Jim Harbaugh: Michigan QB battle 'pretty tight,' still too close to call
Michigan Wolverines football is exactly two weeks into fall camp, and two quarterbacks — senior Cade McNamara and sophomore J.J. McCarthy — are still battling for the starting job. Harbaugh recently said on the In The Trenches podcast that he’s typically able to decide who the top guy is eight or nine practices in, but that’s not the case here. Both are playing well, pushing each other and competing.
“They both just continue to elevate their game, really on a daily basis, in every little way,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday afternoon at Schembechler Hall. “It’s pretty tight.
“They’re both playing at a high, starter caliber.”
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Harbaugh and Co. are waiting for the decision to be obvious, otherwise the battle will continue, he said. When asked if other Michigan players, primarily those who are team leaders, could potentially have input in who they want to lead the offense, Harbaugh said both the coaches and athletes will know at the same time who has separated himself.
“We’re all out there, we’re all seeing the same thing,” Harbaugh explained. “When it’d be obvious to coaches, it’d be obvious to players, as well. Or it wouldn’t be; it would be what it is right now — man, they’re both good.
“Talk to [Big Ten Network personalities] Dave Revsine, Howard Griffith, Coach [Gerry DiNardo] was here … maybe just get their opinion. They watched it. See if I’m not telling the truth. Check me.
“They’re both playing good, at a high level — starter caliber.”
Harbaugh was asked if there is any downside to Michigan having two capable quarterbacks. He doesn’t appear to agree with the old adage that “if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.”
“No, I think that’s one of the real options,” Harbaugh said. “There are three [options], as I see it. One of them is going to separate and be the starter, and then we’ll roll that way, with a starter and a backup. The other guy could be the starter, and the other be the backup — that would be option two. And option three is, we’d have to see them play games to make that decision.”
That led to a follow-up regarding the potential of a rotation similar to that of Tom Brady and Drew Henson in 1999, where Brady started the games but Henson got several series before head coach Lloyd Carr decided who to go with the rest of the game.
The Michigan coach, of course, wasn’t into playing the hypothetical game.
“Hypothetically — I don’t know. It’d be like trying to throw that in the hypothetical box,” Harbaugh said. “Some people like to say, ‘If you don’t have a starting quarterback, then you don’t have a quarterback.’ I’d put that in the category of people that are born originals and die copies. They just hear something and they parrot it.
“This is a very good, unique situation. We have two quarterbacks who are playing at a high, starter level — and we’re going to keep competing. And it’s possible that there’s a starter by the first game, and it’s possible that it goes into the season, until we pick the one that’s going to help the team win, who’s going to be the best person to play quarterback to win the game.”
In short, all options are still open, which is much different than Harbaugh’s message at this time last season, when he said McNamara was the starter wasn’t likely going to give up the job.
McNamara wound up starting all 14 tilts, leading Michigan to the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff. He threw for 2,576 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions. McCarthy rotated in situationally and added 514 passing yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions and 124 rushing yards and two scores.
