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LOS ANGELES — Roughly two hours before the Rose Bowl, J.J. McCarthy will walk across the perfectly manicured grass and sit cross-legged with his back to the goalpost.
McCarthy will begin with his Pranayama breathing exercises, a mindfulness technique familiar to yoga practitioners. Then he’ll put on a pair of headphones and listen to meditative sounds tuned to a particular frequency: 963 hertz, sometimes called the “frequency of God.”
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“It’s kind of like white noise,” McCarthy said. “It does some things I can’t even really describe.”
When NFL scouts look at McCarthy, they see an arm that allows him to squeeze the ball in the tightest of windows and legs that allow him to outrun defenders in the open field. Equally important is McCarthy’s mind, which can be his greatest asset and his greatest enemy. The daily meditation routine, something he picked up last year from punter Brad Robbins, is one of the ways he stays grounded.
McCarthy started meditating in high school and got serious about it at Michigan, where the pressure of being the starting quarterback can cause even the most stoic competitor to crack. McCarthy prides himself on staying in the moment, but leading up to last year’s Fiesta Bowl against TCU, his mind was racing.
“I felt like last year I got caught up in the noise and all the emotions of it,” McCarthy said. “I’m just trying to stay simple.”
McCarthy threw for 343 yards, but two pick sixes proved costly. The enduring image from the end of Michigan’s season was McCarthy standing by himself on the field, taking in the scene as TCU celebrated its upset victory.
Michigan has lost in back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals. (Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Since then, McCarthy has been on a mission to lead Michigan to a national championship. He’s handled every challenge in his path so far, but the next one — Alabama in the Rose Bowl — is the biggest.
“For the outside, it’s the biggest game in Michigan history, one of the biggest games in college football history,” McCarthy said. “To us, it’s just another football game.”
Depending on the outcome, it also could be McCarthy’s final game at Michigan. That’s not a possibility he wants to entertain, as Michigan’s goal all season has been to play for a national championship Jan. 8 in Houston. Whenever Michigan’s season ends, McCarthy’s draft decision will loom as one of the biggest questions facing the program, second only to coach Jim Harbaugh’s NFL possibilities.
GO DEEPERDoes NFL want 'quirky' Jim Harbaugh? 'He's won everywhere he's been, but what comes with it?'As part of his commitment to living in the moment, McCarthy has avoided questions about the NFL. When Harbaugh broached the subject after the Big Ten Championship Game, McCarthy said his sole focus was on Alabama. Even McCarthy’s parents, Jim and Megan, aren’t privy to his thoughts.
Greg Holcomb, McCarthy’s longtime quarterback coach, sat with McCarthy’s parents at the Big Ten Championship Game and asked Jim McCarthy what J.J. was thinking about the draft.
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“He’s like, ‘He’s my kid, and I don’t even know. I’m not 100 percent sure, either,’” Holcomb said. “He just doesn’t talk about that right now.”
People close to McCarthy aren’t sure what he’s going to do, but they have no doubts he’s ready. Harbaugh said as much earlier this week, and Holcomb concurs.
“I just think J.J. is a franchise NFL prospect for somebody that’s going to get every attribute, both on and off the field, in a quarterback,” Holcomb said.
McCarthy has a chance to join his coach as the only Michigan quarterbacks drafted in the first round. Tom Brady is Michigan’s most accomplished NFL quarterback by a mile, but the program’s draft history is relatively sparse. Jake Rudock, a sixth-round pick in 2016, remains the only Michigan quarterback drafted during Harbaugh’s tenure.
When McCarthy committed in 2019, Michigan was searching for a quarterback who could put the program on equal footing with teams like Ohio State and Alabama. McCarthy, now 25-1 as Michigan’s starter, embraced that challenge. Harbaugh has referred to McCarthy as a “once-in-a-generation” quarterback and said he was on a path to be the best quarterback in Michigan history.
“I think, going forward, J.J. will be the quarterback that all future quarterbacks are compared to,” Harbaugh said earlier this season.
McCarthy was on his way to a record-setting season before his numbers dropped off in November. He’s thrown one touchdown since Oct. 21, but that touchdown showed why he’s considered such an elite talent.
Ohio State had a freshman safety, Malik Hartford, in coverage against Roman Wilson. McCarthy knew from film study that Hartford rarely looked back for the ball once his back was turned. As soon as he saw the back of Hartford’s jersey, McCarthy threaded the ball between Hartford and cornerback Denzel Burke with pinpoint accuracy.
Michigan extends its lead 😱
Roman Wilson's TD stands upon review.
🎥 @CFBONFOXpic.twitter.com/kqM8G3RsHs
— The Athletic CFB (@TheAthleticCFB) November 25, 2023
For Holcomb, that throw was an example of McCarthy’s growth in his second season as a starter. Squeezing the ball into such a tight window looks like a risky decision, but McCarthy operates with a different risk-reward equation than other quarterbacks. He’s learned what he can and can’t do, which allows him to try things that other quarterbacks wouldn’t dare to attempt.
“It’s the guts and the balls to be able to even attempt that throw,” Holcomb said. “I don’t think most guys are even trying to fit it in that window.”
GO DEEPERCan Michigan overcome the recruiting gap with Alabama?It’s rare to see McCarthy without a smile on his face. His upbeat personality has been a constant the past three years, even when Michigan was embroiled in controversy. The one exception was after last year’s Fiesta Bowl, when McCarthy walked out of the postgame news conference after one question.
McCarthy said Friday his departure was premeditated, intended to underscore his promise that the Wolverines would be back. He and his teammates made good on that promise. The memory of last year’s loss to TCU still drives them, but it’s not at the forefront of their minds.
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The meditation routine is one of the ways McCarthy keeps himself grounded in the present. His performance against TCU is in the past. The NFL is in the future. The only noise he’ll hear before the Rose Bowl is the kind that hits his ears at 963 hertz.
“(We’re) always focusing on the task ahead of us,” McCarthy said. “If you focus on the one that’s two steps ahead or all the outside noise, then you’re not focused on what’s right in front of you.”
(Top photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)
Austin Meek covers Michigan football and basketball for The Athletic. He previously covered college sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal and served as sports columnist at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon. Follow Austin on Twitter @byaustinmeek
