Michigan Football: 5-star QB J.J. McCarthy strongly confirms commitment

Michigan football’s prized recruit in 2021, J.J. McCarthy confirmed his commitment to the Wolverines in the strongest terms possible Monday.

The rumors surrounding Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh have been rampant over the past few weeks but there is one thing we don’t have to worry about — J.J. McCarthy.

Uncertainty surrounding the head coach is normally very damaging for a program and it hasn’t been great for the Wolverines. They missed out on four-star safety Isaac Thompson last week, a top-200 defensive back in 2022 and lost ground with four-star commitment Xavier Worthy.

But not all the momentum is bad for Michigan football right now. Two recruits verbally committed to the Wolverines — Andrel Anthony and Tristan Bounds — both publicly backed Harbaugh and on Monday afternoon, McCarthy, a five-star quarterback said he will sign Dec. 16 with U-M too.

Those words have to make you feel good as a Michigan football fan but it shouldn’t come as a surprise because McCarthy has never wavered.

Even when the Wolverines struggled and lost handily to Wisconsin, McCarthy came out and said positive things about the program, basically telling the fanbase to relax.

What McCarthy will mean for the rest of the class

So maybe this will help some people relax too because with McCarthy in the 2021 class, it will be a lot more promising, even if Worthy flips his commitment to Alabama.

For a guy like Donovan Edwards, having McCarthy in the mix could be huge and I’ve even said that in the Worthy recruitment, outside of offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, McCarthy is the best shot Michigan football has at keeping him part of the class.

McCarthy is ranked as the No. 22 prospect overall in the 2021 rankings and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback. Not only does he have elite arm strength but he’s an elite leader too and if he can’t help turn things around, I don’t know who can?

The fact that multiple recruits have confirmed they will sign with Michigan next week when the early signing period begins seems to indicate that the three-year extension for Harbaugh is indeed legit or at least going to happen.

But there is still some confusion and that’s because people are wondering why the new deal hasn’t been announced?

Surely, the administration and Harbaugh know this is hurting the recruiting operation and with just nine days before signing day, time really is of the essence.

However, with McCarthy in the fold, it seems as if most of the 2021 commitments will stay committed.