Cade McNamara thought he played the best football of his life heading into the 2022 season.
Days before the season, when head coach Jim Harbaugh announced that Michigan football's starting quarterback position would be decided in-season, rather than deciding on a starter in camp, he added another unorthodox method to his history of coaching decisions.
McNamara, the returning starter, started Week 1 against Colorado State, while sophomore J.J. McCarthy will start against Hawaii next week.
Harbaugh didn't give a timeline for a final decision.
"It's a process. No person knows what the future holds. That's biblical. We're not going to withhold any good thing," Harbaugh told the media in his weekly press conference on Monday. "Both have been tremendous quarterbacks. We think that both are capable of leading our team to the championship."
McNamara, who started all 14 games for the Wolverines in 2021, was voted a team captain by his teammates in the same week the starting job officially went up for grabs.
Despite his team-first mentality, the Nevada native didn't anticipate the decision.
"Yeah, I'd definitely say it was pretty unusual," McNamara said following Michigan's 51-7 victory over Colorado State on Saturday. "It was a thing I wasn't expecting by the end of camp. I thought I had my best camp. I thought I put myself in a good position. And that was just the decision that Coach (Harbaugh) went with."
Coming off of the program's first Big Ten championship in 17 years, the fourth-year quarterback felt confident following what he believes was the best fall camp of his college career
"I was confident in the way I performed over camp. Definitely felt that way," McNamara said. "However, it's not my decision. Whatever my role is, I'm honored that my teammates recognized me for the role I have currently."
McNamara struggled on Saturday in his first game in a neck-and-neck competition for a job he secured during the 2020 season.
The offense settled for three field goals in four first-half red zone trips with McNamara under center. The only touchdown came from a Blake Corum rush on a 48-yard drive with zero passing plays.
Completing only half of his passes, which included two drops, McNamara was 1-for-6 with six yards in the red zone, while his counterpart, McCarthy, led the offense to a touchdown twice in the same spot.
Harbaugh's confidence in the team's starting quarterback from last year didn't waver.
"I thought (McNamara) was really good. He had a couple of balls that were dropped. Very good. Executed, as I said, no issues. Give credit to the quarterback as well when that's taking place on offense," Harbaugh told the media after the game Saturday. "Move the football, score points, and I thought he had a really good game."
As for McNamara, this isn't his first battle with adversity or the first time he's faced competition for the starting job.
Four years into his time at U-M, the battle with McCarthy is par for the course.
"I mean, it's been fine. This is sort of something I've been dealing with -- whatever part it was in my career -- whether it was before I played with Joe, whether it was finally going in, whether it was last season, and now it's this season," he said. "I think, at this point, I have a callus made on how to deal with these things."
McCarthy will start next week's game as planned, while McNamara will be Michigan's backup quarterback for the first time in 651 days.
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