Jack Tuttle discusses 'tough year' in 2024, his retirement and joining 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.’”

Not a huge adjustment for ‘Uncle Jack’

Tuttle was teammates with many of the Michigan players he’ll be coaching this season, so he’s had to adjust the way he approaches his responsibilities. At the same time, he was one of the veterans of the group and already had a leadership role.

“I’m excited for the first opportunity in spring ball to get on the field,” the Michigan staffer said. “When I was playing here, though, I was kind of an older guy. The Uncle Jack nickname flew around, it spread like wildfire. So, that was great. 

“I’ve kinda been that older guy to my teammates anyways. So the transition into coaching has been not seamless but easier, just because I’m not so young, and I’m an older dude. But I still got a lot to prove and help in any way I can. They know that, and I love ‘em all. I think that’s the biggest thing, is they know I would do anything for them to help them.”

Tuttle has also had to switch his mentality from quarterback to wide receiver, but there’s a lot of overlap.

“I think it’s been great,” he said. “I’ve already learned so much from [wide receivers] Coach [Ron] Bellamy, Coach [Erik] ‘Soup’ [Campbell]. Man, they got a lot of NFL guys, a lot of just knowledge in both of them. Just sitting down with them, even going over individual tape, going over receiver fundamentals — that’s the stuff that, as a quarterback, I may not know 100 percent.

“But man, I’m getting there fast, and my perspective to the receivers, I feel like, helps them. What is the quarterback looking for? What coverage? What do you look like? How do we see and identify certain coverages? That stuff can be really helpful to them and help them play faster. I’m learning a lot from Coach Bell, Coach Soup and the receivers, so it’s been great.”

One day, Tuttle would like to become a head coach. But he’s focusing small daily while dreaming big long term.

“For me, it’s good to have that lodged like, yup, that’s my ultimate goal; that’s what I want to do,” Tuttle said of running his own program. “Right now, [former Michigan player] Jesse Madden, [former Michigan student coach] JD Johnson and I always talk about just looking down at your feet, seeing where you are and trying to stay there, even though you ultimately have that goal of, man, head coach, winning games, winning championships. Trying to take one step at a time, though.”