JJ McCarthy says he wants to win something Tom Brady never could

This fall, the Michigan Wolverines will take the field as the favorites to down Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State in the same season for the first time in decades. After speaking with many members of this year’s team and coaching staff, it’s clear that there is one goal in the Michigan football locker room right now: to win a national title. Last December, ahead of the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff game against TCU, JJ McCarthy claimed that he wanted to win the title that Tom Brady never could: a college football national championship.

While JJ McCarthy and the Wolverines fell short a year ago, no team is hungrier for a national title than Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines — Michigan has been knocking on the door of the program’s first title since 1997, though twice in a row now, Michigan football has fallen short of this goal.

JJ McCarthy wants the ring that Tom Brady doesn’t have

A few months ago, the Michigan football team was heading into a huge Fiesta Bowl matchup with a 13-0 record against the TCU Horned Frogs. Despite putting up a tough fight, the Wolverines fell short against the Frogs, who were crushed by Georgia in the national title game two weeks later.

Before the matchup, JJ McCarthy appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and praised Tom Brady. Still, JJ says he wants to win something that Brady never did at Michigan: a national championship.

“I personally and selfishly want to be known as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. I have so much respect for that man and everything he’s done with what he’s been given, but I’m chasing him. I’m chasing him. I texted him when I got here, and I told him, ‘I want to get the ring that you didn’t get.’

More rings than Brady? That’s the goal.

JJ McCarthy continued, “That goes for this year and winning that national championship. Ultimately, the goal is to have more rings than that guy, and I’m going to do whatever I can to follow his blueprint and hopefully surpass him.”

Michigan football will likely have its best shot at a national title this fall during the Jim Harbaugh era. The Wolverines are loaded with talent and experience all over the field, the coaching staff from last season remains in tact, and more. Now, JJ McCarthy must deliver on this massive aspiration to achieve a goal that Tom Brady never could in the Maize and Blue and bring home a national championship to Ann Arbor for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at [email protected]. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing and most influential Michigan media outlets there is!