Blue By Ninety - Chad Henne Joins | Crazy 2007 Season, Game Winner vs. Penn State, 3OT vs. Michigan State, and more

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

Chris Wormley and Jordan Strack are joined by Michigan’s all-time leading passer and 2X Super Bowl Champion Chad Henne.

Welcome into Stadium in Maine with Big Worm and Strack. I am Jordan Strack. That is Chris Wormley, former Michigan captain. This is episode seven. We have new episodes every Tuesday, and we are teamed up with Blue by 90. This week, a really cool week. I'm excited for this one. We've got the all-time leading passer and all-time leading touchdown thrower in Michigan history.

Chad Henney, going to join us here in about 20-ish minutes. And worm, it is rivalry week as the Wolverines get set to take on the Michigan State Spurs. Barton's always a fun week. Yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously coming off that big win against Wisconsin, it leads right into a rivalry game, which is awesome, which is huge. You know, Michigan State's down a little bit this year. They have been the past couple seasons,

but all that gets thrown out the window when it comes to, you know, Big Brother versus Little Brother rivalry. It's going to be fun. I'm excited to watch it. It's a night game, so I'm going to put the kids down early, going to crack open a cold beer and enjoy this one. It's going to be fun. We're already tossing out Little Brought.

brother insults. I love it. We're not even or a minute into this show and we're throwing it out there. I love it. All right, before we get to Sparty, let's talk about Michigan's win over Washington, 24 to 7. Some of the numbers that kind of jumped out to me, total yardage. Michigan held them under 250

total yards, which when you look at what Washington did the week before with like 500 something yards of offense, very, very impressive. Bryce Underwood, 21 out of 27, 230 yards, and a couple touchdowns. The Jordan Marshall game. 25 carries, 133 yards, and a touchdown.

Just first overarching worm, let's get your thoughts. To me, I tweeted out after the game, it felt like they got back to Michigan football. Yeah, this was the quintessential Michigan football game. They ran the ball extremely well. They made the big plays when they needed to. Their defense was, I thought, dominant all game. The three interceptions, obviously, were the kind of highlights of that of the defensive side of the ball.

But they played a complete total Michigan football game. I think the special teams could play a little better. Obviously, Zavada missed a kick again. The punter had a couple, not his best punts, but I thought the offense and the defense played their best and complete game. And that's what they're going to need moving forward, a dominant, stout defense, and the offense to do what they do, which is run the ball,

and then make the big plays when they need to. And that's what they did on Saturday. It was fun to watch. Yeah, you know, it was one of those weeks where I'm like, I wasn't sure what to expect. I watched the Washington game against Ohio State, and I thought Washington was good. I thought coming into the week, they probably should have been ranked. I know there was a lot of that kind of floating out in the universe that maybe this Washington

team should have been ranked coming into the week, which doesn't really matter a whole lot. But I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I just wasn't. I wasn't sure how Michigan would respond. To me, they responded perfectly. You know, we go back to the beginning of the week, and Sharon comes out, wearing the blue collar jacket and I you know there were some people that were dogging him on that but that's what it felt like Michigan did they went back to hard hat

lunch pale football and it felt like in the fourth quarter they kind of wore Washington down I'll get to that you know more in a little bit but it just felt like they got back to some of the key principles because some of the things they they do you know Joel clatt Joel Klatt mentioned it during the broadcast. That's just kind of what it was. Like it felt like good old school Michigan football like we had seen from 21 to 24. Yeah. And I mean, when you talk about Sharon in his work shirt and was it a little corny?

Yeah, like, okay. But like the players respond. And I think that just shows what the players think of Coach Moore is like, okay, this is our guy. We need to support him the way he supported us. And they came out and played as a complete team, which was really fun to watch. But, yeah, like I said, this was a Michigan win, a big win. They needed this win. We talked about last week going five and two versus four and three and what that looks

like on the record score. But I was excited. I was happy for the guys. They came out, played their ass off for each other, which is what they need to do. They blocked out all the noise that, you know, I'm sure it was penetrating through that locker room on the Twitter feeds and Instagram and all that. Everyone kind of understood what was going on that week from the outside noise perspective. and they shut that all out, came out, dominated, and got a signature win, I think, of the season.

Yeah, and, I mean, listen, it's so easy as college kids to let that kind of stuff, that kind of stuff affect you. And there was, there was a lot thrown at them. And part of it, you know, listen, we were guilty of it too. Like, we did it, you know, we spent a whole podcast like last week talking about what the hell's going on with Michigan. And, you know, we'll be a little too harsh. I don't know, but like it just felt like the way that they handled that, that to me told me that they were bought in. And because listen, this thing could have gone south real fast and it could have gotten

real ugly. And there would have been some some real crazy hot takes being tossed around this week. Yeah. But they responded. And you have to give them credit where it's due. That was a good Washington team. And Michigan came out and handled their business. And that's the most important part.

Especially when you saw some of the guys that weren't playing. Haynes didn't play. Rob Moore didn't play. two signature guys in the team. Ron Moore's a Captain Haynes, you know, before his injury, I was talking Heisman talk with him and what he was doing with running the ball. Their left tackle goes down early in the game.

So to see a lot of those younger guys step up and play, I think is exciting not just for this season, but for two, three, four years to come because this team's going to rely on a lot of young talent. And we talked about it, you know, a few weeks ago. But as the season goes on and injuries are going to happen, that's just kind of the war of attrition. and you have to be able to put guys in and plug them in and they have to perform at a high level.

