Michigan senior tight end Zack Marshall apologized publicly on Tuesday after text messages leaked in which he criticized first-year offensive coordinator Jason Beck and the scheme. One of the reported messages claimed Beck “told us none of us are valuable to this offense.”
Marshall’s apology, posted on X, was more accountable than most of these get.
“Last weekend, in the hours after we lost, I made some inappropriate comments that I regret. This game is won and lost as a team, and I pointed fingers instead of taking accountability,” he wrote. “I let my frustrations speak for me in an emotional moment. I apologize to my teammates and coaches for the unnecessary drama that this has caused.”
The frustration is not hard to understand
Michigan is 3-2 and 0-2 in the Big Ten after a 20-14 loss at Minnesota on October 3. The Wolverines rank 122nd in FBS total offense at 315.8 yards per game. Bryce Underwood went 10-of-21 for 101 yards with two interceptions in that loss.
Underwood’s season: 881 passing yards, five touchdowns, four interceptions, 59.3 percent completions, plus 212 rushing yards and two scores across five games. That is not what Michigan signed up for.
Marshall has played all five games and caught 16 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown across 13 games in 2025. He is a senior watching his last season go sideways in a new system.
Kyle Whittingham’s first year is the worst stretch of his career
Whittingham came from Utah, bringing Beck with him as offensive coordinator. CBS Sports grouped him among eight first-year head coaches off to difficult starts, noting three turnovers in the Minnesota loss and calling it the toughest first half of his career.
Whittingham has said he is still working on solutions and described the situation as the biggest challenge of his 40-plus years in coaching. He offered no timeline. Michigan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Marshall texts.
Urban Meyer went further than any player would
On The Triple Option podcast, Meyer called Michigan’s offense “a train wreck right now” and said he does not see a fast fix. He allowed that the problem is not only Underwood while noting a quarterback absorbs heavy blame in losses.
Then the line that will follow this program for a while. Meyer said he did not see enough players stepping up on the sideline and asked where the grown men were. He said he saw no passion, energy or toughness on key defensive stops. In a separate appearance he said Michigan’s offense “lacks NFL talent.”
Why Marshall’s apology matters more than the leak
Players vent. The unusual part is a senior taking ownership on his own account, naming what he did wrong, and apologizing to coaches he had criticized rather than issuing a statement about being taken out of context.
That does not fix an offense ranked 122nd nationally. It does tell you something about a locker room that has lost two conference games and is being publicly questioned by a Hall of Fame coach.
Michigan’s season is not over. Whittingham has eight weeks to show that the system works with time, and Marshall has eight weeks to show he meant the apology.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.