Harbaugh and Michigan football enter 2022 with a question at quarterback. The steady and consistent leader in Cade McNamara or the cannon arm playmaker in JJ McCarthy.

This is hardly Harbaugh's first rodeo with a quarterback competition as a college football head coach. During his first season at Stanford and throughout his time in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh has often encouraged battles that last well into fall camp and sometimes aren't over until the starter takes the field in his team's opening game.

Let's take a look at these previous competitions and decisions Harbaugh has made, and what if anything we can learn from his thinking that could influence his decision in 2022.

T.C Ostrander was a former top recruit, Rivals 9th ranked pro-style QB. Stanford was arguably one of the worst programs in the country when Jim Harbaugh took over and although he was the incumbent starter, Ostrander had struggled like the entire Cardinal team who went 1-11 in 2006. He started the first four games of the season but unfortunately suffered a seizure that would force him to sit. Backup Tavita Pritchard would take over and lead the Cardinals to one of the greatest upsets in college football history with a 24-23 win over #2 USC. The real decision for Harbaugh was when he chose to stick with Pritchard once Ostrander was healthy.

Tavita Pritchard had been Stanford's starter for the past 1.5 seasons, but he faced competition from redshirt freshman Andrew Luck. Pritchard hadn't been too successful as a starter for the Cardinal, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns in the previous year. Harbaugh would go with Luck who would end up starting three seasons at Palo Alto and finish his career as one of the best in Pac-10/12 history. Pritchard would go immediately into coaching after graduating and is now the offensive coordinator at Stanford. His official title is Andrew Luck Director of Offense.

Harbaugh's first season at Michigan saw him inherit a decimated QB room with a spring game that famously featured Shane Morris and Alex Malzone. Jake Rudock transferred in but under old rules wasn't allowed on campus until the fall. Shane Morris played first-team snaps before Rudock got to Ann Arbor, but Rudock took most of the snaps once camp began. As expected, Rudock started the opening game against Utah. Morris would end up redshirting as Wilton Speight came on in relief of Rudock. While Morris was a high-rated recruit and Harbaugh clearly favored the experience of Rudock here, Morris had also dealt with two stressful first seasons in Ann Arbor. He no longer had the mystique of a potential program-changing recruit.

Going into the spring of 2016, Michigan said they had a 5-way competition between Morris, Speight, Houston transfer John O'Korn, freshman Brandon Peters, and Malzone. O'Korn was forced to sit out a season under old transfer rules but was the favorite to earn the starting job. Coming out of spring the race was clearly O'Korn vs Speight, with Morris still mentioned as a competitor. Wilton Speight started against Hawaii and we finally had our answer. O'Korn, the playmaker had lost out to the prototypical big QB in Speight. The Wolverines were dominant in a 9-0 start before losing to Iowa, a game Speight would suffer a shoulder injury. O'Korn would play against Indiana, but Speight would return for the #2 vs #3 matchup against Ohio State.

Brandon Peters was one of the top QBs in the 2016 class and many hoped he would challenge for the starting job. His role in the competition seemed to fade quickly, as once again Speight and O'Korn were identified by Harbaugh as the standouts for the starting role. Speight would get the nod, but he did not look the same early in the season. O'Korn would have his best game as a Wolverine coming in for the injured Speight against Purdue. O'Korn would struggle after that and against Rutgers, fans erupted when Brandon Peters took over. He would lead the team to three straight wins before suffering a concussion against Wisconsin. It took injuries for the top-rated Peters to get the start and then unfortunately a brutal hit derailed his season.

The 2020 season was heavily impacted by the pandemic, with spring practices canceled and later the season itself before a shorter conference-only schedule was chosen. The QB room was now filled with Harbaugh recruits and the battle was expected to take place between 4-star recruits Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton. With Milton getting an early lead for the starting job and fellow 4-star Cade McNamara rising as the potential backup, McCaffrey decided to opt-out of the season and eventually transfer. McCaffrey had dealt with injuries, but it was Milton's power arm that won the job. The hope was his raw talent would refine in gameplay, but that didn't take hold. After McNamara came in and led Michigan to a comeback victory against Rutgers, he would take over as the starter. A Covid-19 case outbreak on the team would force Michigan to cancel its remaining games so we didn't see more from McNamara.

There was no QB battle in 2021 as Jim Harbaugh and staff made it clear Cade McNamara would be their quarterback from the spring on. This was a first for Harbaugh as he had always encouraged the competition even if a starter seemed obvious. Cade McNamara obviously helped lead the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship, but, fair or not, he is seen as a game manager. An incredibly smart QB who gets most of his work done pre-snap.

JJ McCarthy is not like the previous top QB recruits. He is the most talented recruit in the Harbaugh era and he saw the field in his freshman year in crucial moments, not just mop-up duty. His arm strength, running talent, and ability to extend plays give him the potential to be an elite QB. He will play in 2022, more than he did last season. The question is what percentage of snaps could he get? Or can he take the job outright from Cade McNamara?

Harbaugh's choice will be made the same way it has always been made, and regardless of position, as he said recently, "The best player will play."

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