Jake Butt, Former Michigan Tight End

Get ahead of postage rate increases this year with Stamps.com. It's like your own personal post office. Sign up with Promo Code Program for a four-week trial plus free postage and a free digital scale.

No long-term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps.com Code Program. Alrighty, I'm back in New York City. Didn't get much sleep last night as I was at NRG Stadium. Hail of the victors. Michigan, your national champions, taking care of Washington last night in H-Town. Someone that was in attendance working for the Big Ten is a former Michigan tight end in Jake Butt, who's kind enough to join us right now. Jake, appreciate the time.

Thanks so much for doing this. I would ask you how you're doing, but I saw you run around the field last night in the postgame and your smile pretty much told the entire story. Yeah, man.

Yeah, that question answers itself. And, man, there's only one of these every year, man. Only one gets to call themselves national champs. And it's been a long time coming for us Michigan fans and Michigan alum and really just so happy for Coach Harbaugh and these players. I don't know how much time you spent talking directly with the players, but my God, man, just such a special, special group of individuals and young men.

No, they definitely are. And the last three years, we've had a bunch of them on from Blake Corum to Colston Loveland, Chris Jenkins, and there's so many likable players on this team. But let me start you off with the first half.

I was saying it all week, you know, play volleyball, run, run, run, and then run some more. The start Michigan got off to and also it being Donovan Edwards, who was great last year. Then this year there's been some good moments. There's some bad moments. I thought it was pretty neat on the big stage for Donovan Edwards to play his best game of the season so far.

No, no doubt, man. And, you know, he had a conversation actually leading up to the game where he was kind of talked about, you know, the mental battle battle. And, you know, he said, Hey, listen, man, it's been a real struggle for him. And he mentioned, you know, he's dealt with mental health challenges because of this.

Talked about how he needed to go see a counselor. And I can just say, man, I was a guy that's been, you know, I tore my ACL three times. I was repeatedly injured.

I understand the principles of having expectations and feeling like, you know, you could do something special. And yet, for whatever reason, you weren't able to do it for Donovan this year. It was just missing production. It was shocking that we all thought maybe he was going to be one of the best.

Running backs in the big 10, maybe in the country. And it took him the whole year to get to that moment. But good things happen to those who wait the offensive line on those plays opened up gaping gaping holes, man.

Seriously, you look like the parting of the Red Sea. You could drive a bus through those lanes, man, then his speed, his speed did the rest. And just lastly, man, what you could tell the special part about it is look at the way his teammates came to celebrate with them. That to me showed how special he is and how special this team is.

And then when you get to Blake core, I'm like, I don't know what else there is to say about Blake. I thought if he didn't get hurt last year towards the end of the season, he would have won the Heisman Trophy. But then to come back and to have this season now have what? 61 career touchdowns in his Michigan career, and he ends it with the national championship. You're talking about one of the all time great Wolverines. He's got to be a top five player in program history. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. And when you think about it, you know, you have to factor in what I think greatness. I factor in the off the field stuff, too. Yeah, it wasn't just him.

It was a number of guys on this team guys that continually, you know, and I was told, Hey, this is bad, man. How are we going to give these young guys millions of dollars? Look at what they've done with it.

Look at what they've done with it and how that's impacted the Michigan community as a whole. But, you know, certainly, certainly asked him post game about his legacy. And he kind of echoed what I just said he wants to be remembered.

But of more than just a football player, but man will remember the football player in him as well. Jake, but here with us former Michigan tight end now part of the being tied network does great job is a big 10 network analysts. So the first half it was running the ball offensive line. And then in the second half, you really saw the defense take over this game when the offense had their fair share of struggles. You know, it's kind of crazy because all year, Jake, we heard Penn State fans talk about how great their defense is.

Ohio State fans talk about how great their defense is. But the best defense in the big 10 ended up being Michigan. And to see the athleticism in that secondary and just how tough they are up front, man, that was an impressive performance they had up against Michael Pennock, Jr. Oh, my gosh, at least man. I mean, that's, that's the best offense Michigan had seen all been by far, by far, and a lot of our conversation, preparing for the game and leading up to was like, Hey, can can Michigan get pressured? You know, that was that Washington offensive line won the Joe Moore award. They were the nation's top offensive line.

They did not give up pressure or sacks all season on FedEx. I mean, he had the luxury of throwing from a clean pocket. And thankfully, he's healthy. But what you saw is he continually was going to the injury tent.

