CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: WASHINGTON VS MICHIGAN

January 6, 2024

Mike Hart

NRG Stadium

Michigan Wolverines

Press Conference

Q. Mike, from one great Michigan running back to another, what do you think Blake's legacy is going to be when he's done?

MIKE HART: He's one of the best backs of all time. He's got the leading touchdown record. I just think in big games, the way he plays, the way he just takes over the game, and the kind of person he is off the field, on the field, the type of leader he is, he's one of the best to ever do it. He'll always be in that conversation.

Q. What did you see from him leading up to the overtime and during overtime?

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think the big thing is he wanted the ball. He wanted that game bad, and he wanted the ball to be in his hands because he knew he'd do something to make a play. And he did it. It was a heck of a run, two runs in overtime that were just awesome.

And the O-line did a great job. Everybody did a great job. But he's just special.

Q. You've coached with a lot of these guys and worked with Michael Penix. What was that experience like those two years?

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think we had a really, really good staff and they're all really, really good friends of mine. From obviously Kalen DeBoer, who's the head coach -- I mean, his kitchen table is in my house. My wife bought it from him when they were moving out to Fresno. But just a great man, great family man, great leader.

Then you go to Nick Sheridan. Nick Sheridan is one of my best friends. We obviously coached together for a while. We played together here. He's just a phenomenal human being, as well. They're just good people.

Ryan Grubb, really, really good person. William Inge, great linebacker coach, great human. It doesn't surprise me they're having the success they are because of the type of people they are and the way they care about their players, having worked with most of them.

Q. When you think about where Blake Corum was a year ago, what has his journey been like?

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think last year he wasn't playing at this time. He got hurt against Illinois late in the season. Missed Ohio State game, missed the Big Ten Championship, missed the CFP. I think at this point last year, the question was was he going to come back or not for another year. He made that decision to come back, and it paid off for him.

Just really, really happy for the success he's been able to have, coming back from that injury, and just leading this team the way he does.

Q. (Indiscernible).

MIKE HART: I thought he was crazy. I said, you're coming back again? He said, yeah. He said he wanted to.

I think that he really cares about Michigan. He loves this team. He wanted to come back and win the National Championship. He's got one more to go.

Q. You also knew Michael Penix before. What stood out about him as an underclassman and what do you think made him the player he is now?

MIKE HART: Obviously I love Mikey, man. Same thing with him, two ACLs, seen him go through a lot of injuries. But you always knew how talented he was. We had him, we had Tuttle, we had AJ -- there's a lot of people on these two teams that know each other and have coached together.

But he's got a cannon for an arm, and you see it, you watch it. Doesn't surprise me that he was runner-up for the Heisman. Just really -- really, again, just happy for him to be able to come back from those injuries.

He's from Florida, go all the way to the west coast and have the success he had, I think him and Blake are a little bit similar when he decided to come back again, too, when he could have left.

Just good people. Good people. Great leader.

Q. (Indiscernible).

MIKE HART: You get the questions, and you answer them in the way -- I don't know where anybody is going to be next year. I don't know where anybody is going to be tomorrow. I don't know where I'm going to be. I've changed jobs a lot, too, in my career.

I think that you're just up front and honest with them. And like I always tell them, we don't know what's going to happen. There's a lot of stuff out there. There's a lot of rumors. There's some stuff that's true, some stuff that's false. I just go day by day and we'll figure it out.

The one thing about the kids we recruit is they're coming to Michigan for Michigan, for the program, for the academics, for the history, for the tradition.

The kids that come here love Michigan. We always said since I was here, Michigan has never been ran by one man, not one coach, not one player. Michigan always finds a way to have success. So I think that no matter what happens, what the future holds, we'll be just fine.

Q. Why is this year different? You got to a certain point last year, but you got farther this year. What was different about this team?

MIKE HART: I think that they're really resilient, and I think when you have leaders -- you lose back-to-back CFPs two times in a row in the semis -- and they all came back with the same mindset. I've never seen a team just talk about the National Championship all the time.

I've always been one of those guys, win one game before the next game. And these guys at the end of practice would say, We're winning a National Championship. We're winning a National Championship. From Blake to JJ to Kris Jenkins to Junior Colson. We have a lot of really good leaders on this team. That's what makes them special, because you win with the guys.

