Jim Harbaugh stresses benefit Cade McNamara had on J.J. McCarthy

After the 2022 season, quarterback Cade McNamara transferred from Michigan to Iowa. After taking the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff in 2021, head coach Jim Harbaugh had a quarterback battle between him and J.J. McCarthy, which McCarthy won.

Still, as Harbaugh explained, McNamara had a massive positive impact on McCarthy during their time together.

“So many great ways,” Jim Harbaugh said. “I remember being here last year at this time, going into this training camp with two players that were starter caliber. And I love the way they competed. It was never combative.”

Entering the 2022 season, many people expected McCarthy to take over from McNamara. However, Harbaugh made him earn that role in a competition that went into the season. Along the way, McNamara acted as a phenomenal mentor to McCarthy.

“J.J. saw everything in the way Cade would compete and grind. He wasn’t there — my most memorable moment with Cade was the 2020 game, we’re at Rutgers, we’re down 17 points and he went into the game. And it was just like the spark, throwing the ball with no conscience and just playing free,” Harbaugh said.

“And from that moment on that was the player he was. I remember he got a big hit right before halftime, too. And then just gravel in his gut went out there. Love Cade and certainly J.J. was in the same quarterback room and saw all those same attributes. It was tremendous.”

Coming into the 2023 season, McCarthy is hoping to lead Michigan to a third straight College Football Playoff. For McNamara, the goal is to breathe new life into a struggling Iowa offense and maybe even play Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game.

“Now, there are going to be some situations like that this year. As I go into training camp this year — and now at the quarterback position, J.J. he’s our quarterback.”

Jim Harbaugh praised J.J. McCarthy

For as much as Jim Harbaugh appreciates Cade McNamara, he also knows he has something special with J.J. McCarthy, who he called a once-in-a-generation talent.

“[During] the first year he played, he played as a true freshman in games sparingly and became a full-time starter in 2022. I have searched my memory for somebody who has been a first-time starter and had a better first year as a first-time starter and I can’t come up with one,” Harbaugh said.

“He’s a once-in-a-generational type of quarterback at Michigan, and his progress continues to grow. Daily he’s at the top of his game right now, really in all aspects. Everything that he does athletically, everything that he does throwing the football is at the elite level, and then I think the thing that makes him the most special, differentiating good and great, is that he’s willing to do anything for his teammates, anything for his team.”