I thought this week was a perfect week for those young guys to step in, and they did just that. It was really cool to see those guys take what they were doing throughout camp and spring ball and all that and apply that to a game in a big time situation because we're going to need that moving forward. Yeah, let me go through some of them. You look at that offensive line, the job that Blake Frazier did jumping in, you know, when Evan Link goes down, I thought,

Blake Frasier was awesome. Zero pressure. Zero pressure he gave up, which I thought was crazy for a backup left tackle, getting thrown in, probably not even thinking that he was going to play that game. He stepped up in a big, big way. As a second year guy who really hasn't played, like, it

was outstanding. You look at some of the other guys. So you have no Brandon Hillman, you've got no Rod Moore, no Justice Haynes, no Marlon Klein, no Hogan Hanson. All these guys are out. And you look at some of the guys that stepped up. Zach Marshall, outstanding.

Five catches, 72 yards in a touchdown. Deacon Tonelli. The fourth string tight end came in and gave you some great reps. Mason Curtis, a sophomore. Jordan Young, freshman. Shemari Earls, freshman. Jaden Sanders, freshman. And then you start thinking, you know,

some of the guys that are really contributing, Bryce Underwood, freshman, Andrew Marsh, freshman, Jordan Marshall, sophomore. Cole Sullivan, sophomore. There are a top of the first and second guys playing some big-time minutes against a good team on a big stage. Can we talk about the exciting whites that Michigan has? I know the Philadelphia Eagles have there with Blanky and DeJohn,

but Molder and Sullivan, those guys, I mean, they play big, big-time plays, big-time situations. They both had an interception. So you heard it here first. Those are Michigan's exciting whites, and I'm excited for them to continue to play at a high level. But, yeah, continue, I mean, the young guys, they showed up, it was fun. I mean, listen, like, you're 100% right.

Like those guys played outstanding football. It's really hard when you're going through a football season because you know that inevitably there are going to be injuries. It's part of it. You just don't know when your number is going to be called. I think it speaks to the culture right now that they've got that every single one of these guys they called on. And there were more of them that got into the game and played.

Those are just guys that played, you know, more than 10 snaps is kind of what I did there. Yep. there are there are more guys that are ready to go that speaks to the culture to be ready as a player worm how do you kind of keep that mindset knowing that inevitably it's going to happen at some point and especially as a young guy to be ready when your number's called yeah i mean it's that's definitely frustrating if you're a younger guy and obviously if you're on michigan you you probably started since you were a freshman in high school and you have never really been to backup or you know you play every single play maybe on offense and defense so i understand that that the feeling of

waiting for your shot, waiting for your turn, but if your number does get called, whether it's one player or 55 plays, you have to be ready to go out there and execute because the more plays you play and the more that you are productive when those plays come, you're going to be able to catch the coach's attention, know that you're going to go in there and do your job, and you get more reps based off of that. It's a simple formula, but obviously when you get in there, you have to be able to perform. And when those young guys got in, whether it was because somebody got hurt or because they've continued to show that they can play at a high level, their numbers were called and they performed in a big,

big way. Yeah. And, you know, I want to go back to the fourth quarter. Washington had the ball in the fourth quarter for one minute and 41 seconds. They ran a total of five plays for eight yards in the fourth quarter. When Michigan was going on the back-to-back-to-back Big Ten championship runs, that's what they did to you. In the fourth quarter, they came out and they strangled you.

as Joel Clad always says, the boa constrictor, they come out and they just wear you down. And that fourth quarter was a thing of beauty. It was perfect. You get the lead, you hold on, you're at home, and you just kill them. And I thought that was Michigan football. That's how it's got to be done. Absolutely.

And when you have an offense that can run the ball, drain the clock, I mean, time of possession is everything. When you look at throughout the, whether it's college football, NFL, whatever, the teams that can have a higher time of possession or control the ball and have the ball in their hands more often are usually the teams that win. It's very rarely when a team loses the time of possession battle and they're on top as winners.

So that fourth quarter was, like you said, a thing of beauty. It maybe wasn't the most flashiest or the most exciting, but when you can wear a team down like that, apply the pressure, defense gets off the field with turnovers and three and outs, and then you can put the offense right back out there, the opponent's defense gets exhausted. They're not ready to play on a, you know, every snap and they're exhausted. And that's just a culmination of three quarters beforehand.

And then that fourth quarter like, like, you know, you say you step on their throats, the bow constrictor mentality, and you go out and you win a game. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, one of the other things on the other side of the football offensively, we had talked about it on this show with Jake Butt last week. Where were the tight ends at USC? And maybe Marlon Klein and Hogan Hansen are more banged up than what we thought. They didn't play to play this week.

So you have guys like Marshall and Tonelli step up the way they did. The tight ends at USC had one catch for five yards combined. Against Washington, eight catches, 110 yards, a touchdown with your third and fourth string guy. Michigan's offense needs that, especially with a young freshman quarterback. You need your tight ends to be that safety valve. and I thought they did a great job getting those guys incorporated into the game and got them going and I thought that was a huge deal for the offense to be able to have a third and fourth tight end come in and do what they did.

Yeah, not just as a safety valve, but just as like that third receiver that they can rely on and trust, you know, trust. Obviously, Somage is having some issues this year with drops and just, you know, whatever's going on in his head. You know, hopefully he can turn around this next five, six weeks of the season. but obviously McCulley and Marsher are, you know, receivers one and two, interchangeable as the weeks go on. And what are those tight ends going to do? Are they going to sit back and let those receivers just take all the receptions and all

the glory? Or are they going to step up like Marshall did and Tenelli, which was, I mean, I would, if I'm a betting man and I'm putting my bets on, you know, before the game on draft kings or whatever it is, there's no way I would have, you know, expected those guys to ball like they did. But they did, and it's exciting. I was happy for those guys to step up in the way that they did. And hopefully this is a sign for better things to come from that tight end room.

