Jim Harbaugh Leaving Michigan? (Hour 3)

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Get six times longer lasting freshness plus odor protection with Downy Unstoppables in wash scent beads. And away we go, hour number three of our radio program. My eyes are still open. I don't know how. I'm on 90 minutes of sleep.

And we continue our very fine radio program. Now it's not because I'm just a sicko on why I only slept 90 minutes last night. It's because I was at the national championship game and I was working hard and enjoying myself watching the Michigan Wolverines take care of business up against a team that I respect a lot and like a lot in the Washington Huskies. Michigan, your national champs. And there's really two big national conversations about Michigan winning the national championship. I've already ranted. I've already yelled as much as I could yell today and as much energy as I do have today about the Jackassery and just how stupid people sound when they go, oh, this is a tainted national championship. This championship should have an asterisk. I just think it's ridiculous.

I do. Everyone said, oh, the sign stealing scandal, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You talked to a bunch of current players and former players as well that actually play football and they're like, oh, yeah, it's overblown.

You know, this goes on more than you think. I understand maybe the way they went about it was not right. I never said that Michigan should not have been punished, but I don't think it really impacts the results on the field. Now, with that being said, everything was even since mid-November and the Michigan schedule didn't really start until November anyway because there's a bunch of cupcakes this year for Michigan. And the Big Ten was not as great as what people maybe thought it could be entering this season. And Michigan played volleyball because that's what Michigan does. And Michigan's smart and Harbaugh redefined this program in the trenches.

That's what all good football coaches do. They build their football team in the trenches you build from the inside out and their defense was dominant. Their defense has been underappreciated. And on offense, they didn't have their best offensive line compared to the two past years, but they still had a dominant offensive line, even with losing Zach's enter because of an injury up against the Ohio State Buckeyes. And you have maybe one of my favorite college football players of all time in Blake Corum. Blake Corum has been synonymous with the end zone. He got career touchdown number 60 and 61 last night in a Michigan national championship.

And I really do believe this. And I say this as a Heisman voter. If he didn't get hurt last year, I think he would have won the Heisman last year.

But then he gets hurt. You had the explosive game from Donovan Edwards. And I think that took him out of winning the Heisman Trophy because he got hurt towards the end of the season and wasn't available for Michigan's biggest games of the year. But that actually, in a weird way, his injury could have been the best thing to happen to Michigan as like twisted as that sound, because I really do think that pushed him to not end his career at Michigan that way and then come on back. And even though this was not a great year for Donovan Edwards, like what he's been accustomed to, I had a feeling last night, and I said it all throughout the week, that Donovan Edwards was going to have a massive national championship game.

And he did because Donovan Edwards has big playability. And when the season was in the final game and the season was at the biggest part for Michigan in their schedule, which was the national championship game, Donovan Edwards had two runs to start the game that just set the tone for what that game was going to be. And even though at times, right, it got a little close, like at halftime, it didn't feel like that should be a seven point game. And at one point, it was 20 to 13 in the second half. It's like, oh, Michigan's playing with fire eventually through their defense and then their defense setting the tone for their offense to capitalize on it, which was the reverse in the first half. Then the offense came through when they needed to at the end of the game to put the game out of reach.

But what a brilliant performance by Michigan last night, the way they played defense up against Michael Penix Jr. And then their offensive line just dominating Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards dominating as well. And then J.J. McCarthy did not like really get asked to do a lot. But that throw that he made to Colston Loveland that set up the big touchdown towards the end by Blake Corum, his first of the game, that was a timely throw and who J.J. McCarthy is as a quarterback. Because when you have a great defense, when you have a dominant offensive line and when you have a run game, that's just a one to punch. You don't really need to do much as a quarterback.

You just can't mess it up. And that team, their leader is J.J. McCarthy. And being on the field last night, you see that, you know, the the praise the players have for J.J. McCarthy, even though it doesn't seem like he's playing a huge role necessarily on the stat sheet.

That dude is just a winner. And I go back to three years ago when he basically told Michigan fans to take a chill pill. And that you've got to believe in this team and you've got to believe that they're going to turn it around.

And they did that. And J.J. McCarthy, when Harbaugh says it, he is like the best quarterback in the history of the Michigan Wolverines. Now, let's not get crazy. I know people are going to say, but what about Tommy Brady? We're talking about what they did as a college quarterback, not what J.J. McCarthy is going to end up doing in his pro career. And I do believe I heard it.

