J.J. + Jim: How a meditating QB meshed with Harbaugh

• Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff WriterDec 29, 2023, 11:21 AM ET Close ESPN personnel author Joined ESPN in 2011

• Finished from Central Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.– Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy took the breeze from the 18-yard line and rapidly felt pressure from his left side.He sidestepped an attempted tackle and took off to avoid another oncoming defender. He went to his left, seeking to throw the ball downfield. He glanced up as he was leaving, saw Donovan Edwards and turned the ball throughout his body to the running back for a 16-yard conclusion to the 2-yard line.It was a seemingly irrelevant play in a Week 7 game against Indiana, a game the Wolverines would win 52-7. But to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, it produced a strong sense of déjà vu.How the CFP teams were developed

From recruiting to the website, each playoff team is built in a different way. We look at the 4 teams.No.
1 Michigan Wolverines “
No. 2 Washington Huskies “
No. 3 Texas Longhorns “
No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide “

Bowl schedule”|Forecasts “

He ‘d done it himself in 1985, during his junior year at Michigan in a game against Iowa. Harbaugh took the snap at the 6-yard line, felt pressure, rolled to his left and shoveled it across his body to running back Gerald White for a touchdown.The 2 tosses were mirror images– broken plays where the quarterbacks made instinctive(and harmful)tosses to fantastic success. After the game, Harbaugh commemorated his quarterback’s efficiency, stating McCarthy was on a course to be the best quarterback in Michigan history.After Michigan’s 41-13 win over Purdue on Nov. 4, when McCarthy threw

for 335 lawns, Harbaugh took it a step further. “Just enjoy the capability of J.J. McCarthy and the skill that he is

as a passer, as a runner, as a leader,”Harbaugh stated.”It doesn’t come along every day, every year, every years, ever. I think he’s genuinely the best college Michigan quarterback that we’ve ever seen. “That’s full marks for a school which has produced Tom Brady, Chad Henne

, Brian Griese and, obviously, Harbaugh himself, who bet the Wolverines before a 15-year profession in the NFL.McCarthy is 25-1 in his two seasons as a starter, leading the Wolverines to consecutive Big Ten championships and College Football Playoff berths– the most recent of which is Jan. 1 versus Alabama in the Rose Championship Game Presented by Prudential (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). This year, he has actually done it despite Harbaugh being suspended for 6 overall games– 3 associated to hiring infractions and three for the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. Despite those barriers, McCarthy is third in quarterback efficiency amongst all FBS quarterbacks this season, second in conclusion portion and 3rd in catchable pass effort percentage.So how does a kid who draws a smiley face on his hand to advise himself to smile, meditates before every game and chooses alkaline-filtered water gather that type

of self-confidence and trust from a coach who swears by milk and steak, and was a successful quarterback himself?As it ends up, they may be a little bit more alike than things appear.”[ Harbaugh] constantly states I remind him of a young Jimmy Harbaugh, just sort of a bit reckless sometimes,”McCarthy told ESPN.”It’s working for both people, our state of mind is, it’s everything for the team and it makes it a lot easier for us to be effective if you know the guy touching the ball every play is stressed over getting the ball to everyone else and not simply themselves. “Before every game, McCarthy sits versus the foam cushioning of the goalposts with his legs crossed to practice meditation. He’s envisioning himself in front of an elevator, pressing the down button, strolling into the elevator and pushing the button for the ground floor.He sees as the varieties of each flooring illuminate, and as this imaginary elevator is taking him down, he repeats affirmations to himself that he is confident, certified and capable.McCarthy discovered meditation in high school while dipping into IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

He was a four-star prospect, ranked as the No. 25 player in his class. But, he felt stuck away from his home in La Grange, Illinois. That led him to look for methods to enhance his mind.

He used directed meditation apps and different methods that have helped him center himself. J.J. McCarthy began practicing meditation in high school and has made it a part of his pregame preparations. Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images “I was going through some depression pretty bad and

I was researching like insane, anything to help establish better well-being and meditation was the very first thing I put into practice,”McCarthy said.”When the depression kept going, I knew it wasn’t just being homesick. So discovering meditation was the best thing that’s ever taken place to me to make it through that.”Through meditation, McCarthy stated, he has found a calm before the game that has actually moved over into the game. He does not dwell on mistakes, remains positive no matter the situation and enjoys in his colleagues’success around him instead of concentrating on his own accolades.But it might be the only thing Harbaugh and McCarthy disagree about. “I brought [meditation] up to him once and I was like, yeah, he’s not going to purchase into it at all,”McCarthy said.”He stated,’ It’s pretty much

simply listening to your ideas the whole time?’I said yes, however you want to quiet your thoughts as much as possible and the observation and awareness of them quiets them. He was just like,’ Yeah, I believe I do enough of that already. ‘”McCarthy has shown that unselfishness throughout the season. He threw simply 8 times versus Penn State, and in the first half of the season, as the Wolverines outscored their first nine challengers 366-60, McCarthy was typically pulled for the backups and hardly threw any passes in the fourth quarter. While he now relishes in coming out of games to allow his teammates time to play, he wasn’t always glad to cede his playing time.”He would get mad sometimes that we couldn’t bury people back in youth football,”McCarthy’s dad, Jim, stated.” I ‘d have to pull him out of the game, since he wanted to put his foot on their throat and win big. But, at the end of the game, he constantly wanted to socialize with everybody and be

pals with them.” That innate competitiveness is more lined up with how his coach, who was as soon as nicknamed “Captain Comeback, “utilized to play.Editor’s Picks 1 Related Harbaugh set Michigan’s single-season passing record in 1986 and held it until 2002. He was 3rd in the 1986 Heisman race. When Harbaugh played for Michigan, he would use his letterman’s coat on campus and welcomed any attention that came his method. McCarthy chooses to participate in class with sunglasses, a beanie and a hooded sweatshirt to prevent recognition.In his first season at

