The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
8 — Wednesday, August 3, 2022
‘We don’t want to take any steps back’: Michigan looks to build off last season
A year ago, Jim Harbaugh sat at a
podium on the turf inside Lucas Oil
Stadium and waxed about climbing a
mountain — the mountain, of course,
being a metaphor for defeating Ohio
State.
Harbaugh’s
comparison,
along
with the confidence that he exuded,
evoked both smirks and sideways
glances. At the time, Harbaugh had
yet to beat the Buckeyes in five tries.
No one took Harbaugh seriously,
and who could blame them?
Fast forward 12 months and things
are, well, different. The calculus
has changed. Michigan, as is well-
documented by now, climbed the
mountain. Ohio State may still be the
odds-on favorites to win the Big Ten,
but the championship trophy remains
in the Wolverines’ possession until
further notice.
And as if anyone ever thought
otherwise, they want to keep it that
way.
“Even though we saw success
last season, we
don’t want to
take any steps
back,”
senior
quarterback
Cade
McNamara
told
reporters
in Indianapolis
at
Big
Ten
media days on
Tuesday.
This annual
gathering
in
Indianapolis
comprises
an
unofficial
benchmark. In many ways, it can be
seen as the page-turner from the old
season to the new one.
But the Wolverines, in line with
their disdain for complacency, turned
that page long ago.
“Our guys, from literally days after
our final game last year, have been
at work, attacking everything they
do,” Harbaugh said. “There’s been
zero entitlement the entire offseason,
and now, and none really in the
foreseeable future. So life is good.”
Life is good — Harbaugh has made
that clear since spring ball, when he
touted the “scary good” nature of his
team. But there remain noticeable
holes.
When
Harbaugh
evoked
his
mountain analogy last July, he noted
a shared gene among a number of
players — Aidan Hutchinson, Josh
Ross and Hassan Haskins. The
trio
accompanied
Harbaugh
to
Indianapolis as the program’s token
spokesmen.
Now, they are all gone. But that
doesn’t mean their impact is gone,
too.
Last year, players like Hutchinson
had
to
visualize
success.
Hutchinson
spoke
profusely
of
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
his
“manifestations.”
That
isn’t
necessary this go-around. These
players experienced those dreams
in December; they’ve lived it and
breathed it.
“They saw other players on the
team — guys like Aidan Hutchinson,
Hassan Haskins, David Ojabo — who
put in that work, got that work in,
and how much it paid off for them,”
Harbaugh said. “Using your head,
using your noodle, pretty easy to
think, ‘Yeah, I want to do it just like
they did. I want to be where they are
now.’
“It’s been a continuation of that this
entire offseason. … They know what it
was like, that good feeling of taking
care of your business and having that
success and being rewarded for it.”
That’s a strange feeling for this
program, at least in recent history.
Last year, Michigan captured hearts
and stirred imaginations as an
underdog. This year? The Wolverines
will have no such benefit of being a
feel-good story, especially since they
return such a strong nucleus of talent.
With last year’s success comes
an opportunity. Success in college
football, perhaps even more so than in
other sports, is fleeting. Only a select
few programs — Alabama, Georgia,
Ohio State, perhaps Clemson — have
managed to buy a home in the sport’s
upper-echelon. Michigan has at last
rented one. But can it stay there?
“We’re just going to continue to
attack,” Harbaugh said when asked
for the key to building off last year.
“That’s what I really love about this
team. They really, literally attack
everything that’s put in front of
them.”
Harbaugh,
of
course,
nearly
wasn’t back to lead them. Tuesday,
he justified his month-long dalliance
with NFL head coaching vacancies
by his failure to win a Super Bowl.
It gnawed at him. Ultimately, he
returned, reasoning that not being
able to coach this Michigan team
would be like “losing a body part.”
Harbaugh laid out his four goals
for the upcoming season rather
succinctly: beat Michigan State,
beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten
Championship, win the National
Championship.
After last season, there is finally a
plausible template to work toward.
“We’ll
chase
the
national
championship,” Harbaugh said. “See
if we can win that.”
