Maybe I'm overthinking it, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it's just something that rubs me the wrong way.
Former Michigan starting quarterback Cade McNamara recently sat down for an interview where he discussed this weekend's Big Ten Championship matchup between the Hawkeyes and the Wolverines. After losing the starting job in Ann Arbor to JJ McCarthy in week two of the 2022 season, McNamara ultimately ended up transferring to Iowa where he earned the starting job in 2023. Unfortunately for McNamara, he suffered a season ending injury in week five against Michigan State - meaning he won't be available for this weekend's conference championship game against his former team.
Although he won't be playing, the former U-M quarterback made it clear that he's doing everything he can to help his current team beat the Wolverines this weekend.
"I think this weekend specifically, I'm not just getting Deacon ready," McNamara said. "I'm getting the entire team as much as I can, because I know so much about that other team. From a defensive standpoint, from an offensive standpoint, I'm just doing everything I possibly can from an entire team standpoint to let these guys know everything that I possibly know."
On the surface, there's nothing wrong with what McNamara said in this clip. He's no longer with Michigan, he's a member of the Iowa Football team, and he's doing everything he can to help his current team win.
That being said, McNamara didn't exactly leave Ann Arbor on a good note. Shortly after transferring to Iowa, the former U-M QB made it clear that he took issue with a number of things during his time at Michigan.
On the QB Battle with JJ McCarthy
“I was well aware there was going to be competition, that’s just how coach Harbaugh has always stated it," McNamara said. "That’s how he’s always treated it, and that’s fine with me. Then the day after I get voted captain, coach Harbaugh tells the team that Michigan has two starting quarterbacks and we’re going to be splitting games — I have the first game and he has the second game. Some stuff is going on, talk around the team stuff, some stuff that I just won’t get into.”
On how Michigan handled his injury
“I didn’t know this until my MCL was messed up that I tore my patellar halfway through the season last year, actually against Michigan State,” McNamara said. “That’s a whole story in itself. I was able to go back and look at the MRI results from the year before, and it showed torn patellar tendon on there.
“Thankfully I got (a medical second opinion) this time, because they were asking me to go back onto the field this year and they actually told me ‘we think you’re ready, you should start practicing.’ I was advised not to get the surgery, and then I came out to L.A. for (Dr. Neal ElAttrache) to look at it and he was astonished.”
On NIL at Michigan
“Thinking about Michigan, they have the biggest alumni in the country. Why wouldn’t their players be making more than everyone else,” McNamara said. “Schools like Nebraska and Iowa has a great collection. There’s these groups that’s guaranteeing guys a certain amount of money just for being on the team, and that can be anyone, a walk-on, anyone can get that half of the collective. And then there’s schools like Michigan where there’s not much organized at all.”
Given McNamara's comments after departing Michigan, along with the way he describes his former team in the clip above, things definitely seem a bit frosty - at least from McNamara's perspective. It's a shame that his injury will prevent him from competing against Michigan this weekend, as the battle between McNamara and McCarthy would have been an incredible storyline.
Michigan and Iowa kick off this weekend in Indianapolis from Lucas Oil Stadium at 8:00 pm ET on FOX.
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