Michigan QB coach Matt Weiss on Cade McNamara: 'He's our starter'

First-year Michigan quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss is more than confident quarterback Cade McNamara, who he described as the team’s “starter,” has what it takes to be successful.

Weiss, appearing on this week’s “In the Trenches” podcast with host Jon Jansen, said he came to Michigan from the NFL's Baltimore Ravens earlier this year because of the talent in the quarterback room. Michigan concluded spring practice last Saturday with three scholarship quarterbacks — McNamara, early enrollee freshman J.J. McCarthy and redshirt freshman Dan Villari. Alan Bowman, a transfer from Texas Tech, will join the team before preseason camp.

McNamara started Michigan’s final game last season after Joe Milton, who transferred, started the first five. McNamara came in late in the second quarter and rallied the Wolverines from a 17-point deficit at Rutgers to win in triple overtime. He started the following week against Penn State, which was Michigan’s final game since the final three contests were canceled because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

“Cade is a guy who I think for everything people are going to say to criticize him, he’s a guy that’s going to end up playing 10 years in the NFL because you can say he’s not enough of this, not enough of that. But at the end of the day, he’s really smart, makes great decisions and processes things very fast, and his accuracy and arm strength are more than enough to win with,” Weiss said on the podcast. “He’s a guy that’s been awesome to work with. He’s extremely valuable to our team. He’s our starter. Love the fact we have him.”

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McNamara is the only Michigan quarterback with any game experience. McCarthy is a five-star recruit from Illinois who finished his high school career last season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

“Highly talented guy, arm strength, mobility, great athlete, all that stuff is obvious as soon as you step on the field with him,” Weiss said. “I’ve been even more impressed with his approach to things. His maturity is far beyond his years. Early in the spring, I asked him about his routine, how he gets ready for practice, how he gets ready for games, what he likes to do. With an 18-year-old, you’re kind of expecting not much to be there, and he went through his whole routine of how he clears his mind and does his shoulder exercises. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Man, can I get a copy of that?' For him, it’s just a question of when, not if."

Weiss was hired when a staff vacancy opened after the departure of linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary just as spring practice was set to begin.

“I’m learning the system, which is great for me because it’s totally foreign to me so I’m learning a lot of new stuff,” Weiss said of coordinator Josh Gattis’ offense. “At the same time, Jim (Harbaugh) is a visionary leader, and that’s part of the reason he wanted me here. You want diversity. People think of diversity and you want diversity of background and race, which is great and we have here, but you also want diversity of thought and that’s really important with every successful team.

“I’m trying to master this offense. Josh has been great. He’s a great coach. I’ve learned things from him I didn’t even know existed. I love the fact he emphasizes physicality and perimeter blocking. With me coming from the defensive side of the ball, it’s something I love and something not enough offensive coaches do at times.”

Weiss and the quarterbacks focused on details, like calling a play in the huddle, cadence and taking a snap from under center.

“We spent a lot of time doing the basics,” he said.

achengelis@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @chengelis