Former Michigan football quarterback helped mold JJ McCarthy, Jim Harbaugh says

In 2021, former Michigan football quarterback Cade McNamara took the field as the Wolverines’ QB1. Despite Michigan’s poor season the year before, finishing with a 2-4 record, all said and done, the Maize and Blue returned to prominence under McNamara’s leadership, finishing with a 12-2 record, a Big Ten title, and a College Football Playoff berth, all said and done. Still, JJ McCarthy took over in 2022, prompting McNamara to transfer to Iowa.

Jim Harbaugh praises former Michigan football quarterback at Big Ten Media Day

According to Jim Harbaugh – who spoke to the media on Thursday for Big Ten Media Day – Cade McNamara played a huge role in developing JJ McCarthy, who is now heading into year two as Michigan’s starting quarterback.

While their styles are quite different, JJ McCarthy and Cade McNamara have one major trait in common – both Michigan football quarterbacks won a Big Ten title and appeared in the College Football Playoff during their single season as the Wolverines’ starter. That said, when put up against one another last fall, McCarthy came out on top, forcing Cade McNamara into the transfer portal.

Cade McNamara helped develop JJ McCarthy, says Harbaugh

Nonetheless, Jim Harbaugh had a lot of praise for his former Michigan football quarterback on Thursday, even pointing out the role that he played in developing JJ McCarthy into arguably the best quarterback in the Big Ten.

“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.”

“JJ 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. Michigan went on to come back and defeat Rutgers in triple overtime, earning McNamara the starting nod.

“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.”

In 2023, Cade McNamara is taking over at QB for the Iowa Hawkeyes and will be looking to lead his new team to the Big Ten title game, where they could very well face JJ McCarthy and the Michigan football program for a rematch of the 2021 title game, which McNamara helped win for the Wolverines.

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