Former IMG Academy Head Coach Gives Several Reasons Why JJ McCarthy will Start this Year
Per Michigan quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss, Cade McNamara is the starter. Texas Tech graduate transfer Alan Bowman will certainly have something to say about that, but he's not on campus just yet.
None of that matters to former IMG Academy head coach Bobby Acosta — he says JJ McCarthy will be the starter.
"We can pinpoint that right now," Acosta recently said while talking with Sports Illustrated's director of recruiting John Garcia Jr.
Of course Acosta is a bit biased having been McCarthy's head coach last year, but he supports his statement with several observable points.
Acosta isn't wrong. McCarthy's football IQ is off the charts and he has an extremely live arm. He's also a plus athlete, has been groomed to be a big time quarterback for a long time and is as confident as they come. In time I think he's going to be very good, but not yet.
McNamara reportedly took control and ownership of the offense during spring ball, while McCarthy just wasn't ready. The youngster showed flashes of what made him one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the 2021 class, but he also played like high schooler at times, which is technically what he should still be.
With that said, I don't think McNamara is the guy either. I truly believe Bowman is the best combination of everything you need at quarterback — he has arm talent, he's a good athlete and, most importantly, he has experience. Bowman is capable and has already done some really nice things in 16 starts over the course of three years at Texas Tech. Throw in the fact that Jim Harbaugh has a track record getting transfer quarterbacks up to speed and I think Bowman will end up winning the job.
