I had a long discussion today with Jake Butt, the former Michigan TE who is the analyst for Saturday's game vs. SIU. He just wanted to pick my brain about the Cats. Great guy. He's new to broadcasting, but I think he's going to be really good. We talked about him and his career, too. A few notes:
- He's a HUGE Fitz fan. He said that if Michigan hadn't offered, he would've gone to NU. The Cats were his runner-up. He loved Fitz, and he loved the way McCall utilized the "superback" in his offense. So why did he go to Michigan? He grew up in Columbus as a Buckeye fan. When OSU didn't offer him, he decided he would go to Michigan and stick it to them. They never did, but he had a great career there. He was a Mackey Award winner and All-American. You might remember that he tore his ACL in the Orange Bowl as a senior (for the second time). He probably would've been a first-rounder and wound up going in the fifth round. He and ND's Jaylon Smith are kinda the poster boys for potential first-rounders who skip bowl games as a senior.
- I told him that Saturday's game atmosphere will feel like a library. He said that when he was at Michigan, they typically played loud music at practice to simulate going on the road. For NU, though, he said they wouldn't play anything on the PA and the players had to be silent, too. Why? Because it was so quiet in the stadium and they didn't want everyone to hear their calls. It was also to show them that they had to "bring their own juice" in a dead environment. But Michigan always brought quite a few fans, so those games were a far cry from what Saturday will be -- even though I think students will be there. NU starts classes next week.
- He went to Pickerington North with Godwin Igwebuike, so the two of them are very good friends. He also knows former NU LB Brian Peters, who went to Pickerington Central, really well.
- He really ate up my background stories on Ray Niro, Greyson Metz and the No. 1 jersey. So listen for those.
- He was really impressed by Thomas Gordon, obviously. He likes the way Bajakian employs tight ends and how much they run 12 personnel.
- He's a HUGE Fitz fan. He said that if Michigan hadn't offered, he would've gone to NU. The Cats were his runner-up. He loved Fitz, and he loved the way McCall utilized the "superback" in his offense. So why did he go to Michigan? He grew up in Columbus as a Buckeye fan. When OSU didn't offer him, he decided he would go to Michigan and stick it to them. They never did, but he had a great career there. He was a Mackey Award winner and All-American. You might remember that he tore his ACL in the Orange Bowl as a senior (for the second time). He probably would've been a first-rounder and wound up going in the fifth round. He and ND's Jaylon Smith are kinda the poster boys for potential first-rounders who skip bowl games as a senior.
- I told him that Saturday's game atmosphere will feel like a library. He said that when he was at Michigan, they typically played loud music at practice to simulate going on the road. For NU, though, he said they wouldn't play anything on the PA and the players had to be silent, too. Why? Because it was so quiet in the stadium and they didn't want everyone to hear their calls. It was also to show them that they had to "bring their own juice" in a dead environment. But Michigan always brought quite a few fans, so those games were a far cry from what Saturday will be -- even though I think students will be there. NU starts classes next week.
- He went to Pickerington North with Godwin Igwebuike, so the two of them are very good friends. He also knows former NU LB Brian Peters, who went to Pickerington Central, really well.
- He really ate up my background stories on Ray Niro, Greyson Metz and the No. 1 jersey. So listen for those.
- He was really impressed by Thomas Gordon, obviously. He likes the way Bajakian employs tight ends and how much they run 12 personnel.