Yeah. Let's talk about the Samaj Morgan thing. How do you approach that from a player's standpoint when you know you're struggling? First from Samaj's standpoint, when you know you're having issues. Nobody knows it and is more frustrated, I'm sure, than he is. No doubt. How do you handle that? knowing like that I'm sure other guys around the you know you're like guys are talking and people

are talking how do you handle that I mean you got to have a conversation with yourself and I'm sure he has and I'm sure he's had conversations with his coach you know coach bellamy and you know maybe coach more but you've got to go back to what got you to Michigan and what got you to you know being a starting receiver at the University of Michigan then that's that's you know maybe an extra 15 minutes on the jugs after practice you know maybe talking with the sports psychologist on campus because it's not like there's something always, you know, mentally going wrong, but just to have a conversation and to be able to get your, you know, your feelings out on paper or whatever it is, but there's something that needs to change and not because I think

that Samaj is a bad person or he's a bad football player. It's just that I want to see him succeed. I want to see him get back to the, you know, that 23 season when he had some really big moments for that team. And I know that as these weeks go on, they're still going to rely on him to, you know, catch punts and be a punt returner, but also be a receiver, be that slot receiver that Michigan is desperately looking for because those drop passes obviously are unacceptable and he's probably going to be the first one to tell you that. But as a fan sitting back, and as a former player at Michigan, I know that there are guys in that not only that locker room, but that building and on campus that want to see him succeed. And I think that if he

continues to just put in the work. Obviously, you have to produce on the field, but put in the work, get the help around you, talk to some players, talk to coaches, because it's a long season and they're going to need him to step up in big moments. So I know there was like this big debate about, and people are talking about, you know, Bryce Underwood needs to learn how to throw a change up a little bit. I've watched that fourth down play 10, 15 times. I don't think that was the case on that play. It didn't feel like it was a case where Bryce threw the ball too hard or whatever. I think Samaj just dropped it. That's, and sometimes listen, I mean, these are 18 to 22 year old kids. Like, I know I was frustrated right after and everything. Sometimes you just drop it. I, I didn't

think that was a case where Bryce was, you know, throwing the fastball 100 miles an hour and he has to put some touch on it. That just felt like he got the ball on him. What you want to do in that situation, get it on him and let him make up, get up field, make a play. Did you think it was? Did you think it He threw it too hard? You were in the stadium? No, I mean, I think you just, you just catch it. Like, just catch the ball, get up a field, get the, get the two yards. And sometimes it's just as simple as that.

There's no, like, recipe or scheme or anything that it's, at the end of the day, your job is as a receiver, as a pass catcher on the offense, is to catch the ball. And when you don't do it on a regular basis, it's frustrating as a fan, but also as a teammate, but no one's probably more frustrated than he is. And I'm excited for the day where we get on this pod. and we talk good things about Samaj because I know I know he's excited to continue to ascend and be the player that we all know that he can be. Yeah. I didn't have this on our rundown, but I want to bring this up now because we're talking about the fourth down play. So

and the struggle with Dominic Zavada. So I think you're in an interesting spot right now if you're Michigan. So the last last year, you felt like when you got over the 50, you're in a field goal range and you're probably going to, you're probably going to have three. There's a little Zavada problem right now. I mean, he's missing some cases, by his standards. And it's the standard that he set, to be fair. But Michigan had a chance to go for it on fourth down and two inside the, I don't know, I don't remember what it was.

And they called that dive play, you know, and I didn't, I think it was dive play. I didn't love the call personally. I would have kept the ball on Bryce's hands and let him make a decision on that fourth down. Is Sharon in a spot now where he's going to have to start going for fourth downs, maybe in situations where he wouldn't want to because of the struggles with Dominic Zavada right now? Yeah, I think until Zavada can prove that he's, you know, I don't know if you call it the yips or the jitters or whatever, but until he can prove that he can make those kicks like he did all last year, like he was. And before and beyond. Like he's been doing this. Yeah, yeah, he's a good

kicker. Like that's no doubt. No doubt. So like until he can prove that, I think Sharon has to kind of keep that in the back of his mind i don't know what the you know they're analytics people or whatever it is but especially in those four those two at least there was two fourth downs where it's you know fourth and short fourth and two to three or whatever you can say all the exes and o's and just catch the ball somage and all that but like for me like i'm keeping the ball in underwood's hand i guess if if if brice underwood can't get me two to three yards as the player that he is i don't know i got you got to be able to scheme up a play put the ball in his hands whether it's a design

run a rollout pass where he has the option to either run it or that's what i was hoping for yeah yeah when i look at a guy like bryce like you got to have the ball in his hands in those big moments especially if it's two to three yards like you got to give it and keep it in his hands yeah it feels like a cheat code to have a guy like brice underwood in those situations like those fourth down and two situations first off the first one was a great play call i i love the design everything and it was obviously dropped the second one i didn't love the the play call um i i i wasn't want Bryce Underwood to have the ball and going to make a play in those fourth down situations. Whether it's, as you mentioned, a rollout, I want him to be able to make a decision and to go

run the football or whatever. And I think going forward, you know, you're still learning some things. I mean, the kids made seven starts in college. You're still learning a little bit to be fair. So I think there's going to be moments for him, for sure. That's, you know, that's a thing on fourth now to look forward to going forward. All right. So it is rivalry week and it's Michigan State Week. You and I are both Ohio guys. We're both born and raised in Toledo. Yep. So I think for you and I probably, and maybe I don't know, I don't know, because we are both Ohio guys, maybe the Ohio State rivalry means a little bit more than the Michigan State rivalry. When you got to Michigan, did you kind of have a sense of one being more important than the other

as a player? I think just from being from Toledo and you know the the Ohio State versus mission game was always one of the is I think it's the biggest rivalry in all of sport not just college football but then when you when I grew up a Michigan fan so knowing that you know it was Ohio State and Michigan at the end of the year and then Michigan Michigan State you know somewhere in the middle of the of the season that usually set up you know the conversation for what was to come at the end of the year for for that last game you know after things giving. So it was still a huge game. I think it's still a fantastic rivalry. A lot of guys either went to high school together or played against each other in high school, being from

the state of Michigan. So there's a lot of animosity and kind of tension. And that rivalry has lots of not just in college, but even into high school and maybe even peewee football. So it's always exciting to get to play the Spartans. And that rivalry is still alive and well. For sure. All right. Let's bring him in. I see he's ready to go. Chad Hennie, the all-time leading passer in Michigan history. Welcome, Ed. We appreciate you taking some time for us. Thanks for having me.

