Former Michigan football stars speak on the continued search for a new head coach

On Wednesday morning, former Michigan football players Jake Butt and Devin Gardner spoke on the search for a new head football coach in Ann Arbor.

The duo broke down potential candidates and what to expect as news continues to come out.

Here are the highlights from their conversation on The Blue Print podcast.

What's the latest with Michigan's search for a head coach? @Jbooty88 and @devingardnerXCI break it down for you! pic.twitter.com/ZJI4urHv3A
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What Butt Said

The biggest takeaway Butt had is that there is no news. He explained how Michigan allegedly knew it was coming and would act quickly, and that Kalen DeBoer (Alabama) was a lock to be the new head coach. We quickly found out that neither of those reports were true.

Reports then became that Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State) was a lock, which was also proven false.

Again, it seems like the consistent takeaway is that no one really knows what is happening.

“It has been pretty much whispers,” Butt said. “I have not been able to confirm who is even making the decision at this point; that seems to be uncertain. Whether it is the board, regents, what involvement Warde Manuel has at this point. It is extremely chaotic and messy and muddy.”

Nov 5, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines tight end Jake Butt (88) rushes in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

As if the situation wasn’t already a mess, not even knowing for sure who is making the decision makes this an even bigger disaster.

“I say that just to say, be careful who you listen to on social media,” Butt explained. “Making promises about what they know and what they think they know. It has been proven time and time again to be false.”

What Gardner Said

As for Gardner, he spoke more on the perspective of the coaches who are in the news as being a potential candidate.

“A lot of these coaches are still with their teams, and Kalen DeBoer is in the playoff,” Gardner said. “He (DeBoer) has to say that (he won’t take the Michigan job), he has to win first. He may want to be the Michigan coach, maybe, we don’t know. But we know one thing for certain, he wants to win. ”

Gardner brings up a fair point that even if it is DeBoer or ends up being him, why would he sacrifice a chance at a national championship to become the coach at UofM.

He also addressed how people are saying Lane Kiffin just did it, jumping to LSU from Ole Miss, who made the playoff. However, Gardner simply said, “they are different humans.”

It is also two completely different scenarios. Alabama is a much better job with more resources than Ole Miss, where Kiffin was previously. Also, with the investigations and mess at Michigan, it probably isn’t as intriguing as a school like LSU at the moment.

To conclude his segment, Gardner said we should just let it happen instead of trying to dig every second for what is about to happen.

“So maybe we get a guy that we never even suspected,” Gardner said. “Maybe we get a guy that everybody said we weren’t going to get, that we did really want. I just think everybody should take a deep breath.”

With everything up in the air, DeBoer and Dillingham are still the primary targets per reports, but as it stands, we have to be patient until there are more solidified answers.

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