FOOTBALL
JARED GREENSPAN
Managing Sports Editor
Harbaugh remains mum on QB situation at Big Ten Media Days
In 2012, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh — then at the helm for the
San Francisco 49ers — had a decision
looming.
With his team in the midst of
a playoff push, he had to choose
between veteran QB Alex Smith,
who at the time led the league in
completion
percentage
and
was
19-5-1 as a starter under Harbaugh,
or Colin Kaepernick, a second-year
player who was considered more
mobile and dynamic but less proven.
Smith began the year as the starter
but got injured in Week 10, opening
the door for Kaepernick. Kaepernick
impressed in Week 11, and the
following week, with Smith clear to
play but Kaepernick coming off of an
impressive performance, Harbaugh
officially
had
a
quarterback
controversy on his hands.
Whichever way Harbaugh was
leaning, he refused to tip his hand to
the media.
“I usually tend to go with the guy
who’s got the hot hand,” Harbaugh
said back then. “And we’ve got two
quarterbacks that have got a hot
hand.”
Now, 10 years later, Harbaugh finds
himself overseeing a QB conundrum
with the Wolverines — this time
between senior Cade McNamara
and sophomore J.J. McCarthy. And,
at least for Big Ten Media Days, the
head coach’s approach for handling
questions about it appears eerily
similar to a decade ago with the 49ers.
“Both had phenomenal seasons,”
Harbaugh said in his opening press
conference on Tuesday. “J.J. in his
true freshman year, Cade in his
junior year. Both played outstanding
winning football every time they
went out there… The best player is
going to play. 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.”
Harbaugh refused to play favorites,
and perhaps, he’s truly torn because
nothing in the offseason has provided
clear separation between the two so
far.
McCarthy is a former five-star
prospect who flashed an elite skill
set when he had opportunities to
play last season. He threw for 516
yards and five touchdowns in spot
moments. He also served as a change-
of-pace playmaker, subbing in on
plays as a rushing threat and racking
up 166 yards and two touchdowns
over 27 attempts.
All McNamara did, though, was
guide Michigan to its best season in
25 years. While his passing numbers
weren’t overwhelming, he rarely
made mistakes, throwing just three
interceptions in the regular season.
McNamara is the safer, proven
option. McCarthy is more high risk,
high reward.
Throughout the summer, neither
has been named the starter — or
maybe both have? In the afternoon’s
hour-long media session, as questions
continued to pour in on his stance on
the quarterback situation, Harbaugh
remained coy.
“Cade’s the starting quarterback,”
Harbaugh said. “When we line up for
the first practice, he’ll be with the
first team. Now, eventually, over the
training camp, J.J. will get the same
opportunity that Cade will. They’re
both going to get a ton of reps. There
will be time to have that competition,
determine
who
the
starting
quarterback is for the first game.”
Every time he brought up the
strength of one quarterback as the
starter, he quickly mentioned the
other’s impressive attributes as well.
It’s possible that Harbaugh knows
exactly who he wants under center
and doesn’t want to tip off opposing
teams. But, most likely, it remains
an open competition — which is an
uncertainty Harbaugh is more than
okay with.
“It’s a great word, competitive
— not combative,” Harbaugh said.
“That’s what we strive for. And that’s
exactly what we had last year. And
both guys are great guys — both
team guys, and they’re both driven.
They’re both dreaming of being that
guy. They’re both putting in the
work the entire offseason to make
that happen. So, that’s what we’ll be
shooting for again — competitive, and
not combative.”
Back
with
San
Francisco,
Harbaugh rolled with “the hot hand,”
keeping Kaepernick as the starter,
and the 49ers went to the Super Bowl.
Michigan has aspirations to return
to the playoffs — and figuring out
which quarterback gives it the best
shot to do so is the million-dollar
question coming out of Ann Arbor.
But with Harbaugh content giving
out nothing but vague responses, what
plays out on the field will ultimately
be what gives the definitive answer.
FOOTBALL
JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Editor
It remains unclear whether Cade McNamara or J.J. McCarthy will be the starting QB
for Harbaugh.
KATE HUA/Daily
At Big Ten Media Days, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke about
how the Wolverines can build on last season’s success.