I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, absolutely. We're going to talk some, we'll talk some ball. And you're a guy who obviously has a couple Super Bowl rings, which is exciting for you. Played a long time in the league. But what are you up to now? Like, what's going on in your life right now?

Right now, I'm actually in the high school football season. I'm coaching at my high school. school that I went to Wilson West Lawn in Pennsylvania. We are right now 8 and 1 heading into a big game this week against one of our rivals for the section title. So it's been exciting coaching these young kids and other than that I'm quarterback guru, I guess what they call nowadays. And I train quarterbacks on the side. I love it. I love it. You are obviously one of just four true freshmen to ever start at the University of Michigan. There's Rick Leach, there's you, Tate 4C, and now Bryce Underwood.

What have you thought of Bryce Underwood in his freshman season so far? I mean, for what I can see, I mean, my kids play sports on Saturdays, but I get to watch the games as much as I can when I'm home. But he's a super freak athlete, obviously a great thrower. Seems like he has a good knowledge of the game. I'm super excited to see how. they finish up and how his career goes about. But definitely looking forward to his career, a big fan of his and what he does out there

on the field as well. Now, Chad, when you're game planning for these high schoolers, are you just, are you game playing like you would for an NFL game? Are you just, you know, as excited and into it and watching the film? Are you like Olson down in Carolina with the high schoolers? I see some clips of him. He's out there. Him and him and Luke Eakley are getting.

after it with these seventh and eighth graders are you that into it like that or are you you know are you you you have to tone it down a little bit i'm pretty intense i mean i'm not to that standard of olson and keekly but uh i i do watch a lot of film uh you know nowadays kids have access to the huddle uh everything's you know shared out which is great uh it's definitely a mental aspect of the game that we didn't have as high school athletes but uh it's tremendous i mean i can watch as much as film as I want because right now I'm not training quarterbacks on the side. So I'm retired and I get to watch high school football tape all day and then I get to go to practice and give my inputs to the coaches and the players. I love it. Yeah, love it.

You obviously were part of one of the, I mean, one of the greatest games in Michigan history, the one versus two game in 2006. How often do people bring that game up to you and how often do you think back about what that game was like to be part of. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely brought up. Obviously, every year the big game comes up at the end of the season and it brings back a lot of memories. Obviously, memories that, you know, you wish you had back going O and four against Ohio State isn't something that you want to put on your resume.

But at the same time, that game was special in obviously the one and two, but obviously Bo Schembeckler and his last speech. to the team and, uh, you know, obviously wanted to play for him. Um, but yeah, it was a special game. We were just so close in that game to go into a national championship and, um, you know, just didn't get done. Nowadays, you guys probably would have had another shot at the Buckeyes because of the college football play off. Um, would you have wanted to play against those guys one more time? Absolutely. And I, I think we, we all petitioned too, because at the end of that game, we were still one and two in the country until Florida jumped us. And nobody, I guess,

wanted to see the rematch and Florida jumped us. But absolutely, I think we go into that game. I mean, both sides. Tremendous talent on both sides. Give them credit. Great coaching. Great players. But we had a great team. We had something special, great leadership. And we felt like, you know, we could have won that game. Yeah, I want to bring up maybe a more positive memory of your Michigan playing career. So 20 years ago, it was, no, I saw this on, I think it maybe it was Twitter last week, 20 years ago last week, the Penn State versus Michigan game where you threw that last second touchdown to Mario Manningham. As a Michigan fan growing up, I remember watching that game with my dad and my uncle, and when you throw that touchdown with one second to go and he scored and you won the game, I remember opening up my backyard door and just running around screaming like a little kid because. I was so excited.

And that was a core memory for me growing up and kind of solidified my fandom for being a Michigan fan. So I want to thank you for that. But also, what do you remember about that game? Because I think they were eighth in the country and you were and the Wolverine, and you guys were unranked at the time. What do you remember about that game and I guess the buildup and obviously playing in that game and then ultimately winning the game?

What do you remember about that? Yeah, it was definitely a roller coaster game. We were down most of the game and had to kind of claw our way back. But they had great talent. a couple of linebackers that are Hall of Fame college football, Paul Pozzlesne, Sean Lee, Dan Connor, just, you know, talent all over the field. And, you know, when you get in those games, then you're down, you know, you always obviously envision that you're going to win the game and come back. But again, you know, I always felt like, as you know, Michigan men, we're not just going to lay down and let these guys stomp us. So we phoned her way back, and we had some big plays on that last drive.

And the funny thing is they line up in cover three most of the time in the Joe Paterno era. And they come out in a cover four, which was great for our double-post concept. And Mario made a great, ran a great route, great protection, and threw it on time. And yeah, there it was that one second play. We win the game. Yeah. I mean, you think about the receivers that you guys had, it was, I think Avant was over to the left. and then it was Breston and Manningham, which, you know, that's a stud, you know, a star-studded receiver group.

So, like, thrown to either one of them or either, you know, all three of them, I think would have been an option. But obviously, you made the right decision. And that was, like I said, a core memory for an 11-year-old Chris Wormley. So thank you for that. Yeah, absolutely. It was fun game. Oh, yeah. You played in a bunch of those thrilling games, including against Michigan State.

