CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: WASHINGTON VS MICHIGAN

January 6, 2024

Michael Barrett

NRG Stadium

Michigan Wolverines

Press Conference

Q. Michael Penix is 24 years old; we're seeing guys now playing five, six, seven years in college football. Is that an unfair advantage playing against a 19-year-old?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Kind of how I see it -- I'm 24 myself, so how I see it, we're all trying to get to the same spot, everybody in the league. You've got old guys in the league like 30 years old, 35 years old. If that's kind of where you want to be, that's kind of how it is, regardless.

Everybody kind of on their own track, everyone is on their own road, on their own course. Regardless of how you get there, regardless of how that road looks, you're all on the road to that same spot.

Q. Do you feel like that sometimes for you being 24 years old, just given your age and your experience, do you feel like that's a big advantage over, say, a 19-, 20-year-old?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Definitely, definitely. I think of that all the time, just kind of the experience I've been through, the games I've played in. Just mentally just being older, just kind of having that growth I feel like definitely is a little advantage.

Q. Have you had time to sit back and think about your journey, coming to Michigan -- I don't know if you had been to Michigan before --

MICHAEL BARRETT: Couldn't even point it out on the map.

Q. This is your last game. Just the thought process of your five and a half years?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah, it's crazy, thinking back to where I came from. Being a quarterback down in South Georgia to being a top linebacker in the Big Ten is crazy. It's just kind of thinking of just how far I've come. Just kind of wherever you are, just knowing my goals, kind of what I had here coming in and kind of just being in a situation to achieve those goals, it's a blessing.

Q. Just your thoughts on the offense (indiscernible).

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah, definitely. Their offense is explosive. They have a lot of great athletes, an elite quarterback that can put the ball on the money wherever it needs to be, and just an offensive line that gives him that time. They have like that offense that can score in the blink of an eye. So you have to be locked in every play, every rep, have to be locked in to all your fundamentals and just straining to finish those plays.

Whenever you have that one-on-one jump ball, you have that one-on-one tackle in space, you have to make them. It just kind of comes down to winning your one-on-ones and executing.

Q. For the average person or for young players or whoever, how do you describe this opportunity for someone who hasn't been in your shoes?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Man, it's a blessing to be here. I say it all the time, but I can't give nothing but praise to God for the opportunity to be here. It's great. I really try to keep myself mellow, try not to get too high in the moment. But yeah, it's a great opportunity, great everything. Everything about the experience is great.

I've dreamed of being in this situation, so it's just great to finally be here, especially in my last year here. Great to finally be able to go get a win for Michigan, the Natty.

Q. When you think about the 2020 season, a two-win season for you guys, a totally different culture than what you have now, going back to that, could you have imagined that you'd be in this position?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah. We had what it took. I feel like we just were missing some things. We were always falling just a little short, kind of on all years. '18, '19, we had great players then and we had great coaches, and we just kind of came up short in the Big Ten.

And I kind of knew that this place was special. We had special people in this program. I knew that even during that season, we were better than what kind of we put on tape. We just had to overcome whatever it was, get over that hump to be where we are now.

Q. Top-rated defense against a top-rated offense, how motivating is that to see (indiscernible)?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Definitely motivating. If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best. Just like last week with Alabama, we wanted to -- two historic programs, one of the best historic programs in the country. Just the opportunity to go out there and display what we have, display the kind of defense we have, just like I said, our opportunities are here, man, to really show and really engrain that we've the best defense in the country.

Q. Coach Harbaugh always talks about (indiscernible). He's used that phrase so much. Is there a sentiment among the players that you want to go out and not only win this for Michigan but win this for Coach?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah, this is a close team, just the way we play for each other, the way we prepare together, the way we just kind of gel together throughout the locker room, on and off the field. Just the feeling everybody gets from the other guy's success, you can kind of feel that. I feel like just everybody is playing for each other, playing to go get the win for the guy next to him.

We've got a lot of veterans on this team who came back to go get a National Championship. So I feel like all of the younger guys kind of bought into that, and they've kind of really been pushing to help us get to where we are.

We kind of all just had that common goal of trying to get to where we are now. And just being locked into that and playing for each other, playing for Coach Harbaugh, knowing the kind of guy he is, he's the kind of guy you want to go win for. He's trickled that through the system, through the coaches, through the players. And it's definitely been a real close group, and we've definitely been trying to play together.

Q. You knew all about football in the south. What are your thoughts about this being the first championship game in nine years without (indiscernible)?

MICHAEL BARRETT: I think it's great to get some versatility in the National Championship, not only looking for an SEC team always to sneak in there. I feel like it's great for the Big Ten, great for the -- I was going to say Pac-12, but hey.

No, I feel like it's great for the conference to kind of have two teams that's going to eventually be in the Big Ten play in a National Championship. It's great.

I know all the people down south is kind of hating, wishing that Alabama or Georgia would have made it in, but it's great to kind of have Michigan finally be up here.

Q. Obviously we're going back a couple years here, but how different is the Michael Penix, the athlete that you guys see on film, to the Michael Penix that you saw when he played for Indiana playing Michigan?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah, you can just tell the growth, the confidence he's got. I feel like kind of thinking back against him when he was at Indiana, he was playing a little timid. Pretty sure he was coming off of some major injuries back then, and you could kind of tell that he was playing timid, playing not to get hurt.

Now you can tell he's playing more loose, more confident, more free. Has a lot more targets, a lot more athletes kind of that he has with him now. You can just see the fun that he's having over there with those guys. Just the confidence he's been playing with, I feel like has just helped him grow over the years.

Q. What do you think about this game in the context of next year, expanding to more playoff games? Does it mean anything to be part of this knowing that the Big Ten and Pac-12 have a lot of history?

MICHAEL BARRETT: No, definitely. It's crazy to think about, kind of that I won't be a part of the expansion of the playoffs and the merging of the conferences. But to be a part of the last-last, it's a great experience to be here, and it's great to kind of set the tone for the next couple rivalries between the two teams. And hopefully it'll be a great game, and definitely go get the win for Michigan, though.

Q. (Indiscernible).

MICHAEL BARRETT: Man, I'll throw on some old Kodak. That's kind of what was buzzing through my ear all during the Rose Bowl, some old Kodak. I'll throw some Lil Wayne on. Before the game I try to get mellow so I would be like J. Cole type. But just kind of the survive until I get on the bus to head to the stadium, that's when I'm in my old Kodak, YoungBoy, get in that mode for sure.

Q. You were on the team in 2021 when this kind of run started. Do you get the sense this has come full circle now playing Washington for a National Championship?

MICHAEL BARRETT: Yeah, no, definitely. I feel like it's kind of all come full circle, from playing Alabama in what bowl game -- Citrus, I think it was or some bowl -- playing them in a bowl game, to playing Washington. And just finally being able to make it all come full circle, I feel like it definitely came full circle.