Cade McNamara: Michigan QB competition 'is making me better'

Michigan Wolverines football redshirt sophomore Cade McNamara is a Big Ten championship-winning quarterback and at the top of the depth chart during spring practices. However, sophomore J.J. McCarthy, who platooned in at times last season, is on his heels, even though he’s on a pitch count this spring while dealing with a shoulder injury.

This is nothing new to McNamara, who went through quarterback battles in high school, saw a competition unfold during his redshirt year in 2019 and beat out Joe Milton for the job late in the 2020 season.

“I had a really good rep actually going back to my freshman year, watching Shea [Patterson] go through it, because he had Dylan McCaffrey behind him,” McNamara said on the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast. “It was a big thing — they were hyping up Dylan McCaffrey a lot.

“Me getting those reps of seeing what it looks like from a social media standpoint, what it looks like from doing interviews, what it looks like, damn-near in the games. Shea comes out of the game and Dylan comes in, and the crowd starts cheering, and you’re like, ‘What the hell is this?’ I haven’t had that much of that. It’s annoying, but at this point, it’s kind of expected.”

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The Reno, Nev., native knows being under a microscope comes with the territory. Even when he won the starting job in high school, the students were chanting his backup’s name during the games, he said. All of that prepared him for last season, when some Michigan fans were calling for McCarthy to start, and this offseason, with many outsiders expecting McCarthy to eventually win the job.

“Being a quarterback, your play will always be critiqued,” McNamara said. “I guess you could say, if somebody would consider my situation a little bit tougher than the normal situation is, it’s only making me better and testing my inner-confidence, testing my mental status of how I can still perform, how I can still lead, how I can do all of those things that I do while all that shit and noise is around me, then I’m just only getting better.

“It’s such a mental position, that if you have any cloudiness whatsoever or lack of confidence in yourself or what you’re bringing to the team, then you’re going to struggle. Especially at a program like Michigan where more is demanded of you then you have to give everything you got. So far, I think I’ve done a good job of that, and I look forward to keeping on doing it.”

Cade McNamara on 2021 Ohio State win: ‘We played to beat their ass’

McNamara, who threw for 2,576 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, has a leg up in the competition because he led Michigan to its first Big Ten title since 2004 and first triumph over hated rival Ohio State since 2011.

He was part of a group that turned around Michigan’s fortunes against the Buckeyes, winning in dominant fashion, 42-27. The emotion and passion was where it all started.

“During the game, we could just feel that we wanted it more than them,” McNamara said. “That kind of went viral of us during halftime when we were walking up to the locker room, how we were cussing our asses off, like screaming out to them, ‘Little ass boy! Get that ass back in that locker room.’ 

Chaos in the tunnel between Ohio State & Michigan pic.twitter.com/HedljphBq1

— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) November 27, 2021

Michigan imposed its will on the Buckeyes, rushing for 297 yards and five touchdowns, while notching four sacks and limiting the Ohio State offense to its second-lowest point total of the season.

“I could just feel, being here in the past, seeing the Ohio State rivalry, it was like the level is so high, but everyone’s like, ‘Ohhh, we can’t lose.’ Instead of just trying to kick their ass, you’re just worried about, we can’t lose,” McNamara said. “You’re playing not to lose, instead of trying to beat their ass.

“And this year, we played to beat their ass.

“The way we beat them was so physical. We were just pounding the rock right down their throat. Jut going back to what it was like, the scene was so sweet with the snow. That was the loudest I’d ever heard The Big House. The best stuff was the extracurricular activities on the field.”