When Michigan was going after five-star No. 1 overall prospect Bryce Underwood, the Wolverines knew at that point that Michigan legacy C.J. Carr wasn't coming to Ann Arbor. Carr, a 2024 four-star, was already enrolled at Notre Dame and redshirting his first season, so Michigan knew it needed to work hard to get Underwood to flip from LSU to the Wolverines. Michigan was successful, but so far the top QB in the 2025 class hasn't lived up to expectations.
Carr, on the other hand, had a great first season with the Fighting Irish and is primed for a big year in 2026. Carr was on the list as a key recruit for Michigan during his high school career, especially when he received an offer from Jim Harbaugh so early on in the process. However, after the offer, Carr said he felt Michigan relied more on family connections than actually trying to recruit him.
"Throughout the recruiting process, Michigan, um, they didn't really recruit me," Carr said on the Rich Eisen Show. "I think they kind of thought I, I don't know, from my perspective, at least it felt like, you know, they thought I was just gonna go to Michigan because of my family, which is understandable."
CJ Carr says Michigan might have taken his family connections for granted, while Tommy Rees showed him he was wanted at Notre Dame. pic.twitter.com/DvtczWs7Bq
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreeman05_) July 16, 2026
Carr is the son of Jason Carr, who played quarterback at Michigan from 1992 to 1995, and the grandson of Lloyd Carr, who coached at Michigan from 1995 to 2007, even getting the Wolverines to a National Championship. Michigan is typically great at bringing in legacy recruits, but really dropped the ball when it came to Carr.
Should Michigan have pushed harder for CJ Carr's commitment over Bryce Underwood's?
Now, some may really come after me for this, but looking at the stats from last season, Carr way outperformed Underwood. Carr threw for 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and only six interceptions compared to Underwood's 2,428 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Carr also had a completion rate of 66.6% compared to Underwood's at 60.3%.
The numbers don't lie, and sure, the argument could be made that Carr has better weapons around him, but the Notre Dame wide receiver room wasn't much better than Michigan's. The big leg up Notre Dame had over Michigan was the running back position.
The question has to be asked. What if Michigan had gone after Carr like it did Underwood? Would Carr be leading Michigan to the College Football Playoff and contending to bring home a Heisman Trophy to Ann Arbor instead of South Bend?
Carr has shown he has what it takes to play the quarterback position at a high level in just his first season as a starter. Underwood can get to that level as well, but he has a much longer way to go to get there. It looks easier for Carr, and some of that could be coaching and the environment he is in; however, Carr doesn't let outside noise get to him, whereas Underwood can fall victim to that.
With an admission like what Carr made, feeling like Michigan relied more on connections than actually recruiting him, it just feels like Harbaugh dropped the ball, and now Michigan is paying the price, literally. Underwood's NIL contract is not cheap, and if he doesn't produce this next season, or even the one after, he could go down as one of Michigan's biggest busts ever.
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