Michigan, with students knocking on his dorm room door and following him into elevators, McCarthy asked Harbaugh if he might move off campus.”I informed him about that and he resembled, ‘You don’t enjoy that? Those are the very best times of your life, ‘”McCarthy said.He didn’t move out of the dorms. Rather, he turned to a longtime Michigan staffer for help.Greg Harden was hired at Michigan in 1986 by then-coach Bo Schembechler as a personnel consultant and a therapist and coach to student-athletes. He has actually considering that dealt with Brady, Desmond Howard and many others.One of the first football players Harden met after he was worked with was Harbaugh, who was a college senior at the time.

“Jim believed in himself and Jim’s mindset was so intense and focused,”Harden said.”I remember he got in difficulty with Schembechler for ensuring a win over Ohio State, which was something you didn’t do in the past. “Through his work at Michigan, Harden became a life coach and psychological health coach and while he officially retired from the university in 2019, he continues to deal with professional athletes, including McCarthy. “J.J.’s personality and Jim’s character are really distinctively various, “Harden said. “J.J.’s non-stop smile captures everyone and Jim is

severe and dead-focused like a laser beam. J.J. resembles a spirit from another world.” Deep down, Harden said, they both want the exact same thing: to win. McCarthy and Harbaugh just have various techniques for arriving.”

There’s a synergy in between the two of them. And, I mean, it’s like reading each other’s mind,”Harden stated.

“For Jim to have someone that has bought in totally, it’s a fantastic experience for a coach to have a young person who definitely surrenders their ego and is coachable. And J.J. trusts Jim, the trust is at an astounding level, so they truly think in one another and you can see that Jim will let him go.” During Jim Harbaugh’s suspension at the start of the season, McCarthy used a “Free Harbaugh” shirt. Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

Their relationship has grown over McCarthy’s three years at Michigan. It went through a huge adjustment this season during Harbaugh’s suspensions. Prior to the season opener, McCarthy strolled off the team bus with a Tee shirts bearing Harbaugh’s name and No. 4 with a piece of tape above the name that read “Free Harbaugh.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, I wasn’t expecting to be that much various, but I personally simply seemed like something was missing out on … and it was absolutely him,” McCarthy said in September. “His presence, it’s everything about winning, all about competing, all about pressing through. As easy as the pregame speech, I was missing out on that voice.”

In return, Harbaugh has been equally supportive of this quarterback. As the two beinged in front of press reporters after winning the Huge Ten championship game, Harbaugh wasn’t inquired about McCarthy but felt the requirement to insert and once again applaud his quarterback.

“I have actually said it in the past, I would follow him to hell and back,” Harbaugh said.McCarthy leaned into his mic, looked at Harbaugh and stated,”Likewise.”Through his research on meditation and body conservation, McCarthy found alkaline water from a Japanese purification company called Kangen Water.Harbaugh has made it very well known that he is a milk enthusiast

, even appearing in milk commercials. In 2015, he spoke about his insistence on drinking entire milk, since every other type of milk was”candy ass.” Harbaugh believes McCarthy is the very best Michigan QB”we’ve ever seen.”Gregory Shamus/Getty Images”I take a vitamin every day, it’s called a steak,” Harbaugh stated at the time.”I really think the No. 1 natural steroid is sleep, and the No. 2 natural steroid is milk, entire milk. Three would be water. 4 would be steak, it goes with everything.” McCarthy was surprised when Harbaugh told his star quarterback he would be willing to install a Kangen purification system in the centers if it suggested that much to his quarterback.”They’re different, but there are definitely methods they rub off on each other. J.J. has his terminology, sometimes he’ll resemble, ‘That play was hot,'”backup quarterback Jack Tuttle told ESPN. “The next thing you know, Coach is on the field like,’Damn, that play was hot.'”Top stories of the week from Get unique access to thousands of premium articles a year from top writers. – What’s next move for Morey, 76ers?” – NFL: Vibrant playoff

race forecasts”- 19 games that specified CFP playoff era”More ESPN +content “Their connection has constructed trust and McCarthy’s success has actually followed. He’s third in the country in conclusion percentage(75.7 %), sixth in passing goals per
effort, 2nd in catchable

pass effort rate and initially in third-down conversion portion on passes(62.5 %).” I think it’s just because we have a lot respect for each other and from what I’ve seen with him is he’s become much more open-minded to any sort of new ideas considering that I’ve been here,”McCarthy stated.”And I’m the same method. I’m unbiased to any sort of training, any sort of criticism and I simply feel like we bounce off of each other with ideas.”That trust plays out on the field in Harbaugh enabling McCarthy to improvise and reveal some of that recklessness. Instead of checking his quarterback, Harbaugh has actually enabled McCarthy to be who he is, both on and off the field.”

They’re different, however there’s likewise a great deal of similarity there. It resembles revers bring in,” Tuttle stated. “Often I’m beside Coach Harbaugh on the sideline, J.J. is presenting and next thing you understand, Coach Harbaugh is like,’No, don’t toss that.’And then J.J. will throw it throughout his body and it’s a goal and Coach is like,’ Oh, yeah. That’s great.'”