You said J.J. McCarthy can be better than Tom Brady. I just heard it. You know what, Samter? A lot of days I would have the energy to play like whack-a-mole here and fight back at you. I do not have the energy today to fight back at you and smack you back. So you know what? The whack-a-mole, you be in the mole, you win today. I misfired on that.

Headline Heisman voter Zach Gelb says J.J. McCarthy the better quarterback than Tom Brady. Interesting. Yeah. You know what?

If Offo Announcing wants to write that, if Barrett Sports Media wants to write that, go ahead. There's a lot of days I have energy to fight. This is the rare day where I, you know what, every fighter gets beat up from time to time. This is one of those rare days where I'm looking at the clock right now and I'm saying, I got to get on out of here and like an idiot because I'm a nice person. Someone reached out to me tonight and they said, oh, can you come on my radio show?

And I was like, yeah. And I didn't ask, like, what time? And they go, eight. And they go, oh, actually, can you do 830 p.m. Eastern? So I said, I could do 830 p.m. Eastern, but you better send me a reminder. I'm not usually a reminder guy.

Like, I don't have one of those egos and one of those guys like, oh, you need to remind me to come on your show, blah, blah, blah, especially when you ask me the day of. But at 830 p.m. Eastern, I actually fear that I'm going to fall asleep right after the show ends. So I need to shut my eyes because I only got 90 minutes of sleep last night, but it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it.

So, no, I'm not going to fight you today, Santa. Note to self. You are primed for the picking. Yeah.

You know what? You want to take your shots now. That's fine. But remember, I get sleep tonight. Then I wake up tomorrow. You're not going to be ready to go. As as my buddy Stu finder would say, I'm ready to roll. Ready to roll.

Coming up tomorrow. Yeah. But, you know, you're so tired now that if I were to go after you, you're not going to remember any of it tomorrow. Oh, no, no, no.

Ask any of my friends. Was that a dream? I could be a petty person and I do have a good memory, but I have done that recently.

I have dreamt about things and then I have thought that they actually have occurred in real life. So that happens. But anyway, I think a fascinating conversation. Two things about the future of Michigan. Will Harbaugh be back next year and will J.J. McCarthy be back next year? And I believe I know the answer on Harbaugh. And I got to think an NFL team is going to offer him a head coaching job this year, which you haven't done the last two years. I would really be shocked if Harbaugh is back at Michigan next year. And I know Harbaugh, he operates at the beat of his own drum and he's different, right?

You say turn left, he turns right. And the guy's phenomenal coach. He won a national championship at Michigan last night. He's been to a Super Bowl as a head coach in the NFL, has also been to three other NFC championship games, too. And if he ends up winning a Super Bowl in the NFL, like when you look at the annals of football coaches, he's going to be right up there. Because you win a national championship in college and then get to a Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl in the NFL.

Like assuming he does that, that puts you at a different level, that puts you on a different playing field. So I would think that he's going to leave Michigan and hand the program over to Sharron Moore. And hopefully Sharron Moore doesn't turn into crying Ryan with like Ryan Day. We know Sharron Moore, he likes to cry, but it was tears of joy after the Penn State game. And Ryan Day is just like kind of messed up the Ohio State program.

But Ohio State Buckeye fans are going to say, oh, he's going to have seven or eight losses. Michigan never beat you guys. Now they own you. Now they're your father.

All right. And it wouldn't surprise me. Let's just say Ohio State has a bad year this year or a disappointing season this year. Ohio State fans start to cry and demand for Urban Meyer to come on back.

That could be something. But I'm going to say that Harbaugh's gone. I think he goes back to the NFL.

The McCarthy one, Santer, I find fascinating. Because I don't believe that J.J. McCarthy is a great or will be a great NFL quarterback. But Mike Tannenbaum, which maybe this is why Mike is in the media now and no longer GM. He thinks McCarthy is going to be a top 15 pick if he came out this year. Now, a lot of these mock drafts are not projecting McCarthy to come on out. Now, if Harbaugh leaves, I kind of feel like McCarthy will leave as well. But that could be an opportunity in what is perceived to be a good quarterback draft class where. I got to think Williams may Jaden Daniels and Pennock's will go in front of J.J. McCarthy. Maybe McCarthy looks at that as an opportunity to do it without Harbaugh.

Do with the coach, assuming that you're on more becomes a head coach that he has familiarity with. And also, there won't be as many names next year. Maybe you are the second of the first quarterback off the board and you improve your draft stock that way. But let's just say Tannenbaum's right. That'll be a top 15 pick. I don't really see the incentive to come on back to Michigan.

