J.J. McCarthy shares advice for five-star+ Michigan QB commit Bryce Underwood: 'Chase the suck'

Former Michigan Wolverines football quarterback J.J. McCarthy won 27 games in two years as the starter, before becoming tied as the highest-drafted U-M signal-caller of all time, going No. 10 to the Minnesota Vikings.

He’s been there, done that. But just four years ago, he was a highly-touted quarterback recruit himself, ready to embark on his journey in Ann Arbor.

McCarthy has been in touch with Michigan’s newest quarterback pledge, five-star+ prospect Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit nationally out of Belleville (Mich.) High. Joining former Michigan All-American tight end Jake Butt on Champion Circle’s ‘The L.A.B.’ podcast, McCarthy revealed what advice he’d give Underwood, who will enroll to U-M next month.

“I sent Bryce a little text the other day on my advice to him,” McCarthy said. “But I will just add a little something else if he sees this. My advice to him would be to chase the suck. Chase the stuff that you absolutely do not want to do.

“One of the greatest things I learned from the great and legendary [late and former Michigan athletic counselor] Greg Harden was to do everything 100 percent, 100 percent of the time. Whether it’s that class you do not want to go to that’s on the other side of campus, you’re going to do it. Whether it’s that conversation that you don’t want to spend the next 30 seconds in, you sit there and you do that, because that kid, that girl, that guy, whoever it is, might need it. 

“Just understanding that Michigan, where you are, inevitably, the people you surround yourself with, the cold, the strict academics, the strict football schedule, all of that is going to make you better. But it’s, how are you going to take advantage of it in the time that you’re there?

“Of course, everyone has a little bit of regret. I still have a little bit of regret of doing those things, because I know on the other side of it, when you have no class and you don’t have to write a paper and you can just focus on ball, your life changes. But you will never get those three, four years back — or five, seven, however many years you get now. But you’ll never get that back, where you had to do that.”

McCarthy is in his first season as an NFL player, though he’s set to miss the entire campaign with a knee injury. However, he still has the perspective on the other side of his Michigan career and how it helped prepare him for the professional ranks.

“[Prize fighter] Mike Tyson talks about, the discipline aspect, doing things that you hate but acting like you love to do them,” the former Michigan quarterback continued. “Working on that is going to put you leaps and bounds ahead of the competition once you get here, because in the NFL, they’re faster, stronger, bigger, more intelligent, more experienced, wiser.

“But at the end of the day, that three to four years, everyone went through something different, and it set them up for their trajectory at this next level differently. So just being able to really relish what Michigan’s trying to give you, that’s my advice to him.”

McCarthy added on ‘chasing the suck’: “It’s about playing the long game for the both of us. We both want rings, and that’s what it’s going to take.”