Before J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara took the field this summer to battle for the starting quarterback job at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh sat them down and made one thing clear: "The best player is going to play."
"And after the fact, he just gave us the rundown that he doesn’t have a clear decision on who’s going to be the guy, so he’s going to give us opportunities in the first two games," McCarthy said Tuesday as he met with the media before his first collegiate start Saturday against Hawaii.
McCarthy made the most of first opportunity in the season-opener against Colorado State, completing four of four passes for 30 yards and turning three rushes into 50 yards and a touchdown. McNamara, not so much. He was erratic in the air and a non-factor on the ground. Though he helped Michigan win the Big Ten last season, there's a feeling that McNamara is ceding the starting job to McCarthy. The sophomore simply has more talent.
"That decision is something that’s out of my control," said McCarthy. "I never really (bought) into the thought process of, 'Oh, I should be the guy. This is my job, I won it.' That’s not for me to decide. It’s for me to decide what I’m doing every single day and how I’m improving every single day. It has nothing to do with making that decision that I’m the man, or anything like that."
If it's Harbaugh's decision, it's McCarthy's to sway. He can put the clamps on the starting job with another strong performance Saturday night. That likely won't sit well with McNamara, who didn't hide his disappointment in splitting time with McCarthy after No. 4 Michigan's win over Colorado State.
But for those who believe there's a wedge between the two quarterbacks, McCarthy said Tuesday his relationship with McNamara has been "awesome."
"What better way to (learn than to) have a guy who’s that intelligent, that motivated, that driven and just being able to observe every single day and be able to replicate parts of his game that I can improve in my game," McCarthy said. "It’s been an honest blessing for both of us to be in this position and to just grow from each other.
"There’s so many outside voices that try to make us dislike each other in a way, and we’ve taken that to heart. There was a couple practices where we were like, 'Man, the media really doesn’t want us to like each other.' And we just kind of laugh at it. We take on that challenge and embrace and it’s made us so much better as players and as human beings."
Asked about McNamara's comments after the Colorado State game in which the junior called Michigan's quarterback situation "pretty unusual" and said he thought he had won the job, McCarthy said he "didn't see it" but added, "I feel like that's the best way to do it for the team."
"Whatever Coach Harbaugh thinks, I’m right behind him. And being on this football team, last year it worked with switching (quarterbacks). Like I said, whatever happens, happens and I’m ready for it," said McCarthy.