Kirk Campbell breaks down contenders for Michigan starting QB job: 'We embrace competition'

After two seasons and loads of success with J.J. McCarthy behind center, defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football will have a new starting quarterback in 2024. Juniors Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal, senior Davis Warren and freshman Jadyn Davis all appear in the mix.

Position coach and newly-promoted offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell spoke to the nature of the competition on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen.

“Embrace it. We embrace it,” Campbell said. “We know that there’s only one guy that’s going to take snaps come Saturdays, but we embrace competition. We’re going to push each other to be better. Everybody’s going to support everybody, which is unique and how the culture of the room has been built. And nobody’s going to root for anybody’s lack of success. We’re only going to root for people’s success, and we’re going to attack lack that.

“I’m going to coach everybody hard, but I’m going to love them, too. We’re going to take it one day at a time and make sure they’re in the best position to succeed on Saturdays.”

One day at a time, including before Michigan’s spring practices even begin. Campbell doesn’t have a depth chart at this point, or at least one that he’s willing to talk about publicly.

“Everybody’s No. 1, and we’ll see who comes out on top,” Campbell explained. “I’m not at a place to dictate who’s definitely going to get the first snap. That will probably be dictated through some small offseason workouts here that we’ll have before we ever get out to the spring practice, but right now I don’t know who that will be. Somebody’s going to have to take that first snap come spring.”

Kirk Campbell on trio of Michigan returning quarterbacks

Five different Michigan quarterbacks attempted at least 1 pass last season, including three who are still on the roster in Orji, Denegal and Warren. It’s worth noting that graduate Jack Tuttle said in late December that he was hoping to be granted a waiver for an extra year of eligibility, but there hasn’t been word on the status of that request.

Orji, though, is the only one of that bunch that played when games were in doubt, taking on the role of a wildcat-type quarterback late in the season.

He ran twice for 22 yards to begin the second half in a 30-24 win over Ohio State, highlighted by a 20-yard chunk gain, 2 times for 9 yards in a 26-0 victory over Iowa in the Big Ten championship game and had a pair rushes for 15 yards, including a 13-yarder, in a 34-13 triumph over Washington in the national championship game. Campbell explained how Orji earned the opportunity to help the Michigan offense in that way in the biggest games.

“One, he’s extremely mature. The opportunity, the moment was never going to be too big for him,” the Michigan said. “When he went out there, he was never going to have that gaze in his eyes; he was going to go out there and attack. So, I think that was super important.

“Two, he’s extremely athletic. In the KPI system — the key performance indicators — he’s No. 1 on the team, so all that athletic ability, we knew once he got the ball in his hands, he can shine.

“And then three, he knew the offense really well. He knew what he was doing. We were very comfortable with him being able to execute that. With his composure, his athletic ability, his understanding of the offense, putting him in those situations was advantageous for us as an offense, and he shined.

“He had some key explosive plays, one against Ohio State that really sparked the second half and the other one in the national championship game, he had a nice run for us. That’s why he was able to shine in those moments.

“He prepared himself all season like he was the starter, as did the other guys, and he was able to be the right guy in the moment.”

Warren, meanwhile, was slowed by injury in 2023. He was 0-for-5 passing with 1 interception, with the pick coming in the second game of the season versus UNLV.

“Continual growth,” Campbell said of what he wants to see from Warren moving forward. “Davis went through a little bit of a … he was banged up midway through the season. That’s why his time was limited down.

“Just continual growth of understanding the offense. He probably does have the best understanding coming back in the room, as far as what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to accomplish it, especially in the throw game. He’s very committed to his craft. He spends a lot of time working on being better as a thrower with his footwork, his timing. And I just want to continue to see that development.

“And then, listen, somebody in that room is going to have to take a bigger leadership role. We lost a lot of good leaders in the offense, [running back] Blake Corum being one of them, [offensive linemen] Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan. So, in the quarterback room, we’re looking for somebody to step up and be a leader, and not all of them have to be vocal, but somebody’s gonna have to do it on the field.”

Denegal, meanwhile, impressed in very limited action during garbage time, completing 4 of his 5 pass attempts and rushing 4 times for 10 yards. His first career touchdown pass came on an 8-yard completion to wide receiver Peyton O’Leary in a 45-7 win at Nebraska at the end of September.

Junior tight end / fullback Max Bredeson earned Michigan’s most improved player award at the December banquet, but Campbell believed that honor should’ve gone to Denegal.

“Whenever we had the team awards banquet and the most improved player, I was kind of shocked that Denny didn’t win that award,” Campbell said. “In my eyes, he was the most improved player on the offense, from my time being here as an analyst to me being able to get my fingerprints on him and kind of molding him and developing him. His development over a year has been vast.

“Now, he still needs to improve. So, we talk about with Denny, he’s gotta be a little bit quicker with his feet. He takes a little bit too much time with his feet, so just speeding up his feet so he’s able to speed up getting rid of the football. His accuracy is great, his knowledge and understanding is great and he’s a good decision-maker. But we need to speed up his process a little bit.

“And the big thing about Denny is he’s so big, he’s going to thrive in live situations, breaking tackles like a [former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback] Ben Roethlisberger type, where something may not look as pretty in practice, but in the game that might not be a sack. It might just be an arm coming across his chest and he’s shrugging it off. So, we understand that, and we gotta put him in game-like situations to see if he can display those abilities.”

Jadyn Davis flashes during postseason practices

Davis was one of a handful of early enrollee signees who joined Michigan for practices in the lead-up to the Rose Bowl against Alabama and national championship game. That not only gave him experience practicing at the college level, but his coaches, like Campbell, an opportunity to watch him up close and learn more about his game.

“Jadyn is extremely coachable,” the Michigan assistant said. I know before [former head] Coach [Jim Harbaugh] left [for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers], he commented on that. But you tell him one thing, he takes it and he can apply it, which is a huge asset come to being a football player. Can you teach it, can they learn it, can they apply it? I can teach it, he can learn it and he can apply it. I think that’s a huge asset to him.

“He’s another very accurate quarterback, a guy that’s going to be able to be a good passer of the football, has really good footwork moving in and out of the pocket. He may not be as much of a run threat, as far as taking off and running a lot with the football, but he definitely can throw the ball with the best of them, as far as accuracy, knowledge.

“I’ll give you a quick story. We threw him in the first in bowl prep. His first day on the job, I was like, ‘Alright, you got a skelly rep. This is how you go in there: You read the play…’ You’re thinking a freshman quarterback is going to throw his first read. No, he progressed back to his second read. Boom, complete. It was pretty impressive, so to see him be able to process information and be a great learner, I think he has a bright future.”