Now, I'll get a ton of money. We know that. And I'm not I'm not kidding. Last night, right after that game ended, so many fans were chanting. One more year, one more year, one more year for J.J. McCarthy. So I'll be curious to see the decision he makes. But I don't think it's a wrong decision one way or another because you just want a national championship. OK, job done. Job well done. Mission accomplished. But on the other end, do you want to try to run it back for one more season with the roster that is going to be drastically different?

And this was the McCarthy tweet that he put out on November 15th, 2020. I want all Michigan fans to do this. Take three deep breaths and have faith. Faith that every single coach player employee in that building is doing everything they possibly can to be great.

And usually send the tweet out like that. It doesn't turn out to go your way. But it did for J.J. McCarthy. He turned that program around. So now we have a big coaching topic and that's right. Harbaugh presumably being available.

Belichick potentially being available. Now, Mike Vrabel being available because he got fired by Tennessee today. And quite frankly, I think he wanted to get fired. And that's how the owner then justified firing him.

Because the last two years, I know it's got away from Tennessee, but they haven't had a lot of talent. And to choose Rand Carthon over Mike Vrabel, that doesn't really make sense to me. So I do believe that Vrabel wants a new job and wants an opportunity to reset. There's even this report out there about John Gruden. And this is from NOLA.com that the Saints could actually bring in Gruden as an assistant. Now, you've got to remember, Gruden's been around the Saints a little bit this year. There's been times where he's been seen with Derek Carr in the practice field.

So there's some connection there obviously with Carr and then also Dennis Allen as well. So there's a lot of rumors out there, but the three big names are Belichick, Harbaugh, and Vrabel. I ultimately do think Belichick's in a new home next year. I think Vrabel's going to go back to Foxboro where he played. And this year, I've never seen a coach on a bye week. And I know he's getting honored because he's in the Patriot Hall of Fame. But on his own bye week, get honored by the team and stick around and watch the entire game with the owner in Robert Kraft. So that relationship could be trust and Vrabel could look at it as, okay, I get to build this organization the way that I want to.

And I'm going to get patience because there's not a lot of building pieces in New England. And that's kind of like the three big names out there. It's Belichick, it's Harbaugh, it's Vrabel.

And then what else happens? Like, can Gruden go be an assistant and make his way back to head coach? I wouldn't hire John Gruden. I think he's an overrated head coach. And then you had the Schefter stuff, Sam, too, where Schefter's talking about how he doesn't think the Steelers would fire Mike Tomlin, or should they? Especially with them now going back to the playoffs.

And I don't think they'll win this game this upcoming weekend now without T.J. Watt. But let's play that Schefter audio right now. This is on ESPN to just create the clearer picture of what Adam Schefter was trying to say. You're not firing Mike Tomlin.

But here's the thing that's interesting. He's got a year left on his contract. And there are some people around the league who believe that Mike Tomlin could decide, eventually, to take some time off. Like Sean Payton did.

Maybe take a year off. We'll see if that's something that's on his mind. But Mike Tomlin gets to dictate what happens here. I think Tomlin's back next year.

Does anyone disagree with that? Stu, you shake your head no, you think he's back? I think he's back with the Steelers, yeah. And Sam, do you think he's back? I think he's back, but I think it depends on what they do this year. If he goes one and done, he has something to prove. If they make a nice run, which they're not going to.

But if they somehow make a nice run with Mason Rudolph and without T.J. Watt. Then maybe he says, okay, you know, I've sounded some critics. Coaching is hard. Reset. Reset. And I'll find another team. I'll go make a lot of money in the media, which I could do.

And then just kind of like recharge my batteries and come back with that same fire. Because if he wants out, he can get a job tomorrow, anywhere. You know, there'd be, like, Vrabel now becoming available. Maybe some playoff teams re-evaluate themselves as well at the end of this postseason, whenever it ends for them. And maybe Vrabel ends up going there, too. I think Vrabel winds up in New England. Harbaugh, I think, will either be with the Chargers or the Raiders. If he goes to the Chargers, I think Belichick could land with the Falcons. I also think Belichick could be in play for the Chargers as well. You know, I think the Falcons a good job.

The commanders, I think they're going to try to make a big splash. But it wouldn't surprise me if they go younger and they make the big splash when trading up in the draft to go get Caleb Williams. So this coaching cycle, I'm pumped up for it. Because it's not only a college coach that's also been an NFL coach in Harbaugh. Then you have a guy in Bill Belichick who's right the creme de la creme of what coaching has been for 20-something years. And then you got Vrabel, who everyone knows he shouldn't have been fired, but he did get fired. And teams are going to get a really damn good coach who ever hires Mike Vrabel. Do you think there's any chance that Vrabel would go to the Patriots as an assistant if Belichick doesn't get fired? No. Would he rather take a year off if he doesn't get a head coaching job?

