Jim Harbaugh's preferred QB when coaching, a little history
This kind of post may have already been made, and I overlooked it. If so, copying what may have already been made was coincidental.
Looking at Jim Harbaugh's coaching history, you can see he's always preferred a dual threat QB. At the University of San Diego He had Josh Johnson. At Stanford he had Andrew Luck. And at the San Francisco 49ers he had Colin Kaepernick.
The San Diego QB, Josh Johnson stats, and a few video highlights:
Ran a 4.44 forty.
In 2005:
he earned some All American honors after breaking numerous records
His best game of the season came against Valparaiso, when he threw for a school-record seven touchdowns (all coming in the first half)
had five touchdowns and 375 yards against Morehead State in the Pioneer Football League Championship victory
finished the season with 3,256 yards and 36 touchdowns, completing 70.1% of his passes en route to being named team MVP
In 2006:
named PFL Offensive Player of the Year as he led San Diego to a 10-0 start.
led San Diego to their first Top 25 appearance in school history
finished his season with 3,320 yards and 34 touchdowns passing
and 720 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing
In 2007:
entered the 2007 season on the Walter Payton Award watchlist and as a Preseason All-American
finished the season with 2,988 yards and a school-record 43 touchdowns passing
726 yards and two touchdowns rushing
holds the record for the highest career passer efficiency (176.68) in NCAA Division-I football history
LINK: https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Josh_Johnson_(American_football)#2006
Here's the only highlights I could find on Josh Johnson, with just snippets:
Then, of course, the QB Jim Harbaugh is most famous for, the dual threat Andrew Luck. I didn't look up stats because most will remember how much of an impact he had under Jim Harbaugh. But here is a highlight video. He is one of the most thrilling college QBs ever:
Then in the pros, Jim Harbaugh had Colin Kaepernick. Again, I didn't look up stats, as most know what he did at San Francisco. But here's a highlight video:
Looking at this, it becomes a little more clear where we are right now in the QB situation at Michigan. JJ McCarthy is a dual threat QB. Could it be JJ McCarthy will be the next superstar QB under Jim Harbaugh? Maybe Jim Harbaugh sees something in JJ McCarthy that is like what he had with these other three QBs. He doesn't have the brute strength of Andrew Luck. He does have similarities to Colin Kaepernick. Except, when all is said and done, McCarthy probably going to be a better passer than Kaepernick. I know a highlight video is JJ McCarthy is not needed to show everyone what he can do. We already know. But I'm posting one so you can compare and contrast with the other three videos, and see the similarities.
Maybe there's a more exciting future coming with JJ McCarthy than how things look at first blush.
I want to end this by saying something about Cade McNamara. He's now going to be moved out of the spotlight. But it can't be forgotten how great he was for Michigan football. He may still be back in the spotlight this year, as it only takes one injury to put the backup into the game. But after watching last year I had high hopes built up for what Cade McNamara was going to do this year. It's a little sad, and can bring a tear to the eye thinking he's not going to be out there, the grinder, moving the ball, keeping the chains moving, scoring, and winning. What great games Nebraska and Penn St were! What a year! He will probably transfer at the end of the year. Maybe it will be to a team that just needs a QB to make a run at a National Championship. I WISH HIM THE BEST! But again, he may be called upon this year, here at Michigan.
September 11th, 2022 at 7:33 PM ^
I believe that I can fly
September 11th, 2022 at 7:39 PM ^
Where are you vis a vis your ability to touch the sky?
September 11th, 2022 at 7:47 PM ^
do you find yourself thinking about it pretty frequently regardless of whether it is night, or day?
September 11th, 2022 at 9:03 PM ^
If given the opportunity, would you spread your wings and fly away?
September 11th, 2022 at 9:36 PM ^
I even believe I can soar
September 11th, 2022 at 10:12 PM ^
I know for a fact that I can snore.
September 12th, 2022 at 12:53 AM ^
What would you do if faced with an open door?
September 12th, 2022 at 10:06 AM ^
Could you, would you, with a goat?
Would you, could you, on a boat?
September 12th, 2022 at 10:42 AM ^
I farted on a plane
September 12th, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^
i duno. but if heidi klum was on the other side, id be staying on that side for good.
September 11th, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
In the end, I think he simply prefers the QB that he thinks is going to win the most games. Athletic ability helps do that, but so does decision-making, taking care of the football, etc.
