[jwplayer VMGIrbFZ-XNcErKyb]
Michigan is in something of a precarious situation with shelter-in-place going on, as it doesn’t have a returning starting quarterback.
While the contenders — fourth-year Dylan McCaffrey, third-year Joe Milton and second-year Cade McNamara — all have had time in Josh Gattis’ system and two of the three have seen playing time in their careers, none has been the out on the field for the first snap.
So how do the Wolverines conduct a true evaluation, considering spring practice was canceled due to the novel coronavirus?
Head coach Jim Harbaugh chimed in on Thursday, speaking with Rich Eisen on his show via telephone, saying that it’s an open competition, and he’s sure that they’ll be ready to duke it out once they all get back to campus.
“We’ve got some guys we really love,” Harbaugh said. “They’ve been champing at the bit. When I say there are guys that are excited to get back to working out at the team and back to practicing, but our quarterbacks in particular, they’re champing at the bit, which is better.”
[lawrence-related id=25413,25403,25395]
They’re not just biding their time, however, according to Harbaugh.
As injured players do, the squad has been getting mental reps, learning the playbook and preparing as much as they can in the interim. Some of that is team-led while Harbaugh has also implored them to get some work in on their own.
We’ve seen Joe Milton, in particular, in videos working with former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner at his Young Go Getters camps, with wide receiver Ronnie Bell in tow. But what have the others been doing?
Harbaugh elucidated on the subject, noting how the team has been preparing the signal callers in the interim and how they’ve been asked to train while they’re apart from the team.
“Specifically with the quarterbacks, we’ve been having Zoom meetings,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve been installing football and I told the guys, ‘Hey, learn the system the best you can. Be an expert at it when we do get back together. Also, be in the best shape of your life and throw the football. Get out and throw it every day.’ And each guy, going through the quarterbacks in my mind here, each one has done that and taken advantage of that and gotten guys to throw to.
“Dylan McCaffrey has been throwing with his brothers, Christian and Luke in Denver. Joe Milton has been in Orlando and then he came back to Ann Arbor. He’s got a bag of balls and finding guys to throw with. Cade McNamara has got his brother (who’s) gonna be an incoming freshman at wide receiver. They’re champing at the bit, what you can do and getting coached. Ben McDaniels has been coaching them every day, they’re on the installation, been going over footwork, all kinds of stuff. So I know those guys are champing at the bit.”
Perhaps there’s a silver lining here, too, in terms of Harbaugh having had NFL experience.
His first year in San Francisco, the season was in peril due to a lockout, though it was resolved with time to spare. However, much of the typical league offseason activity was a victim of the larger contract dispute.
Harbaugh tells Eisen that he’s learned a bit from that in terms of how to be flexible, while constantly evaluating the quotidian as well as the bigger picture.
“I have been doing a little bit of that, Rich, drawing on a little bit of 2011 when there was the lockout,” Harbaugh said. “So there are some similarities. The things I’ve drawn from it are you gotta really consider everything, day-by-day, week-by-week. Plan for the different scenarios and there’s gonna be a lot of them. You’re gonna learn more as it goes on and you don’t know when exactly when you’re gonna start. But also try to be creative and proactive so you can be as productive as possible.”
While the NCAA opened things back up with an anticipated June 1 date for voluntary workouts, Harbaugh and Michigan have to continue to wait, as the state of Michigan’s safer-at-home order doesn’t expire until June 12.