INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — When it was announced that Jim Harbaugh was taking Cade McNamara to Big Ten Media Days along with Erick All, DJ Turner, and Mazi Smith it may have raised some eyebrows. But not because of the player McNamara is — he just led Michigan to the best season its had in a very long time with a Big Ten Championship along with making it to the College Football Playoff.
What raised some eyebrows is that McNamara is the first quarterback that Jim Harbaugh has brought to Big Ten Media Days since he has been with the Wolverines. So does that mean Cade McNamara is the starting quarterback at Michigan?
Yes and no.
During his press conference in Indianapolis, Jim Harbaugh said that Cade McNamara is Michigan’s starting quarterback when his team goes out for the first series during Fall camp. He noted that sophomore JJ McCarthy would get the same opportunities during Fall camp.
“Yeah, Cade is the starting quarterback,” said Harbaugh at Big Ten Media Days. “He’s gonna be lining up, first practice, he’s gonna be taking the — be with the first team. Now, eventually over the training camp J.J. will get the same opportunity, he’ll get the same opportunity that Cade will. They’re both gonna get a ton of reps. And, you know, there’ll be time to for to have that competition and determine who will be the starting quarterback for the first game.”
Earlier in the day Harbaugh said that Cade was going to be tough to beat out for the starting job, but then he countered with JJ would also be tough to beat out for the starting job.
“I mean, the best player is going to play,” said Harbaugh. “We’re going to know who the best player is by who plays the best. Cade McNamara is going to be really tough to beat out for the starting quarterback job. J.J. McCarthy is going to be really tough to beat out for the starting quarterback job.”
A quarterback battle is nothing new to McNamara. He has been in a quarterback controversy ever since he came to Michigan. In 2020, Joe Milton beat him out, but then McNamara ended up taking over before being injured against Penn State. Then in 2021, it was a battle against five-star JJ McCarthy. He isn’t going to be down about that but is choosing to continue to be a great leader and let his play do the talking.
“Yeah, I mean, I have kind of been in a competition with the exception of my redshirt freshman year, just every single year that had been in Michigan,” said McNamara. “That’s something that’s not really foreign to me at this point. So I mean, anything I do is gonna be for the sake of the team winning, and that’s what’s most important on my mind. What comes with that is having good relationships with my teammates, and for me, I take a lot of pride in what I bring to the team from a leadership standpoint. So allowing negativity or anything like that, I don’t think that’s healthy for the team or really for myself, either.”
Instead of letting what seems like never-ending quarterback battles bother him mentally, McNamara is choosing to embrace it. He believes that being in a battle will not only make him get better, but it’ll help him get better faster. The former four-star from Nevada says he cannot get complacent — a familiar tune with the entire football team — but he’s going to put the work in to be the starter for Michigan in 2022.
“Well, yeah, I think, no matter what position you’re in, I think if you become complacent you become vulnerable,” McNamara said at Big Ten Media Days. “And I think this whole entire situation has really helped me in that sense that I have zero complacency as to where, what my situation is and where I am on the depth chart. So if anything, I’m getting better faster than me just sitting in the quarterback room comfortably.”
While he may not be complacent, one thing that we can say is McNamara is very confident. He believes in his leadership and the team believes in him. The incumbent starter says that he has put himself in a good position.
“I feel like it’s my team,” said McNamara “Nothing against anyone. I just think I’ve put myself in a position that, if I say something, I will be listened to. If anything, really, I’m confident in myself.”
It sounds like a true quarterback battle in Ann Arbor, and one thing is for certain, the one that performs the best will start.
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