And it is Michigan State Week. You went four and O against those guys. the game in 04 was I mean it was absurd like that it was I mean to be honest it was outrageous that game goes to triple over time you guys were down and it was 2710 under seven minutes to go

you're out 17 with under seven to go what's going on mentally at that point and do you guys how did you guys even begin to claw your way out of that one well again I mean when you're a freshman quarterback and you know we had Brown Edwards We had Jason Avon. We had Arrington at the time.

But we had a stud core group, but Mike Hart was our running back. And both of us being freshmen, and Mike was having a stellar season. And I think this was probably midway through, maybe towards the end. And we started getting our run game going and really attacking them that way. And then that opened up the passing game. I think obviously when we fought back, you know, it was feed Berlin. How much can we feed Berlin? And sadly, the funny thing about it, the corner, Jaron Hayes,

and I hate to bring it up, but he was one of our high school teams that we played in our league at Cedar Cres High School in Pennsylvania. And he was a thousand-yard rusher the year before for Michigan State. They moved him in the corner that year, and that was the kid that we were picking on all the time with Graylin. And I remember after the game, I was like, man, I was like, you know, great job. But I was like, why the hell aren't you?

They staying at running back. And now they put you at corner. was like, I don't know, I'm just trying to do my job. But, yeah, Brown and obviously was a big part of that at the end, you know, not a hard target to miss, big body, fast, strong, and really just let the ball up and let him make the place. I mean, it was, it was crazy the way that you got. And everything kind of had to go right in that game.

I was, you and I literally were born on the exact same day, July, you were July 2nd, 1985, right? Yep. Greatest day in American history. Absolutely. We were both born on the same day. So you and I were going through college at the exact same time. I was at BGSU.

I remember exactly where I was, like, when that happened. But it was, it was, everything had to go right. You had to get an on-site kick. On-send kick, yep. You had to get a couple stops. And then everything, it just felt like everything that had to fall in place, fell in place perfectly. What was it like on the sideline while all of that is going on? Oh, it's obviously chaotic and exciting at the same time.

but obviously you've got to do a job out there. Even though you get those opportunities, you still have to execute and, you know, hammer it down. And we did. We found a way to win. And I think that whole season was kind of about that. Like just finding a way to win.

Nobody gave us any ranking in the beginning with, you know, a freshman quarterback coming in. And like I said, we had some really, really good players on that team and go to a Rose Bowl and then play Texas at the end. I'm going to ask you about being a freshman starter. everybody was talking about Matt Gutierrez that year and all those things.

When did you realize, and what were those conversations like leading up to the point where you became the starter? I mean, I got there right after I graduated and graduated early, so I got there beginning at June. But at the same time, I was up there for spring practice, learning the system. Scott Leflare was our quarterback coach, and he's such a great teacher. He taught me a lot about football, a lot about being a lot. man. And I give a lot of credit to him. And he just kept pushing me and pushing me. I'll get my

opportunities. And the biggest thing is, is, you know, Tom Brady says it all the time. You get two reps. You get four reps. What are you going to do with those reps? And I studied so much that when I got my opportunity, I would just make those plays. And I think they consistently saw me make those plays in training camp and said, hey, maybe we do have an opportunity here. And, you know, Roy Carr on that Thursday, right before we played Miami, Ohio. comes in and says, you know, we're going to name me the starter. And, I mean, I was ecstatic. Coach Carr was saying, are you scared?

Because if you are, we can start Matt or somebody else. I was like, no, no, no, coach, I'm ready. I'm a competitor at heart. And, you know, let's get this thing rolling. Yeah, I think I want to transition a little bit to your NFL career now. 15 years, which is, you know, amazing. And, you know, obviously, you know, the average is 3.3 or whatever, whatever the average. is, but you managed to play 15 years in the NFL.

You've been in different teams and different organizations. What's your take on what makes a great culture versus just a good culture versus a bad culture? Because I feel like you've been in three different types of situations, maybe more, but talk about what makes a great locker room and a great culture for a successful NFL team. Well, I think it starts with one voice, and usually that's your head coach. And if he is a man of, you know, getting the team together and he has everybody's accountability, that one voice travels. And Coach Reed had that in Kansas City.

Whatever Coach Reed said went. And the owner backed them, the GM backed them, all the personnel guys backed them. And the players obviously backed them. So the one voice obviously is big and what I've learned that makes things go. And you have to have players that obviously buy into that one voice. And if you can have leadership that travels what the coach is saying throughout the locker room, it makes your team so much more successful. And we had great leaders, obviously, Travis Kelsey at the time and Patrick Mahomes coming

up, but he was a great leader from day one, even being the young guy. And it was the same thing. Whatever Coach Reed said, we reiterated as players. And that's what made us great. All right. What's Mahomes like behind the scenes? Like, can you give us an idea? What does he actually like?

I mean, he's fun to hang out with. You know, we had some great times. The one thing about it, obviously, you see all the attributes on the field. You know, you can throw behind his back and you can throw left-handed, but it's his study habits and his discipline. He goes through his routine every week the same way. He takes tremendous notes. he watches a ton of film and he's just willing to learn sometimes when you get to that pedestal and you become really really good you kind of lose those habits he never left those habits

he kind of just stayed into it kept his mind to it and you know obviously when we have our downtime we have our downtime but when we are in that building it was it was all work and that's that's really what made him great as a buffalo bills fan uh you've ripped out my heart a few times, uh, which is unfortunate and I, not appreciated, but I can appreciate greatness. Uh, I lost the chat. I lost the chat in the playoffs in, uh, 20, 21. I think we played the Steelers, Steelers and, uh, and, and they, they looked up on us. Yeah, they've ripped out a lot, they've ripped out a lot of parts of a lot of football fans over there. I don't care about fans. I'm talking about me personally. Like, I'm not my job, my livelihood, you know, like,

Do you want to apologize to him now, Chad, or no? Absolutely, no, I wouldn't, I wouldn't take it. I wouldn't take the apology, no way. I don't know. I love it. Talk about being a backup quarterback in the NFL and then having to jump in in the moments that you jumped in, twice in the playoffs, where you etched your name in Kansas City Chief's history and they are going to love you literally forever in that town.

