Michigan Football: Is J.J. McCarthy Harbaugh’s last shot at glory?

The answer to this question will not be known at the snap of a finger and that should directly tell us all just how long Michigan football’s head coach will stick around in Ann Arbor.

The quarterback position has been a revolving door for Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh during his six years back in his old stomping grounds.

He was graced by the arrival of transfer Jake Rudock in 2015 and things looked promising as the weeks passed. Rudock slashed positive signs of what was anticipated at the most important position on the field for the quarterback guru moving forward.

After Rudock left the program, steadying it to the right path, Wilton Speight took the reigns in 2016. The buzz around the school was palpable, despite the new signal-caller under center. Speight picked up the heavy burden of being the starter at one of the most prestigious universities on the planet and remain unfazed through the process.

Then on November 26th fortunes changed for the Michigan football program to this day. The loss in overtime to Ohio State stalled the upward trajectory of Harbaugh’s train.

Two years later and the Shea Patterson led Wolverines had a gargantuan opportunity to put the criticism to rest in Columbus again but got humiliated by its rival one more time.

With those two defining defeats to the Buckeyes, to go along with the last two decades of Ohio State owning the Wolverines on the gridiron, it has put Harbaugh’s program at a crossroads.

The losing streak doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, but perhaps Harbaugh has found a centerpiece to a puzzle that few have overcome in the last six years.

Has Harbaugh found the missing piece?

That young man’s name is J.J. McCarthy.

McCarthy is the highest-rated gunslinger to sign with Michigan football since Ryan Mallett did in 2007, based on 247sports.com.

The target on his back is going to be one that practically no one will be able to handle the second he arrives on campus. The pressure on McCarthy will be for him to become the savior of a hardcore football school that has no more patience to spare when it comes to Jim Harbaugh.

The road to glory for the tandem is going to be rocky to begin but has the potential to bloom in time. With a gritty Cade McNamara set to get the first shot at fixing the mess of 2020, it will give McCarthy much-needed time to learn the ropes and get prepared for the history that awaits him.

Only McCarthy can alter the course to his success that will ultimately make or break Harbaugh’s career as one of the most polarizing figures in the annals of Michigan football.