These guys have been through it, they've won, they've lost, but they're a really resilient group, and it just starts with the leadership.

Q. Going back to that season -- (indiscernible)?

MIKE HART: We beat Michigan that year, yeah.

Q. (Indiscernible).

MIKE HART: Yeah, I mean, you're highly, highly upset. I think Jack Tuttle was just talking about it because he was on that team, as well. The rules are the rules. You can't win everything. You can't change everything.

We had a special team that year, and you never just forget the success that we had and the players on that team were just awesome human beings, as well.

Obviously we thought that we got screwed a little bit, but it doesn't matter now. I always thought we should have beat Ohio State that year if we wanted to go.

Q. Do you ever think back to your playing career and think, in 2006 if we had a four-team playoff I'd have another ring on my finger?

MIKE HART: No, I didn't think about those things back then, to be honest. Now -- don't really -- actually I've never really thought about that before. I just think it's amazing the way college football has changed. Used to just be the bowl games. Used to just be the Rose Bowl that you wanted to go to or the Big Ten Championship at Michigan.

Now you've got a million kids opting out if they're not in the CFP games. You've got guys that aren't playing for their teams anymore in the bowl games. You're getting towards the NFL model of playoffs and everybody's going to have an opportunity. There's going to be more teams in there next year that deserve it.

I think everybody knows what happened to Florida State this year. There's no way they shouldn't have had an opportunity to play for a National Championship and prove themselves.

Next year, those things -- it's going to be the 13th team now that complains. So there's always still going to be people complaining. But I think it's a little more parity now with all those teams -- having 12 teams and giving them all a chance.

Q. Coach Harbaugh said that JJ is the greatest quarterback in Michigan football history in his opinion. What are the dynamics that allow Coach Harbaugh to say something like that about a guy who's still playing and also for him to take it the right way. That's not something you could tell every player --

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think the maturity that JJ shows, and he understands that the work is never done, and he understands how great he wants to be. He understands the opportunity he has to go down as the greatest quarterback in Michigan history.

I think Jim says that because Jim truly believes it. And JJ McCarthy is a special, special player. Throwing the ball, leadership wise, running the ball around.

I think he's going to go down as one of the best quarterbacks in history, without a doubt, especially he's been to three CFPs, three Big Ten Championships as starting quarterback. There's not many quarterbacks in Michigan history that can say they've done that.

I think everything Coach says is true, and I think he will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in Michigan history.

Q. Obviously when you say that, people think of Tom Brady. Obviously Tom and JJ have a good relationship. In terms of his ability to take that comparison the right way, do you think it motivates him?

MIKE HART: I think he loves the pressure. He loves being compared to that because he knows he has to show up and work every day. It's just who he is. It's just every day, the work, the work, the studying, the game plan. Coming in, telling Coach what plays he likes, what plays he doesn't like.

The maturity I've seen from him the last three years and the leadership he has on this team, I think that his head is always even. He doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low. He can make a mistake and bounce right back, or he can have tons of success and still be the same person every day.

Really, really a special kid, and he's obviously one of those reasons that we're in this game.

Q. You mentioned earlier about the 12-team playoff. Do you ever envision somewhere in the future where kids would actually opt out even if they're in the playoff and not play in the playoff? Do you think we're going to get to that point?

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think anything is possible. I think when you have guys that -- I think January 20th is the game next year, I think. 20th or 21st is the national title game. So you've got guys that are going to be playing three, four more games trying to get ready for the draft. It might just feel like their best opportunity is just to opt out and get ready for the next level.

Hopefully guys don't do that to their teammates, but you just never know anymore. I think that most people, they want to win.

So we'll see, but I think there's definitely a chance it ends up happening.

Q. Is it frustrating?

MIKE HART: Yeah, it is to me. I understand why some of the players do it. I've always just had that mindset of you're with this team, finish with your team. But I think that's more of an old-school thought process where now it's kind of -- it's about me. It's about why do I want to play in this game when I can get hurt, when it really -- it's no benefit to me playing in it.

I see why they do it. I just want to -- it's hard for me to understand doing that to your teammates who you've been working with so hard, so long to have success.