How do you get that mindset to stay. ready and come in and not only play in those huge moments, but you delivered in the playoffs twice for those guys. Well, I think all the adversity that I faced throughout my career, whether it's college, high school, pros, really kind of pushes you forward. And I think, you know, however my career started or ended up, it was always that I wanted more. Whether I was doing good in a game or I was not playing so well, I felt like it was on me. I never made excuse, is. I always just took it upon myself. How can I make myself better to help this team win? And I always took that even when I became a backup, Jacksonville, later in my career,

and then obviously Kansas City, I prepared as a starter. And I never took a backseat. There's guys that, you know, become backups and, you know, they let things slide. They don't work. They don't prepare. And then when they do get their opportunity, they wonder why they screw up or, you know, don't play to their potential. And I think I always took it as a mindset. that, hey, I'm going to prepare like I'm a starter. So when my opportunity is called, I don't have excuses for myself. I don't have to show the world, okay. Dad, I'm going to do it, you know, how I played throughout my whole career.

Yeah, I think when I played for the Steelers, Mike Tomlin always had this saying, like, don't minimize your role, whether you're the starting quarterback or the backup kicker, which I don't think there's really backup kickers in the league, but kind of that mindset of like get ready, stay ready, so you don't have to you know you don't have to scramble to get ready so and as mostly as a backup kind of defense alignment in my career as well it's you know i i had that i don't know if it's delusion or whatever you want to call it but like i thought i was a starter i prepared like i was a starter

and i think that's why i was able to last in the league for as long as i did and maybe you have that same sentiment but oh i feel like not minimizing your role and making excuses as to why things didn't go your way or when you got that opportunity oh you know i didn't get the reps in practice or I didn't, you know, I didn't do X, Y, and Z. I think that says a lot about not only the player you were, but the man you are because a lot of guys, like you said, just can cash it in and just collect the checks as the backup. And I'm the backup anyways. Like, I'm supposed to lose this game. So that's, that's, I think, a brilliant mindset to have, not just in football, but life in general, which I think is really cool. Yeah, absolutely.

All right. I'm going to spend this thing back to your, your Michigan career. as we wrap this thing up. So you brought up Scott Leffler earlier. I tweeted out last night that you were joining the pod. And I've known Lefty for years now because he was the head coach at BGSU, right down the road from here. And he texted me last night and he said, Chad's the toughest son of a bitch I've ever seen.

He was talking about your 2007 year. And I don't know how much you'll get into, but I'm hoping you will. The 2007 season at Michigan, how much of a roller coaster was that for you injury-wise? Obviously, everybody knows what happened at the beginning of the year, but you had to battle a ton that year. Can you describe what that 2007 season was like for you physically?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, we all remember the Appalachian State game and, you know, took them lightly, and, you know, they beat us, fair and square. And there was no excuses about it. We looked ahead of them. And then you go into Oregon, okay, you got a powerhouse coming in. But we still feel we're a really good football team. Dennis Dixon, you had Stewart at running back.

I mean, these guys were studs. And I don't know if it was the second quarter or whatever it was. I tear my PCL. And I think it's like a grade two or grade three. So it doesn't feel any, you know, it doesn't feel great. never really had a major injury in my knees. I had shoulder and left shoulder problems, my non-dominant arm, but, you know, I always battled through injuries. So I'm like, all right, well, how long is this going to last? They're like, I don't know, maybe three, four weeks.

We don't know. It's just get to rehab and see how it goes. So obviously, I stuck my head down just like, you know, playing. And my preparation was, how can I get back on the field as fast as possible? And I remember going into Northwestern, Ryan Mallow was a freshman, and he won some games. He won Penn State and Notre Dame, some big games for us and did really, really good job. And we go into Northwestern, and I remember then coming in, we're like, okay, we're about two weeks out, we're going to put you in for a series and see how you do. Go out there, we drive down the field, we score right away, and they're like, all right, you're out. We'll be able to handle a little Northwestern, no problem. so we go on the halftime and I think it's either tied or we're losing and coach car comes

to me he's like I'm not watching this he's like can you play or can you not I was like coach hey I played the first series let's let's rock and roll so I go in there you know we win the game you know feel pretty good so then I played the next week and I don't know if it was a week or two after we play Illinois at 8 o'clock at night and I separate my throwing shoulder so now I'm really worried. Now, I've never done anything to my throwing shoulders. So now it's pain. I can't feel anything.

They shoot me up. I go back out in the game. And I remember the first thing I told Lefty is that I said, Scott, if you're going to be like a little bitch and not throw the ball down the field, this isn't going to work. I was like, just let me chuck this thing. I don't care where we go. We're going to win this football game.

And don't baby can here. Now, some of the throws were God awful. They're off the map. But I was like, we're going to fight through this. We're going to have to make some plays. And, yeah, we did. We win that game. And then, like, I couldn't practice for the rest of the season.

My shoulder was shot. Couldn't play without, like, the lydicane in my shoulder. So it was pretty much done. Like, it hurts so bad until I got that shot on Saturdays that I went and played. So I go through the season. We get to Wisconsin. And now, if we beat Wisconsin, We are actually big 10 champions.

We don't even have to beat Ohio State. We win that game. We're fine. Go ahead and get my normal shot. I come out to warm up and I'm like, I don't know. Something doesn't feel right in my arm. I feel like I have a hitch and my throw. Just something's off.