And after the game was walking with a significant limp. That defensive line is relentless, particularly on the inside. I felt that was going to be a big storyline in the game, Chris Jenkins, Mason Graham, the big dudes on the interior are quick, they're fast, they're strong, they're violent, and they just proved to be too much. And also coming out of halftime, because Michigan dominated that first half, it was a kind of similar to the Alabama game where you got to halftime, you go, Hmm, feels like Michigan should be up by more. And you know that Washington right the last two years has been wonderful under Kalen DeBoer up until last night, right, there are two losses were by eight points are left that play that will Johnson made, it kind of just swung the momentum, even though they didn't put the game away until later back in the favor of the Wolverines. Well, in our postgame talking to coach our ball, you know, he echoed that exact same. They had a conversation. They're like, guys, we are dominating this game.

They are, we need to pull away, we need to seize the moment. I think we lost Jake is still there. I think we lost Jake Jake, but hopefully we can get him back up. I just got a few more questions that I want to ask the former Michigan tight end if we can reconnect with him, that will be okay. We'll wait to see if we could get Jake back on the show, as he's had a busy last 24 hours, you know, covering the game at NRG Stadium and obviously on his way back traveling. So we'll see if we can connect with Jake, but on CBS Sports writer to try to get him on a phone line.

I think he was joining us via audio on zoom, but Michigan wins the national championship last night. And now the two big stories to come from that are going to be not only obviously right, you have to praise and talk about the championship and all that. But then you also have to take a look at the future of Jim Harbaugh and also the future of JJ McCarthy as well. So it's just kind of one of those situations where I think a lot of people expect Harbaugh is going to leave McCarthy would not shock me if he comes back. But at this point, you know, will your stock be higher than then where it currently is like you could argue he goes back, you can move up in the draft board because there's so many good quarterbacks this year.

But right after the game last night, you know, I was I was right on the field afterwards. I heard those fans saying one more year for JJ McCarthy. So Jake, but is back with us.

Hey, Jake, let me just get into the hardball conversation. It feels like he's going to leave. It feels like as long as he gets an NFL job offer, he's going to take it. Where are you at in terms of your former head football coach, Jim Harbaugh and his future with the Wolverines?

Yeah, I mean, listen, I I've been asked a bunch about this question. And hey, what's what does my gut tell me, Mike? I really have no idea what Jim Harbaugh is going to do. And I just think that that's who Jim Harbaugh is. Anyone saying that they have a hunch or that they know Jim Harbaugh's next move? I mean, come on, guys, we do not know one has known anything for Jim Harbaugh's next movement. He's a unique guy, truly one of one.

You know, I think about it. It's the same storyline every single offseason where I've remained a bit patient. But every offseason, it seems like the media has it as a foregone conclusion that Jim Harbaugh is going back to the NFL. And yet there he is on Michigan sideline once again.

So I really don't know. It certainly seems like if there was a year to leave, now would be the time. But he had a postgame press conference conversation with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN. Scott, a masterful media question instead of saying, hey, what's next? He said, hey, Jim, how does this late season affect your scheduling in the offseason? And Jim said, hey, I have already told the locker room we will push spring ball back.

So I don't know if we can read too much into it, but he certainly didn't shoot it down and say that, you know, he won't be there for spring ball. If he's gone, right, Sharron Moore, this is the slam dunk. He's definitely the next head coach of the Wolverines in your opinion? You know, he would definitely be towards the top of the list. But, you know, knowing Michigan and the resources they have, I think that they will be patient.

They will explore. You know, Sharron Moore, if you were in a coma and you woke up and watched that Ohio State-Michigan game on November 25th, you would have no idea that Jim Harbaugh wasn't on that sideline. I mean, Sharron coached that game so similar, it felt like Jim was there. You know, another name, ironically, I would consider Kalen DeBoer the Washington coach. I think he's making about four or five million bucks out there right now. Michigan could give him a significant raise and he has proven to be one of the best.

You look at his win percentage. My goodness, he's proven to be one of the best coaches in college football and he's doing it, you know, very rare in terms of the talent he's been recruiting and bringing to Washington. So I would definitely give him a phone call if I was Michigan.

Yeah, and he's a masterful coach, Jake Butt, as you just laid out. That's what made it so shocking. I knew watching Michigan each and every game this year how great their defense could be. But even with that being said, usually an offense will be able to figure it out. It was stunning that Penix was not on the same page with his wide receivers and a team that's been so great offensively just was never able with how many chances they got to go tie up the game to do so. No doubt.

In Michigan, absolutely masterful, masterful. I mean, maybe one of the best collective defensive performances of the entire college football season. You know, I talked pregame. I said, hey man, listen, Washington's going to move the ball. They're going to get theirs.

