Video from today, Jim Hartbaugh explaining Week1/Week 2 QB thing
Jim Harbaugh answers questions about his two starting QBs strategy.
I am trusting he has a good entrance and exit strategy for this move. He's accomplished some great things as a coach. I hope this move works out fantastic, and is added to that list of great accomplishments. I'm still not clear the motivation for it though.
August 30th, 2022 at 11:21 AM ^
isn't it quite possible that part of establishing yourself as #1 is how you prep for the game and how you handle the first couple drives? So why would given them both a start be such a terrible thing to do, especially in two games that 'should' not be very contested?
I was in A2 for Army vs Michigan 2019.... favored by double digits and squeaked out a win in 2OT.... lets just hope for nothing like that.....
August 30th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
Obviously game day is different than practice but they should be going up against stronger defenses in practice than what they’ll face in the field the first 5-6 weeks of the season so what does it really tell as far as ability?
August 30th, 2022 at 12:14 PM ^
I mean the rationale is pretty simple to understand, you have what the coaches feel is a dead heat and doing it this way makes it a fair competition as both guys get to start a game fresh at 0-0 playing alongside of the other starters before games get out of hand. Would exactly be a fair competition if one guy got to play with the ones and the other guy played with backups in a game already decided now would it?
August 30th, 2022 at 12:40 PM ^
Have to believe this is two-pronged:
1) He genuinely loves both of his options at the position, both bring different elements for different situations and he wants to be able to apply those as necessary in order to win ball games. He probably also sees benching one of them as a waste of that talent and wants to get them both on the field as much as possible.
2) Stave off the transfer portal. Harbaugh knows the minute he names a permanent starter, the other guy is almost certainly going to start evaluating their options at another school. And for very good reason. Both are good enough to start at a lot of other schools around the country and win. Yes, that will still leave him with a very talented option, but your depth at the position is gone, and all it takes at that point is one injury to your QB to completely derail your season.
As of right now, there is no one behind either of these two guys that you can confidently say "This guy can eventually lead us to a Big Ten championship and back to the CFP." You've got guys who are very long-term projects with obvious, glaring flaws in their game that need a massive coaching job to fix, or guys who just are what they are and you know they don't have that type of ceiling.
This is to prevent either guy from considering the portal, at least for now, while perhaps buying himself a little bit of time on the recruiting trail to grab a Jadyn Davis type of player and re-bolster his depth chart for the eventual attrition.
August 30th, 2022 at 11:02 PM ^
At the end, it seems he is equating going to the transfer portal with quitting in the face of adversity. But what it would really be for either of these guy is going somewhere to start immediately, and play full time, with no platooning. That is not quitting. That is going into a better situation. I can see why he would say heading to the portal is quitting in some cases. But that wouldn't be the case with Cade and JJ.
I never wanted to say this before, because I wanted both QBs to stay, but, I'm at the point now that I'm ok if one of them leaves. I would be happy if one left and got into a situation with a good QB coach who would get them ready for the pros. At this point I would want McNamara to stay, because I have always been a big fan. And also, because overall, he's better for the team. I am looking forward to seeing him play after a year of cutting his teeth.
If McCarthy transfers, I'm ok with it. Wanting both to stay is looking more and more selfish all the time.
August 31st, 2022 at 4:58 PM ^
Single Wing formations with Cade and JJ and Donovon as interchangable ministers of offensive efficiency. I can dream anyway.