The Star Speaks:Michigan QB JJ McCarthy addresses facing Jim Harbaugh in NFL.
Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy addressed the potential of facing former head coach Jim Harbaugh during his Thursday NFL Combine interview.
McCarthy interviewed with the quarterback-needy Las Vegas Raiders in Indianapolis this week and would face Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers twice a year if the Raiders select him in April’s NFL Draft.
It would be a little interesting, looking across the field and seeing him in the baby blue,” McCarthy said of Harbaugh.” It’d be an honor to just be on that field in general, no matter who’s across the sideline. But there would definitely be some nice, emotional hugs afterward.”
Harbaugh predicted McCarthy to be the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft earlier this month, stating that his former quarterback would blow scouts and team officials away at the NFL Combine.
“Arm talent, athleticism, it-factor, winning with numbing repetition. Don’t be surprised if, when he is the No. 1 quarterback off the board,” Harbaugh said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “That’s my prediction right now. When people get a load of J.J. and how he can throw the ball, how he spins it, his athleticism, his intelligence, talk about it-factor, he’s got it.
The competitiveness that he has. When they get around him and they start talking to him, that’s an early prediction for the 2024 NFL Draft.
Michigan elevated Sherrone Moore to head coach following Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL this offseason. McCarthy said Moore has the necessary qualities to keep the Wolverines atop college football for years to come.
He’s going to be amazing,” McCarthy said of Moore. “The most important quality of a head coach at the University of Michigan is being a Michigan man. He’s got that. He’s earned his stripes, and the boys love them. They’re behind him. With those two things, they’re going to be successful, no matter what.”
McCarthy said Moore’s play calling helped him learn to be unselfish as a player and cited the second half of the Penn State as a lesson. Moore dialed up 32 straight runs in the win over the Nittany Lions, and McCarthy attempted just eight passes all game, completing seven for 60 yards.
My teammates, the receivers specifically, we’re not very excited when coach Moore was saying, ‘Hey, it’s going to be one of those games,'” McCarthy said regarding Moore’s game plan.
“I let them know the approach I took during that time and said, ‘Hey, this is a huge part of our quest to become national champions.’ My teammates were very selfless. I’m the ultimate team guy, and I want to win games. I love this game more than anything.