September 11th, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
Another thought is maybe Cade had a comfort level with Gattis and he's missing that relationship, might be a reason why he has struggled so far.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:41 PM ^
Cade was fighting for his job, got tight, and didn’t perform well.
JJ had nothing to lose and played with a lot of fun.
But, that’s just my opinion..
September 11th, 2022 at 9:57 PM ^
Yeah, our OC last year was point-averse, similar to this theory.
September 12th, 2022 at 9:33 AM ^
Cade to Miami? YTM.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:56 PM ^
Exactly correct. And succinct.
September 11th, 2022 at 11:28 PM ^
"In the end, I think he simply prefers the QB that he thinks is going to win the most games. Athletic ability helps do that, but so does decision-making, taking care of the football, etc."
JJ was amazing tonight. A lot of dual threats have one strong threat, arm or legs, and the other is decent. Both JJ's feet and arm are lethal. He did not look at all like he was making his first start as a college QB.
Teams are going to have to pick their poison with JJ behind center
I thought we had a decent chance against the 'Nuts on 11/26 but I'm feeling better by the week.
Got to keep him healthy and get him plenty of reps. With the weapons we have on offense, if our defense can continue to improve, we might be able to make some noise in the playoff.
September 11th, 2022 at 7:57 PM ^
JJ McCarthy is gonna be fun to watch this year and next year before he becomes the # 1 pick in the draft in 2024, he is a stud!
I believe by the end of the season, he will show that he's a better QB than Stroud.
September 11th, 2022 at 8:02 PM ^
He already looks better than Stroud.
September 11th, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
No he does not. It’s his first start. Relax.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:59 PM ^
I would say ND D >>>> Hawaii D, but then, you know, Marshall happened and you may have a point!
September 11th, 2022 at 10:15 PM ^
ND D on the road in a toilet may be better. They just can't do it at home. It is tough at home with all those rabid ND fans at home. They just needed a calm and serene environment.
September 11th, 2022 at 8:02 PM ^
I don’t know if he prefers the dual threat QB more than he just prefers the better QB. Andrew Luck was a fringe 5 star top 50 recruit, it didn’t require some sort of genius or guts to start him. Kaepernick was the better QB for those Roman/Harbaugh offenses. JJ is obviously a better starter for this offense.
September 12th, 2022 at 1:33 AM ^
I will post this only one time because you are the first I have seen who got the idea behind what is going on.
This offense was designed for JJ, to the detriment of Cade. This "competition " has been set up to get the winner that the staff want.
Cade gave this away with his comments after the CSU game. And Sam Webb has been saying this for 2 weeks without even realizing it. Sam has said that the QBs were informed in wk 2 of camp that each would get a start. And also said that the first 2 weeks of camp, Cade looked far better than JJ. Here is your first clue.
After the HI game, Where Cade eats 2 thundersacks behind the 2nd string OL, and plays 3 of his 4 drives with the 2nd string OL. Harbaugh immediately said that JJ will start next week. When is the last time that Coach said that? When is the last time that he didn't say "We'll have to watch the tape." NEVER!
I hope that JJ is a Heisman candidate. And he definitely has the ability. My fear is that the way that we lose to Illinois, MD, basically anyone but OSU is JJ goes in and takes procedure penalties, like the 2 timeouts we blew against HI, and throws 2 picks where Cade would have never done that.
Harbaugh blew this in my opinion. He is playing aggressively and for upside which I totally support. But, why dick around with starting Cade? Man up and go all in. Don't rig the game and play it half assed!
September 12th, 2022 at 2:54 AM ^
Just stop. Saying this once is even too much.
There is no conspiracy favoring one QB over another and the game plan for CSU was perfectly suited to Cade’s strengths and he didn’t execute. If you watched the film breakdown by Gardner you can see there were big plays to be made in that game, but they weren’t.
The game plan against Hawaii was suited to JJ strengths and he executed.
Execution and making plays made the decision for the coaches. Coaches don’t game plan for the backup. They’re also not taking risks with losing a QB or a game to preordain a result.
September 12th, 2022 at 3:34 AM ^
You have still not argued any of the team dynamics or communication questions. Which are my only questions.
The game plan against CSU in no way allowed Cade to showcase himself or any skill growth. It was more conservative than anything last year.
I hate to tell you, but dg is a joke as far as cade is concerned. He is a milton guy and has never let it go. Borges is far more credible. Even Gardner had only 2 passes of 20 att that he had a problem with as far as selection. And I believe only 2 he had a problem with execution..
