

"For those who say UM QB Underwood should just transfer, it's probably not that simple," Bacon wrote. "If he leaves, he almost certainly will forfeit his $3M/yr NIL deal. Who else would pay him that? Better to be a starter somewhere else for a fraction of that, or a $3M back-up who might get in?"

Carr is going to be given every chance to take the starting job and run with it. He threw for 266 yards against Rutgers and ran for 54 more yards. He was a big reason the Wolverines walked away with a win and if Carr does nothing to lose the job, he will be Michigan's starting quarterback in 2027.

It's hard to believe the No. 1 ranked player in the 2025 recruiting class would want to stay on the bench. Again, money talks though. However, Underwood has some big goals and going to the NFL is one of them. If the path to that isn't in Ann Arbor, it's somewhere else.