Congratulations: Tuttle speaks honestly on his decision to retire and join the Michigan football staff

Jack Tuttle transferred to Michigan Wolverines football ahead of the 2023 season with the intention of helping his team win a national championship and preparing himself to become a coach.

Tuttle, a former quarterback who spent seven years in college football, achieved the national championship as the backup to J.J. McCarthy in 2023 and is one of the newest members of the Wolverines’ staff as assistant wide receivers coach. “It’s been a blessing,” the 6-foot-4, 211-pounder said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “From the time I got to Michigan, I had a passion of football, and I wanted to help the team win a national championship.

I also had a goal of coaching some day. I knew I was an older guy, and whatever happened with my football career playing was going to happen.

“Afterwards, I wanted to become a coach, and that’s why I came here — to learn from [former Michigan head] Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, [current head man] Coach [Sherrone] Moore.“Eventually down the line, it worked out and I became a coach here, so I’m super blessed and excited for the opportunity.”As a new coach, Tuttle will have a demanding schedule with plenty of behind-the-scenes responsibilities.“[Tight ends] Coach [Steve] Casula has this thing, ‘Whatever Michigan needs me to do, I will do to win.’ That’s really what it is for me right now, and all the other guys in the support staff,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle, who will be 26 years old by the time the 2025 season begins, made stops as a player at Utah (2018), Indiana (2019-22) and Michigan (2023-24), so he has experience with different offenses. “I’ve been in an air-raid offense, a multiple offense, pro-style, run-the-ball-first offense, kind of a run-and-shoot offense,” Tuttle noted. “I have all these kinda different offenses and schemes just in storage in my head, just stored up, for when I need it someday or we need an idea.

Oh, maybe an air-raid offense did it this way, maybe a multiple offense did it this way. Maybe we mix the two or do it this way, mark art out of it.” Tuttle, who started one game for Michigan in 2024, made the surprising decision to retire in October after suffering a concussion.

He’d battled many injuries throughout his career, and it was finally time to hang them up and pursue coaching. Tuttle remained with the team the rest of the season. “It was a tough decision,” he reflected. “It was a tough year for me, after the whole incident with the elbow and all of the other stuff. But it ultimately came down to just, I thought my arm could get there, and it just didn’t.

“At the end, it’s hard. It’s hard to think about that every day, because man, I really wish it didn’t happen. I wish my arm — you can’t think like that. It happened, and the other injuries I had, talked to several doctors, and it was just kinda like the icing on the cake. They’re like, ‘Man, you gotta slow down and take it easy. You’ve broken your sternum, you’ve broken your collarbone. You’ve had surgeries on your shoulder, elbow. Head stuff was a major concern. It was tough.’”