Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh playing with fire over his QB indecisiveness | Opinion
Jim Harbaugh made a biblical reference when he explained his choice to start two different quarterbacks in Michigan's first two football games this season.
The explanation the Wolverines coach gave for his decision – or more accurately, his indecision – also inspired me to cite scripture.
For a veteran coach like Harbaugh to punt on such a huge decision until at least Week 3 on whether Cade McNamara or J.J. McCarthy should be named the full-time starter is indefensible. It isn’t fair to McNamara or McCarthy and could confuse the rest of the team.
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"Some people have asked," Harbaugh said at his news conference Monday, "you know, 'How did you come to that decision? Was it based on some kind of NFL model?' No. It’s really based on biblical (scripture with) Solomon. He was known for being a pretty wise person."
Perhaps he was invoking the famous parable of Solomon deciding which one of two women was the true mother of a child after he ordered the child be cut in half. The women who renounced her claim proved herself to be the true mother.
If Harbaugh thinks McNamara or McCarthy will take this cue and reveal themselves as the true quarterback and leader of this team by stepping up and renouncing his claim to the starting spot, then he’s asking way too much of them and placing upon them an unfair burden that even he is not willing to assume.
As Harbaugh enters his eighth season as Michigan’s coach, we’ve learned this much: He’s a lot. He’s so much, in fact, that we’ve also learned to roll our eyes and shake our heads over all of the Harbaugh-isms that come out of Ann Arbor. Between his shirtless satellite camps and warning Wilton Speight off chicken because it’s a "nervous bird," Harbaugh has normalized eccentricity.
But this should require us to stop and carefully consider what Harbaugh saying. We should stop rolling our eyes so that we can focus on the absurdity of his message.
Using some pretzel logic, Harbaugh tried to explain the benefits of using a two-quarterback system and the "process" that will determine who emerges as the true starter.
"No person knows what the future holds," he said. "It’s a process and will be based on performance. But we’re not going to withhold any good thing. Both have been tremendous quarterbacks. We think that both are capable of leading our team to a championship."
Well, Harbaugh is right on one count. No one knows the future. But we do know the past, which tells us that traditionally a two-quarterback system doesn’t work well. Yes, McNamara and McCarthy split time last season, but McNamara was the clear starter and McCarthy entered the game in specific situations. People need to know their roles, especially when it’s a very important role.
Harbaugh wants it both ways. He wants competition to bring out the best in his two quarterbacks, even though he acknowledged knowing the old football saying that if you have two starting quarterbacks, then you really don’t have one starting quarterback.
"I see some heads nodding,” he said as he scanned the room. "But is that true? Is that a fact? Is that a fact? Is that a fact for anywhere or is it a fact on this team?"
No, coach, it isn’t a fact. It also isn’t a fact you’ll be struck dead if you hold a 10-foot metal pole in the air during a lightning storm. But it’s certainly not advisable.
No one knows Harbaugh's team as a well as he does. According to him, it’s really only "a great thing for our team" that Michigan has two good options at quarterback with championship potential.
It's hard to tell where players stand on this. But after covering sports for most my adult life, I’ve learned something about the way athletes think. And it’s my strong suspicion that sewing this much uncertainty at the most important position within Michigan’s program could be divisive, because there are bound to be factions of players who prefer either McNamara or McCarthy.
In a few days, this quizzical quarterback competition will continue when Colorado State visits Michigan Stadium. There will be a thick, extra layer of scrutiny added to the play of the quarterback and, by extension, a team that has aspirations to return to the College Football Playoff.
As the Wolverines enter the Big House on Saturday, we should think of that extra layer of scrutiny and be reminded that it wouldn’t exist if not for the indecisiveness of their coach and that he, himself, should be reminded of this biblical proverb: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.