Q. When last season ended and JJ said, I promise to be back, a lot of players will be back, did you think it would lead to this point, and what obstacles did you see that you were concerned whether or not you'd be back at this point?

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think anytime you go into the off-season, you question, okay, do we have enough players here? Do we have enough players here? Is the line coming? Who's going to play tackle? How is everything going to work out?

So I think that we knew we had the core set of guys that came back who were leaders who have been in these games before. But I think there's also -- it was like is LaDarius going to turn out to be LaDarius, and be the First Team, All Big Ten left tackle, you know, when you lose a kid that started for three years here.

I think that those things -- they're always questions in your mind and that's why you go through spring ball, that's why you go through fall camp.

I knew we had the leadership to do it. I knew we had enough skill players to do it. I just think we had to go out there and prove it in the big games.

Q. When we were talking about your relationships with the Washington coaches --

MIKE HART: Yeah, obviously when Kalen got the job at Fresno, he didn't want to move everything, so my wife loved his table, so she bought it from him. And it's still in my house right now. It's a good table.

Q. What's your crossover with the other coaches?

MIKE HART: Kalen, we coached at Eastern Michigan and Indiana together. The coolest thing, even my youngest daughter's name is Kalen. Not after him, though. Not after him. But we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, so my wife wanted a name that went both ways and I said Kalen. She said there's no boys named Kalen, and I had to show her a picture of DeBoer. And then he ended upcoming to Indiana, so it was pretty funny.

But Nick Sheridan is one of my best friends, tight end coach. We played here together, and we still talk all the time.

Ryan Grubb, I worked with him at Eastern Michigan for a couple weeks until I left.

William Inge, the linebacker coach, great human being. We coached at Indiana together.

The receiver coach, Shephard, we coached against each other forever. He was at Purdue for a while. Know him really well.

Their GA, Shaq Vann, I recruited to Eastern Michigan. He's one of the GAs on the team.

So just know a lot of them, know a lot of the guys there, and really good friends. Not just know each other. We really enjoy being around each other. We always talk. Wouldn't be happier playing anybody else than these guys in the National Championship.

Q. Do you think you have any insight into that coaching staff?

MIKE HART: No, not really. I think they all show up, they do their job. Our offenses are kind of similar as far as the way we shift, motion, all those things. I know they're going to have a heck of a game plan against our defense and their offense. Their defense is going to have a good game plan against us. Got to let the players play, and we'll see what happens.

Q. How much was the table?

MIKE HART: I don't know how much she paid. I hope he gave me a deal on it.

Q. You had Michael Penix for a year --

MIKE HART: I was with Penix for three years at Indiana.

Q. Are you surprised that this has happened? What kind of player did you think he'd be?

MIKE HART: You knew right away his freshman year when he got there how special he was, and the way he threw the ball and the way he moved and how cerebral he was. He understands football. He understands the game.

I'm really, really happy for him. Two ACLs, shoulder surgeries and injuries, and to come back and play the way he's played and leading the team the way he's leading it, it's not a surprise at all.

Q. What kind of kid is he? He was close to giving up the game, but it's a perfect landing spot. Almost thank God for the transfer portal.

MIKE HART: Yeah, I keep saying it, but he's always been a great leader. He's not selfish. He's always about the team. He works his tail off.

I think that sometimes when you have a lot of success and all of a sudden you've got back-to-back ACLs, I think that you just start questioning, is it worth it? Can I do this again? Do I want to do this again?

I think he's so resilient, and he decided to do it. He believed in that staff out at Washington, and they did a great job with him.

Q. What's Jim like as a coach week to week, day to day? How often does he stop in at your meetings?

MIKE HART: He's involved in everything we do. He pops in, tells us when we do things wrong, tells us when we do things right. And he's the same every day. He's going to be the first one in the office and the last one out. We know how hard he works. We really just don't want to let him down. We try to bring that same energy, that same effort every day.

Q. You're the ultimate Michigan man among others. Describe the longing Michigan has to get to this spot and win a National Championship.

MIKE HART: Yeah, I think that we've been close, we've had good teams. Just haven't put it all together since '97. I think anytime you've had that long of a drought with such a great tradition of football program, we need it, we want it, we're going to go get it.