Michigan rising junior quarterback JJ McCarthy has had plenty of praise heaped on him by various members of the program this offseason, but none could be higher than what wide receiver coach Ron Bellamy said about his quarterback.
Appearing on the latest episode of In the Trenches with Jon Jansen this week, Bellamy was asked about McCarthy and made the claim that McCarthy was the best leader he has ever been around.
He was asked about McCarthy’s leadership abilities and Bellamy continued to gush about what he means to the program.
“If the coaches weren’t there what would it look like? You can visualize that and JJ is a kid that can lead that operation,” Bellamy said. “You watch him out there talking to his teammates, pulling the receiver aside, and kind of walking through things with them. Or just taking accountability, even if a receiver may not have caught a ball or something of that nature. He is like, ‘I’ll get it there.’ It’s like, no, we’ll get there. Those are signs that you look for. Like, man, this kid gets it.
“Coach Campbell has done a fantastic job with JJ. We love JJ, he’s the heart and soul of our football team.”
With the Wolverines hoping for more of a healthy split between the run and the pass game this season, everyone knows within the program that the success on the pass game is going to rely on McCarthy’s arm and building chemistry with his receivers.
Bellamy says he sees the arm talent McCarthy possesses and is confident the Wolverines can take the next step this season with him at the helm.
“What makes JJ a great quarterback, outside of his leadership skills, is his talent,” Bellamy said. “JJ can make every throw. He can make every throw and the most dangerous part about JJ is he can extend plays. Receivers love that, right? DBs lose sight of receivers and you run it down the open field. JJ is a complete quarterback and just watching him go through progressions, just watching him—whatever the coaches put on his plate, he was able to chew it up and digest it and then go out there on the field and execute it.
“We’re super excited about JJ, especially as a football team. But, in particular, in our receiver room, we know that we have the best quarterback in America.”
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