See, that I don't know because... Put it this way. Sean Payton should not have taken the Broncos job. I said this when they hired him. He wanted the Chargers job. He should have just waited another year. But coaches are addicted to coaching and they could talk themselves into another situation being more desirable than the one that they want. And that's what Sean Payton did. And if he would have just waited, he would have got the Chargers job this offseason. And not to deal with the mess of trying to replace Russell Wilson. So I don't think Vrabel is going to take a year off because I think Vrabel is addicted to coaching. I think this is a plan by Vrabel to land somewhere else and I really do think he's going to wind up in New England. Alrighty, Zach Galpin with you on CBS Sports. Right, I'll take a break. Former Michigan tight end and Big Ten Network analyst right now, Jake Butt, is going to join us on the other side.

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. Oh, 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. 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 could 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 Ten, 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. And his speed, his speed did the rest. And just lastly, that 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 Coram, 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. And it wasn't just him.

It was a number of guys on this team, guys that continually, you know, NIL, I was told, hey, this is bad, man. How are we going to get 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 postgame about his legacy. And he kind of echoed what I just said. He wants to be remembered of more than just a football player. But, man, we'll remember the football player in him as well. Jake Butt here with us, former Michigan tight end, now part of the Big Ten Network, does a great job as a Big Ten Network analyst. 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 Ten 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 Penix, Jr. Oh, my gosh, just the least, man. I mean, that's the best offense Michigan had seen all season by far, by far.

And a lot of our conversation preparing for the game and leading up to it was like, hey, can Michigan get pressure? You know, 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 Penix. 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 kind of similar to the Alabama game. When 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, their two losses were about eight points or 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 Harbaugh, you know, he echoed that exact same, they had a conversation. They're like, guys, we are dominating this game. We need to pull away.

We need to seize the momentum. 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 radio 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 like 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 where it currently is? Like you could argue he goes back, he 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 right in the field afterwards. You heard those fans saying one more year for JJ McCarthy. So Jake Butt is back with us. Hey, Jake, let me just get into the Harbaugh 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've been asked a bunch about this question.

And 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 move.

Man, 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's 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 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 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 Devore, 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 Budd, as you just laid out.

That's what made it so shocking. Well, like 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 Pennax 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. And 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. Pennax, 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. Pennax was sacked only ten times all season. Michigan dominated the trenches, man, constantly in the backfield.

Pennax 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 ten-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 percent, 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. That'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 semifinals. You're playing Nick Saban. 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. This Michigan football team, 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 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. You know, it's a busy day for you, appreciate you jumping on board for a few minutes. Thank you. Yeah, thanks guys for being patient with my signal there. Yeah, all good.

Thanks so much. On a day after Michigan wins the national championship, we'll be okay with only one dropout on the cell phone service. There he is. Former Michigan tight end Jake Butt now part of the Big Ten Network's coverage of Big Ten football.

Come on back. I got top five college football storylines to monitor this offseason. But first, let's get the latest CBS Sports Radio update in with the Ackman, Rich Ackerman.

Alrighty, wrapping up shop. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I do have five storylines that I want to look to in this offseason of college football where it's kind of nuts. Season's over. And now we've got to wait until August and September for college football to come back. You know, spring game, SEC media days, Big Ten media days, things like that.

But until we see games, it's not until August. Like Labor Day weekend I love for many reasons. But I also love Labor Day weekend because that means college football is back. Like I'll watch week zero, but the official return to college football season is Labor Day weekend. And I've always had the blast on Labor Day weekend watching a bunch of college football games.

But I want to start you off with one storyline. And it's what we've been talking about all day. It's J.J. McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh's future. I thought what Jake Butt just said can be true.

Like they're probably already talking about their futures. Harbaugh's keeping McCarthy in the loop and McCarthy's keeping Harbaugh in the loop. Now, you could make the case just because Harbaugh goes doesn't mean McCarthy needs to go. But with that relationship, not saying that you can't have that relationship with, you know, you assume it would be Moore would be the next head coach. And they have a good relationship. They've worked together for the last few years. But I can see McCarthy saying, OK, Harbaugh goes, it's time for me to go as well. But let me play some audio. This is Jim Harbaugh after the game on ESPN on how long he'll take before thinking about his future. Forty eight hours.

