ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Whereas there’s a whole lot of pleasure for brand spanking new beginning quarterback J.J. McCarthy, it’s obtained to be robust for the incumbent starter, in additional methods than one.
Not solely did Cade McNamara lose his job because the Michigan soccer beginning quarterback, however he did so in entrance of the world, with McCarthy coming in and enjoying superior, whereas he, himself, struggled. What’s extra, on Saturday evening, when the Wolverines hosted Hawaii, McNamara needed to cope with followers within the stands chanting for each J.J. McCarthy in addition to true freshman Alex Orji as soon as it was clear that McCarthy’s day was for certain executed.
When McNamara threw an interception — the primary turnover of the season for the maize and blue — the Michigan Stadium crowd booed. So far as senior left sort out Ryan Hayes sees it, that sort of response is unwarranted, particularly contemplating what McNamara did a yr in the past.
“Yeah, we hate that, we’d hate for any of our brothers to get booed,” Hayes mentioned. “I feel that’s fairly ridiculous for our stadium to try this to one among our gamers that may be a captain on this workforce, led us to all these victories final yr. Cade was a giant a part of the offense final yr in main us to Ohio State, Iowa and into the playoffs. So we hate that stuff, to be sincere.”
One of many fan narratives this previous offseason is that Michigan received massive final yr regardless of Cade McNamara, not due to him. From the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, to operating again Hassan Haskins, to Aidan Hutchinson and the protection, even now, there are followers on social media blasting McNamara, giving him no credit score for the workforce’s success in 2021.
We requested Hayes what he thinks of that, and he says it’s ridiculous. As he mentioned earlier than, McNamara was instrumental in Michigan’s massive wins, and his affect within the locker room was what actually held the locker room collectively. After all, the gamers definitely really feel that means, having voted him a workforce captain this yr.
“Cade final yr, and this yr, only a nice chief,” Hayes mentioned. “He’s assured in himself, he doesn’t make errors. He’s simply that strong quarterback that our offense wanted — to maintain us all collectively, to not flip the ball over, to make throws when wanted. He simply did all these issues proper final yr, and he continued to try this in camp. These first couple of video games, I don’t know quarterback play, however when he’s on the market, deal with him simply the identical. He leads our offense, he leads us, nice chief, nice captain, so we’d love Cade.”
That in thoughts, how is McNamara dealing with his demotion to backup quarterback, a job he held in 2020 earlier than wresting away the beginning job from Joe Milton?
Hayes says that he’s nonetheless battling, the identical means he has since he arrived, irrespective of the circumstances.
“All of us love Cade, he’s our captain nonetheless,” Hayes mentioned. “He’s got here into the constructing with a smile on his face every single day. He’s gonna do what he can and we nonetheless are taking a look at him like a captain. He’s treating us simply the identical. He hasn’t modified his outlook in any respect. So it’s been fairly good to see.”