So I got to the first play, get under center. I throw like a smoke route out to the right. My parents were in the first, like literally the first row of the stadium. I think I airmailed it into the stands. And I was like, what the hell is that? next play get a handoff get it under center go try to give the ball to mike heart my arm just drops now it's numb so they hit my nerve so of course then i'm like all right it's all right we'll iron this out third down i throw a freaking pick like way over the receiver's head goes right to the safety i come

to the sideline i go coach my arm i can't feel it i have like there's nothing i can do right now so they take me out we lose the game and then we go into ohio state and obviously we're i'm o and three our team's own three at the time as you know juniors and seniors going to this uh game and i was like no way in hell are you going to take me out of this game so go into it even though i pretty much i hurt our team in that game but i was like you're not taking me out i couldn't hit you know five-yard passes because my arm hit hurt so much i went in the locker room i think two or three times and kept getting it shot up and i was just you know saying don't take me out of the game if this is the last game I ever play as, you know, a college football player or my career, I'm going to go out

with a bang and, you know, I looked back on it and obviously it was stupid because I did hurt the team and maybe somebody else could go in there because Ohio State, they were good, but they were definitely beatable that year. Yeah, it was a 14, you guys lost 14 to 3 that year. And as Lefty and I have talked about that season before, but he reminded me last night and he said it was just a one in a million thing the wisconsin game specifically just one in a just one and a million they had hit a nerve and i mean that is just the most unbelievable uh roller coaster of a season for you um obviously the app state game and then the organ and then the injuries and all that stuff um so i i appreciate you sharing that because i knew uh some of the background but i

wanted to hear it from you uh from your perspective just how crazy that was uh And that's unbelievable. The bowl games were three weeks later, and we got to play Florida and Tim Tebow or DeMire. And we ended with a bang and sent Coach Carr out the right way. Yeah, unbelievable stuff. What would it have taken to pull you off of the field against Ohio State knowing kind of everything that was on the line for you?

Nothing. I feel like I was going to be like Byron Lefwich and like you're going to carry me down the field, broken leg, broken ankle and all and just, hey, I'm just going to stand out here and do whatever you've gotten to do. As a player, though, like, I would respect that, like, as my teammate. Oh, yes.

This guy's out here trying to do any and everything to win this game. Like, he's trying to be here with us. He's doing, like I said, everything because you're trying to win, trying to leave a legacy, trying to beat Ohio State. That would mean something to me as one of your teammates. So I got a lot of respect for that, too. That's a crazy, not just that game, but the whole season going and doing what you do.

not many people will be able to do that. So, yeah, that's pretty awesome. All right. As we wrap this thing up, we're going to let you go here. You obviously went 4-0 against Michigan State. You played them twice at overtime.

I had your stats written down here somewhere, what you did against Michigan State. Okay, 4-0, 880 yards passing in those four games, 14 touchdowns. Incredible stuff. What is your best memory of the Michigan-State rivalry while you played there? well obviously the overtimes but you know mike harp making the statement little brother

and you know at the time when you're a college player and when one of your leaders says that you're kind of like you kind of like cringe a little bit you're like oh man you might have woke a bear uh but we knew we were a better team of them uh you know throughout our whole career they had some great players but i mean whatever it was that game we just had a different mentality and it was the same way with Ohio State it's just like you have a different mentality going in that game that whatever happens like we are just going to grind this out and um you know those games were special a lot of great memories you know you know you said the yards of touchdowns i don't remember that i just remember just celebrating with my teammates and just trying to do the

best i could to help my teammates win and you know our guys just grinded it out it was amazing awesome awesome chad listen we really appreciate it some really good stuff in here uh and and we appreciate you taking the time uh best of luck in the high school football season and and go end that thing the right way appreciate you guys thanks for having me yep thanks yeah we got a got a let's text justin and tell him i said thanks for setting this up too he was a big help so yeah absolutely justin's the man oh yeah love it awesome thank you so much we appreciate you yep you got it Go ahead, guys. Chad Hennie, the all-time leading passer in Michigan history,

I knew there was going to be some good stuff in there. And where I told you before, that 07 season was a roller coaster that I'm not sure that everybody fully appreciated at the time. I remember it. I remember the injuries. Everybody talks about the Appalachian State game, and everybody remembers that and where you were on that day. It was disgusting, awful day, obviously.

But no, I don't think anybody knew all the stuff that was going on behind the scene. So I appreciate Chad being open and honest. And that was fun. But that's what sports are, right? Like it's not really going to be perfect. It's not, but if you fight and battle and you're with your team and you're trying to accomplish a common goal, obviously that wasn't the best season for Michigan football, but going to and coach cars last season, beating Tim Tebow in the playoffs, not the playoffs with the goal game at the end of the year.

I remember that. I'm like, oh, like, this team, like, wasn't eight and four or whatever. And they go and they, they shock the world. Like that, that's another, like, I talk about core memory, but like, as a Michigan fan growing up, that was cool to see a team kind of bounce back and have, you know, somewhat of a redemption at the end of the year, which was, which is always a good story. Yeah, and I think people forget that 07 season. Like everybody thinks about Appalachian State and Oregon at the beginning and how bad it was,

they reeled off all those wins. And if they literally, the second to last week of the season, Chad mentioned it at Wisconsin, And if they just win that football game, they win the Big Ten and the Ohio State game doesn't mean a thing. Doesn't even matter, yeah. No, and it was, and, and he did, he went and he gets the shot and then it hits a nerve and like just what bad luck that was. But yeah, that was awesome to talk about.

And, you know, the 05 Michigan State game, you know, everybody, we talked about the three overtime game in 04, Michigan was unranked. Michigan State was number 11 in the country. Michigan went to East Lansing and beat them in overtime. as underdogs in 05, that was an unbelievable football game as well. So, like, there were some great rivalry matchups there in the early to mid-2000s that were just fantastic. Yeah, yeah, fun.

I mean, that was me, my growing up, watching that kind of era of Michigan ball right before Rich Ron got there. Yeah, so a lot of good memories as a kid, you know, watching ball with the family and friends like that. So it's good. Yeah, we've talked about Michigan State Week a little bit. Let's talk about this version. Obviously, it kind of starts and ends with Aden Childs.

