Sherrone Moore Speaks Again About His First Choice Of Quarter Back.
Jim Harbaugh excelled at acquiring veteran players to contribute to the Michigan Wolverines teams that made the College Football Playoffs over the last three seasons.
Players like Olu Oluwatimi, Josaiah Stewart, A.J. Barner, Josh Wallace, and others who had a chance to compete for playing time or even a starting role on the team.
So, when Indiana quarterback Jack Tuttle announced that he was coming to Ann Arbor last offseason as a grad transfer, it was a surprise to a lot of folks in the industry.
As a former team captain of the Hoosiers, Tuttle was primarily a backup and he could have easily just entered the workforce or attempted to be a graduate assistant somewhere if coaching was in his future.
Instead, he chose Michigan because of the connections he had with his former associate head coach at Indiana, Mike Hart, and Wolverines’ head coach Jim Harbaugh. However, he made his intentions clear in his first interview as a Michigan quarterback:
After the Wolverines accomplished just that in 2023, Tuttle once again had the chance to depart into the post-playing days of his career. Rather, he chose to seek an eligibility waiver for a seventh season. The waiver was granted in February.
Most were expecting Alex Orji, Jayden Denegal, or incoming true freshman Jadyn Davis to be the starter come fall of 2024. However, Tuttle’s return shakes things up considerably. He was the backup to J.J. McCarthy last season and probably knows the offense better than anyone else in that quarterback room today.
Tuttle is also the most experienced of the group. He’s played in 22 games in his career, completing 59.8% of his career passes for just over 1,000 yards and six touchdowns to six interceptions.
Since joining Michigan, Tuttle has also proven that he has some wiggle on the ground, rushing four times for 35 yards.
The RPO worked well for him in 2023’s spring game where he showed he could be a legitimate threat to keep it himself, similar to situations where McCarthy would do the same in 2023. Overall, he seemed comfortable in Sherrone Moore and Kirk Campbell’s offense when he had opportunities last season.
Having Jack Tuttle back is extremely valuable to the room as far as a veteran guy that’s been a couple different places,” Campbell said this offseason. “I spoke on Jack ad nauseam in the past. Great leader, great way about him. Really good passer of the football. To have him back is good for the culture of the entire program.”
Something to consider is that Tuttle took most of the second-team reps for the Michigan offense last season. Most of those guys, both on the offensive line and in the receiving corps, are now going to be starters that are leaned up in 2024.
He should have an excellent relationship with guys like Karmello English, Frederick Moore, and Tyler Morris who are all expected to make a leap this offseason.
As a seventh-year player and former captain of a college program, it’s clear that Tuttle has been viewed as a leader wherever he has gone.
Under Harbaugh, this was a huge quality he looked for with his starting quarterback, specifically with Cade McNamara and McCarthy over the last three Big Ten Championship seasons.
Moore spoke about the relationship that Tuttle has with his teammates when speaking about the quarterback room in mid-March.
“Jack, ‘Uncle Jack’ they call him. A guy that’s played a lot of football. Got a great arm, great ability, can run, can be a dual-threat guy but he’s also very cerebral in the pocket. So a guy that can do that for you — he’s been very impressive, everything he’s done in the past. Excited for him.”