They're going to have some explosives. I felt one of the keys to this game was going to be when Washington is in plus territory and Michigan's backed up. Can they force field goals instead of touchdowns? And that's exactly what they did. Those are big momentum swings throughout the game.

All three levels. The D line showing up and being extremely disruptive. Penix, you know, he threw from a clean pocket almost all year.

The whole line is the Joe Moore award. Washington had the nation's top offensive line. Penix was sacked only 10 times all season. Michigan dominated the trenches, man, constantly in the backfield.

Penix was constantly in the medical tent. Thankfully, nothing serious, but he was limping significantly after the game. And then the secondary, how about that, man? You know, Will Johnson coming out of half to capture momentum. And then the ending to the game, I mean seriously guys, it felt poetic for Mikey Sainristil, your senior, your captain, your leader. He has the interception and he returns it all the way down inside the 10 yard line. I'm glad he got tackled because the poetry is then after your defensive leader leaves you there, you hand the ball to Blake Coram in the fourth quarter and he's done what he's done all season, which is punch it in.

Truly, truly an amazing finish to Michigan's season. Out of 100% Jake Butt, what do you think the likelihood is of J.J. McCarthy going one more year with the Wolverines? You know, that's also another good question. Here's what I'll say. I'd imagine that him and Jim are having conversations together. You know, I bet one decision affects the others.

I bet they work together. I mean, Coach Harbaugh said after the game, it's like a father-son relationship. And J.J.'s echoed that sentiment as well. I personally think J.J.'s extremely talented. His ceiling is high. He's an absolute baller. But I do think if I would recommend, you know, for him, he'd benefit from coming back for one more year developing.

Also considering this is a historically deep quarterback class this year, you know, J.J., if he can come back and continue to improve, I think he'd solidify himself as a chance to guarantee himself to go first round next year. So I opened up the show today saying it's a bunch of Jackassery, anyone that gets on one of these platforms today and says, oh, put an asterisk on this Michigan championship or say that it's a tainted championship. You know, everything was all even, even if you think the sign stealing gave Michigan an advantage against Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, and then Washington. How do you kind of respond to some people today that still won't give Michigan their due? Well, I don't even, I pay them no mind and no attention, man. Seriously, I mean, there's people on both sides that have their mind made up completely and truly any additional information that comes out will not sway any of their minds.

So I'm not interested in having those conversations. What cannot be denied is the fact that Michigan went on the road against Penn State. They find out Jim Harbaugh is not going to be their coach while they're in the air getting ready to land and they win top 10 matchup. Then you have a, you're, you're, you're also on the road, a trap game in between Penn State and Ohio State against a pretty solid and sound Maryland team. I know they're not the best team, but a solid team.

And it wasn't, it wasn't pretty, but they get it done. Then you're, then you're at home playing Ohio State. And here's the truth about that game. That was a must win game for Ryan Day.

All the chips were on the table. The Buckeyes needed that game. And yet without Jim Harbaugh, they win that.

And then they handle business versus Iowa. And then you tell me you're playing Alabama in the, in the semifinals, you're playing Nick Saban. Nick, this is where Nick Saban does.

This is what he does. The Bama team, they're completely different from the team that lost to Texas earlier in the year. This Alabama team, they beat Georgia. Michigan can't beat them. They don't win a playoff game.

They can't get it done. And they absolutely got it done. They dominated Alabama. I know the final score went into overtime, but they dominated Alabama and then finished it off and did the exact same thing against a 14-0 undefeated Washington Husky team. I don't know how you can look at this and say anything other than the truth, which has, this Michigan football team is, they are the best team in college football this year. And the last thing I'll ask you, Jake Butt, or just a statement that I'll make, I don't know if anyone's stock improved more last night in terms of getting national praise and national respect than Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator.

What a game plan that was, not only this week, but also the week before up against Alabama. And if Harbaugh leaves, I think Harbaugh would be foolish not to take him as a defensive coordinator. And this could be a guy that he should be a head coach somewhere in a short order.

100%. And those two guys, Sharone Moore and Jesse Minter, you look at the coordinators, that is a huge reason. As much as anything, the coordinators, it started with Mike McDonald, who's coordinating the Ravens defense, and then it went to Jesse Minter, Sharone Moore's growth. The coordinators have been as big of a reason for Michigan's progression as anything.

Jesse Minter certainly could be a head coach one day, but for now, man, we have to sit back and admire that masterful game plan he has. Well, Jake, appreciate the time. I know it's a busy day for you. Appreciate you jumping on board for a few minutes. Thank you. Thanks, guys, for being patient with my signal there.