I think the game is very dependent on, on kind of what he does. I think if you can, can just keep him to a, you know, a pedestrian day, an okay day. Michigan should win this football game for sure. But, I mean, listen, man, like weird things happen in rivalry games. at night in East Lansing, you just don't know, right? Yeah, I mean, and maybe going off of what Michigan did to the quarterback last week with Washington, they contained them, they forced them to have turnovers, they forced them to be one-dimensional, and that was a recipe for success for success.

So if they can kind of do the same thing with Childs on Saturday, I think they're going to have a successful, a successful game and successful night. But like you said, you're in East Lansing. I used to hate playing there. I'd rather say the fans, man, and, you know, just the type of team that Michigan State had back when I was playing with Dantoneo and their defense was always so gritty and their offense was rough and tough and they weren't the prettiest, but they would, you know, they put up some good points and it was always a battle. And the grass field was always sucked and it was always muddy and all that stuff. And the fans, you're driving in from, you know, from the hotel and then the little, you know, two-year-olds are flipping you off. And their parents are right there cheering them on.

which is all part of the rivalry, and it's all good in the thought and all that stuff. But it was always a dog fight playing, no matter where you played, but it's always a dog fight when you play them and going to East Lansing is going to be a challenge for these guys, for these Wolverines this year. But I'm excited for them to get another rivalry win, rivalry, rivalry. It's tough when you're talking, drinking coffee at 8.30 at night or whatever it is. But no, I think the boys are going to go in and they're going to get a win, and they're going to keep rolling and setting themselves up for a big game, you know,

on Thanksgiving weekend. Anything stand out about what those games are like on the field for you? A lot of, a lot of trash talking, but a lot of respect. You know, people always say, oh, there's this hatred. There's this hatred, this dislike. Yeah, there's dislike, but I think, you know, occasionally, obviously the tunnel fight a couple years ago was unacceptable, and that's not really what Michigan versus Michigan state game is, but, you know, it's, there's tensions are high.

A lot of trash talking, like I talked about before, there's a lot of guys that played with each other, whether it was against each other in high school or with each other. I remember playing against Mark Myers, who went to high school with me and Toledo Wimmer and playing against him for four years in a row. So there's a lot of tension. There's a lot, there's a lot riding on it.

Bragging rights, I think, are huge, especially when you go back home. You know, you're on spring break or something, and you see him at a bar. It's like, I got you. Or, you know, you try and turn away because you lost. But, you know, it's a great. a great robbery. It's something that I think is, you know, the Paul Bunyan trophy. We didn't even talk about that. That's huge. That's huge to keep in Ann Arbor or

keeping in East Lansing, but you always want to have that trophy. You always want to keep it. So it's always fun to be able to play for that. I was, last thing I'm going to ask you here, you went back and watched a film of the game against Washington. Were there things defensively that you saw that were different against Washington that might be good signs for Michigan going down the road. I mean, number one, they tackled. And that's not even like scheme, game plan, anything. They tackled, they got them to the ground, whether they made big plays or not, it wasn't three or four mistackles, and then they got the ball carrier down. So that's number one. Number two is Wink, I think, calmed down a little bit on his blitzing. I think

you only blitz like 10 or 11 times out of 50 some play. So right around the 20% mark, which is greatly reduced from that 55% we saw against USC and some of those higher percentage blitzing that he did throughout the season. So I think this is maybe a recipe for success moving forward. Let those front four get after a little bit. Blitz when needed, but, you know, kind of keep it in that 20 to maybe even 30% range of blitzing because you don't want to go too far away from what you're good at and what you as a defensive coordinator are used to, and Wink is used to blitzing.

But I thought the guys tackled their asses off. They played a lot more sound. They stopped the run. and they forced the quarterback to throw turnovers, which is what you want as a defensive, either defensive lineman or just defense in general. All right. You want to throw out predictions for the game against Michigan State?

Yeah. I think it'll be close in first quarter or two, like we saw against Washington. But as we saw, and then that Washington game, they wore them out. So I'm going to say Michigan 31, Michigan State 17. Oh, my God. Where am I swear?

I was going to say 31.17. That's not good. That's not good. I'll copy me. No, I, as you were saying that, I was like, oh, God, he's going to say 17, isn't he? Man, oh, man. All right, I'll change it up then. I do think it's going to be a dog fight. I think Michigan's going to have to really dig down deep in the second half. It's not going to be like we saw in prime time a couple years ago up there where, you know, JJ went up there and they blew them out.

That's not going to happen. That's not what this is going to be. and I do think Michigan State's going to play their best game of the year. I don't think we've seen it yet, but I do think they're going to play their best game of the year. I'm going to say, I'm going to say Michigan, okay, Michigan 34, Michigan State 24, 34, 34, 34, 24, how's that? All right, okay.

All right. I do, I think it's going to be, I think this one's going to be tight. It's going to be tight. I don't know why, but I just, it just doesn't feel like one of those nights where you're going to run away from them. I think you're going to be battling. I hope Haynes is back. I hope Rod is back. Obviously, if they can, if they can contribute at a high and Hillman. I think if those guys can come back and contribute, I hope Blake Frazier takes another step forward as the left tackle looks like moving forward. So I'm excited to see these guys go back

to work. All right, looking forward to it, another night game. And we learned today as well that the next week against Purdue. That's going to be a night game as well. So hopefully you got those 8 p.m. coffees going, worm, to keep you up and awake and going to watch these games. Yep, yep. Oh, yeah. Yep. Go blue. It's going to be a good one. All right. Should be good.

It's rivalry week. We will be back here next week to break it all down. Enjoy it. Michigan, Michigan State. Coming up on Saturday. Enjoy it. Go Blue. Go Blue.