JJ McCarthy speaks about his mental health journey

For Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy, mental health is of vital importance. He has long since emphasized its value and done his best to highlight why it matters for college football players to be aware of and embrace.

Ahead of the national title game against Washington, McCarthy shared why mental health has become so important throughout his journey in football.

“I got into it because my senior year at IMG Academy I was going through depression,” JJ McCarthy said. “I was in a deep rut for myself, studying all the athletes, their mindsets, trying to adopt them in every way to forge the ultimate mindset as a competitor. I just kept going further from myself and my true nature. I feel like it just — I was in a deep rut for about a month or two and I was like, something has to change. This isn’t who I am.”

So, recognizing that something was wrong, McCarthy found different ways to improve his mental health. For him, personally, meditation became a massive source of comfort.

“I started looking up different practices to help improve mental health and meditation was the first one that kept popping up. I gave it a try and the rest was history. It’s a beautiful practice. It’s really hard at first, but I recommend that people continue to press on with it and stay disciplined because the effects are tremendous.”

McCarthy’s time at Michigan has been an incredible success. The 2023 season, in particular, has been excellent for him. The Wolverines went unbeaten and won the Big Ten for a third straight season. Michigan also got its first win in the College Football Playoff. Personally, McCarthy has been a key piece of that success, completing 73.2 percent of passes for 2,851 yards and 22 touchdowns during the Wolverines’ title game run.

JJ McCarthy reveals ‘secret sauce’ to Michigan’s success ahead of CFP title game

Ahead of the national title game, JJ McCarthy explained what he sees as the secret sauce for the Wolverines to get to this point.

“It’s extremely special. I feel like that’s the reason we are here, because of how much we love each other, how much we play for each other, and you know, outside of all the NIL, outside of all the transfer portal, we’re just like, old school football team, at the end of the day,” McCarthy said.

“We go out there just leaving it all on the line every single play, and we play for each other, ultimately. I think that’s our secret sauce to our success this year.”