I coach guys, not at this level, but if I coached in this manner, I would be looking for a new job every year.
Again, I hope JJ wins 2 Heisman and a natty. I'm not a UM or JJ hater. But this was done absolutely wrong by any rational process. JH should have just named JJ qb1 2 weeks ago if this was going to be the process.
You are absolutely right, coaches don't gameplan for the backup. And the CSU game plan was not made for Cade. That's the give away! You are arguing my point for me. Thank you.
September 12th, 2022 at 10:20 AM ^
Concern troll
September 12th, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
This is my simple speculation on the situation.
We all know what Cade did last year. He was then voted a captain. How do you bench a conference winning captain before the season even begins?
The coaches, and probably the whole team, know what JJ is capable of.
How do you solve this problem?
Let each start a game. Then make a decision. The team is on-board and thinks it is fair. The fans are on board with less questions.
Harbaugh is a lot of things, but the man knows football and has strong beliefs on what the locker room should look like. This could end up being an absolutely brilliant plan to handle the transition in a way which is beneficial to both QB's, and more importantly, keeps the team unified.
September 12th, 2022 at 6:19 AM ^
Giving each player the opportunity to start and show why they should be the starter is not “rigging” the game. JJ outperformed Cade in both games. He deserves the starting job based on his play on the field. As for Harbaugh naming JJ the starter for week 3 in the post presser, that’s just how blatantly obvious it was that JJ played better. He didn’t make a single execution error in the first half. At the same time, Cade should stay ready. If JJ for some reason doesn’t show up against better competition then I have no doubt Harbaugh will give Cade another shot.
September 12th, 2022 at 8:45 AM ^
I don't know how anyone could have watched two games, seeing two QB's play and not say, JJ should be the starter......
Performance on the field, meritocracy....
September 12th, 2022 at 10:03 AM ^
My fear is that the way that we lose to Illinois, MD, basically anyone but OSU is JJ goes in and takes procedure penalties, like the 2 timeouts we blew against HI, and throws 2 picks where Cade would have never done that.
Blown timeouts, like the one that we blew in the first half against OSU? Henning was supposed to be on the LOS but stepped back because he didn’t realize it was supposed to be an unbalanced formation with a covered TE. Thankfully Harbaugh called a TO because Cade called for the snap, and it would have been 3rd and 6 instead of 3rd and 1, and maybe we either settle for a 50+ yard FG attempt or don’t score at all on that first drive.
I’m not necessarily blaming Cade for that, but at least one of the timeouts against HI was for basically the same reason, so maybe it’s not JJ’s fault either.
Also, McCarthy has thrown 2 interceptions. One was a Hail Mary at the end of the first half against Iowa, and the other was a good throw against IU that was tipped right to a safety.
Cade threw a bad INT against HI. The INT he threw against Iowa was catchable but well behind All when he should have been leading him into the space in front. The one against OSU and the second one against Georgia were terrible. The first one against Georgia should have been PI, but it also shouldn’t have been thrown.
I like Cade. I think we can win a lot of games with him. But the last three games of last season were all crucial, and Cade threw at least one bad INT in all of them, and it’s now four of his last five games. Let’s not pretend he is suddenly a risk-free option at QB who “would never have done that.”
September 11th, 2022 at 8:16 PM ^
He obviously likes them both or he would have decided during camp.
Cade shares his competitive fire.
JH was a dual threat in his playing days here so it makes sense that he is looking for someone with that skill set.
This is not a bad problem for us to have.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:32 PM ^
I think JJ was JH's endgame all along. The offense never fit Cade -- it looked like it was designed for JJ. Then JJ began getting snaps and packages more and more as last year went on. Then the camp nuggets about JJ looking great and probably only being a competition bc of the surgery. I think Cade got a start out of respect, and if Cade truly outplayed JJ he would've kept his word and kept the competition going. But Harbaugh probably had a good idea how it was going to go. Cade is a square peg in a round hole in this offense. It's like half the offense is designed around something Cade clearly can't do and isn't a threat to do. And Harbaugh clearly values mobility and arm talent in his QBs. Everything was skewed towards McCarthy -- which I agree it should have been. Elite talent at the QB position is the clearest path to a National Championship. Even with elite decision making, Cade was never going to have elite talent.