Yeah. And give the guy some time to I mean, I told him total three or four days ago, we're going to we're moving spring practice back. We usually we usually start on Valentine's Day, February 14th, because we love football. But this year we're going to move it back. We're moving back about a month. That'd be good, too.

We'll have some nice weather in the spring in Ann Arbor. So does that mean he's not coming back? I mean, that he's coming back, Harbaugh? I don't believe that. I would I don't want to say I'd be stunned, but I would be surprised.

Really surprised. Even though you can't predict Harbaugh, it's kind of like Belichick. Can't predict Belichick. I would be surprised if he doesn't go back to the NFL, especially with all this looming nonsense from the NCAA. So that's a big storyline there. McCarthy and then also Jim Harbaugh, what they're going to do.

Let's play one more. Jim Harbaugh. This is on the whole sign stealing scandal.

He was asked about it one more time last night in his postgame press conference. It couldn't have gone better. It went exactly how we wanted it to go to win every game. The off the field issues were innocent. And we stood we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent.

So obviously something happened, but it showed it had no impact. And that's what you see with a lot of these scandals like the Astros went on to win again after their scandal. The Patriots went on to win multiple times again after their scandals. And Michigan, when everything was even, they embarrassed Penn State in the trenches. They beat Ohio State without their head coach on the field.

Then they win the Big Ten championship. They play Alabama. They dominated Alabama in the trenches. And then last night they did so once again in the trenches up against Washington.

It just shows you old school football still works. Have a great defense. Do what Alabama used to do for years in the SEC. Have a great offensive line and you run the ball, you run the ball, you run the ball. And you have a quarterback that can be a game manager that knows how to win and makes the timely throw like he did last night to Colston Lovelace. So McCarthy Harbaugh, what's going to happen now?

I think another big storyline. Will Arch Manning be the starter next year for Texas? And does Quinn Ewers come on back another season for Texas or does he go to the pros?

And it felt like that Sugar Bowl should have been Quinn Ewers last game with the Texas Longhorns. But it doesn't mean that it necessarily will, because once again, you know, that the first four quarterbacks taken in this draft in some order are going to be Williams, May, Daniels and then Pennix Junior. So do you think going back another year and then you reset a year from that will make you elevate up the draft board?

Another one. And a big part about this is next week you have to officially declare if you're an underclassman going to the NFL draft. Cam Ward has already announced that he's going to go to the NFL draft. But Danny Connell said this with us last week, that there's been some rumors, there's been some chatter that maybe Cam Ward will reverse that decision.

He hasn't even though he said it, it's not official yet. And maybe Cam Ward will come on back and jump somewhere in terms of the transfer portal. Another one, Ole Miss, the Ole Miss hype train, the lane train, with the extension and then the great transfer portal and the great recruiting class. I'm fascinated this offseason by Ole Miss and the season all throughout the offseason, all the big storylines going to be is Ole Miss going to meet the hype. And like last year, USC was hyped, LSU was hyped and they end up being the two most disappointing teams in college football.

USC didn't even come close to sniffing a Pac-12 championship, let alone competing for a national championship. And LSU early on in the season against Florida State showed you, yeah, they had a Heisman Trophy quarterback, but their defense couldn't stop a nosebleed. And then finally, last thing to look at, the national respect for Carson Beck. I think Carson Beck was greatly underappreciated this year. And I believe this offseason is going to be massive for Carson Beck.

You get another year of experience and it would not surprise me at this time next year we're talking about Carson Beck as a Heisman Trophy winner for the Georgia Bulldogs. Alrighty, that is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Big thanks to Steve Avila for joining us today. Rookie offensive lineman for the LA Rams, playoff week for the Rams as they get ready to go to a house that used to be Matthew Stafford's in Detroit. We get lines and Rams later on in the week on Wild Card Weekend and do appreciate Jake Butt, the former Michigan tight end joining us a few moments ago.

Tomorrow, joining us live on the show will be former NFL linebacker K.J. Wright and also Bills special teams captain, college buddy of mine, Tyler Medicaevich as the Bills get ready to go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Tyler actually started his NFL career getting drafted by the Steelers in the last few years.

He's been with the Buffalo Bills. Congratulations to Michigan. Job well done, national champs. And if you don't like it, well, that's your problem.

Because Michigan played 15 games this year and they didn't lose one of them. Alrighty, we'll talk tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. Big thanks to each and every one of you for calling, listening, and tweeting.

Big thanks to Stu and Moist Mike as well. We'll talk to Benyana, everybody. Alright, we out. Bye-bye. Peace.