Jake Butt's Return to Michigan Proves the Power of Jim Harbaugh

At a meeting this past Monday with the media, Michigan Wolverines junior tight end Jake Butt laid out very specific criteria when it came to his impending decision to enter the 2016 NFL draft or return to college for his senior season.

"I'd say it's 50/50," Butt said, via Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press. "It would have to be a top-three-round deal for me to even consider coming out. That's what I've been hearing right now, that I would be in the top three rounds. That's why I'm considering it."

On Tuesday, Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller backed up Butt's projections, slotting the 6'6", 248-pounder as a third-round pick in his latest mock draft.

Yet mere hours later, Butt announced via Twitter that he would not be entering the draft and will return to Ann Arbor for his senior season.

So what changed in Butt's line of thinking?

Jim Harbaugh is probably a good place to start.

While the Pickerington, Ohio native said that a third-round grade would be enough for him to consider foregoing his senior season, Butt also mentioned he'd meet with the first-year Michigan head coach before making a final decision.

There may not be anybody in Ann Arbor with a better grasp on professional football and the NFL draft process than Harbaugh. He spent four seasons as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and 14 seasons as an NFL quarterback.

"I really want to hear his input on everything," Butt said. "It's really going to go back to see what Coach Harbaugh says, because I trust him so much and value his opinion."

While Harbaugh likely lobbied Butt, who currently has the second-most receptions on the Wolverines roster heading into the Citrus Bowl with 48 catches for 620 yards and three touchdowns, this goes beyond a player doing what's best for his head coach.

Butt's belief in Harbaugh is proof of Michigan Football's changing culture. This is a decision that a player may not have made as recently as a year ago.

Take for example the case of former Wolverine Devin Funchess. Like Butt, Funchess had no guarantee of being a first-round pick, but he opted to enter the 2015 NFL draft rather than return to school. Ultimately, the Carolina Panthers selected the wide receiver-tight end hybrid in the second round with the draft's 41st overall pick.

Funchess has put together a solid rookie season with 19 receptions for 298 yards and three touchdowns. However, by entering the pros with one more year at the college level and becoming a more polished player, he could have improved his draft stock. The only problem was that under former Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke, no proof existed that would actually happen. Michigan hadn't had more than three players picked in a single draft since 2008.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Under Harbaugh, that should no longer be the case, given his track record when it comes to developing players. At Stanford, he routinely turned 3-star prospects into NFL-caliber players, and in just one year with the Wolverines, he's already helped turn what was a 5-7 team into a 9-3 team.

Harbaugh's impact on Butt has been especially apparent.  He received the Big Ten's Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year award—more than doubling his receptions and nearly tripling his yardage from 2014.

Butt will have to help break in a new starting quarterback next season with the departure of Jake Rudock, but his presence alone should help make that a smoother transition for Michigan as it enters year two of the Harbaugh era.

Ever since the days of former head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines have lived by the motto "Those who stay will be champions," but for the better part of the last decade, those words have rung hollow in Ann Arbor.

With his return to Michigan, Butt will now be putting that rallying cry to the test.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.