September 11th, 2022 at 10:07 PM ^
From the minute McCarthy showed up on campus, he was going to be the starter in 2022, at the latest. McNamara’s decent play and the success of last year’s team just made the switch a little trickier for Harbaugh to manage.
September 11th, 2022 at 10:11 PM ^
In what reality, in the history of football, does a coaching staff design an offense to cater to the backup QB?
Also, what coach doesn’t value mobility and arm strength in a QB?
“Hey, this guy is too fast and has excellent arm talent, better not give him an offer. We don’t value that in our QBs.”
~ no coach in the history of football (or fire, for that matter)
September 11th, 2022 at 11:08 PM ^
What college coach designs an offense for a mobile QB, without plans of eventually finding a mobile QB? Unless you really think Harbaugh's plan was to run meaningless read plays for 3 years straight with Cade just handing off every time. JJ was never a straight backup. You don't trickle in a backup just for shits and giggles. He was being groomed to be QB1, and the offense was being groomed for him. The only way JJ was losing this battle was if a QB not suited for the offense outplayed him in an offense completely catered for him. As Harbaugh probably expected, JJ looked better by a longshot.
September 11th, 2022 at 9:50 PM ^
Elsa, “let it go” - at this point, there is no original thought left with respect to this QB “controversy”.
If any football coach in America exhibits he’ll voluntarily play 10 v 11 man ball it is our current coach.
This has nothing to do with preferences or history or what ever other “analysis” is invented by a fan base bored by blowouts.
It’s the eyeball test.
September 11th, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
Speaking of preferred quarterbacks... Jadyn Davis with yet another visit for the Hawaii game. Seemed to be enjoying the show. A lot of positive comments from his Dad reported on 247.
September 12th, 2022 at 8:29 AM ^
I listened to Sam's interview with Jadyn's Dad a couple weeks ago. Seems to be a great family and he really seems to dig Michigan. Let's hope Jadyn does as well.
September 12th, 2022 at 11:01 AM ^
Set up the NIL package - fire the $ cannon and get this kid in the fold! Crystal balls please. With JJ behind center Jadyn can see his future.
September 11th, 2022 at 10:30 PM ^
I get the feeling he 'was' a Michigan Man.
September 12th, 2022 at 5:13 AM ^
Might be right.
September 11th, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
Great post!
I think it’s pretty obvious that Harbaugh does prefer and search for the true dual threat QB, and it feels like he struck gold in that way again! Here’s hoping…
September 11th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
I think that Cade was the "then perfect" manager/QB for the Haskins/Corum show in 21. JJ needed to grow and wait for his time to come with Corum and his choice of receivers with great hands in 22. JJ's time seems to be now. I don't see a ceiling for us.
September 12th, 2022 at 11:03 AM ^
Cade could hand that ball to Haskins and muscle 4 yards. Cade unwilling to pull the ball on crashing ends without Haskins is a big loss. 2 and 6 is optimal for Cade to check down but a tougher path without Haskins IMO.
September 11th, 2022 at 11:53 PM ^
The OP obviously did not closely observe the two QB’s last year as JJ looked like the overall better player in the limited opportunities he had. His speed and mobility in and out of the pocket were superior to Cade, his arm strength and accuracy on long passes were superior, and he didn’t throw interceptions in the critical last 3 games as did Cade. Then Cade throws a near- pick and a pick in the first two games this year, while JJ is perfect. It is false to characterize the differences between the two competitors as Jim’s “preferred” QB style of “Dual-threat” vs. his “unpreferred” QB style of “Pro”. (JJ only had a single run Saturday in his only start.) Jim wants to play the overall better QB, PERIOD. Now that JJ has successfully played in his first start, he’s going to give him a second start. As long as JJ plays the way he did Saturday, he’s going to keep on starting. That’s obvious, and it has everything to do with game performance and nothing else.
September 12th, 2022 at 2:59 AM ^
Exactly correct.
September 12th, 2022 at 9:33 AM ^
JJ McCarthy did throw a pick against Iowa; it was a meaningless last-gasp throw at the end of the half but considering he only threw 4 passes between Iowa and OSU it's a small sample size we're working with. Admittedly McCarthy did throw more against Georgia, but again context matters - Michigan was down 27-3 when he stepped in and Georgia was rather clearly cycling through guys because they had a bigger game coming up.
I'll refrain from getting into how apparently everyone didn't "closely observe" the QB battle last year if they didn't recognize McCarthy was he better QB last season but thanks for setting my lying eyes (and that of the staff's) straight.