College Football

J.J. McCarthy's 2020 tweet goes viral after Michigan wins national championship

Published Jan. 9, 2024 5:33 p.m. ET

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On Nov. 14, 2020, Michigan was blown out by Big Ten rival Wisconsin by a score of 49-11, dropping the Wolverines to 1-3 on the pandemic-shortened season. Questions were swirling about former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh's tenure as head coach at his alma mater. The Wolverines would finish 2-4, the type of season that often makes committed recruits to a college program reconsider those commitments. 

But on Nov. 15, one day after that loss, then-five-star quarterback recruit and Michigan commit J.J. McCarthy took to social media to not only reaffirm his belief in Michigan and Harbaugh, but to urge fans to keep believing as well.

It was impossible to know then how true those words would become. Harbaugh survived that season, but not before taking a contract restructured to be lower-paying and incentive-heavy and changing out much of his coaching staff. McCarthy kept his commitment, arrived on campus as planned and eventually took over the starting quarterback job early in the 2022 season.

The rest is history. Michigan beat archrival Ohio State, won the Big Ten championship and reached the College Football Playoff in each of McCarthy's three years on campus, with McCarthy as the starting quarterback for the final two of those years. On Monday, McCarthy and Harbaugh realized their goal of helping bring Michigan back to the top of college football, defeating Washington 34-13 in the College Football Playoff Championship Game to win the school's first national title since 1997 and first undisputed national title since 1948.

McCarthy has not necessarily been an elite signal-caller amid an extremely balanced Michigan team that saw two running backs, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, each run for two touchdowns and over 100 yards while McCarthy only threw for 140 yards and no scores. 

But Harbaugh has been effusive in his praise for the quarterback, calling him the greatest signal-caller in Michigan history after the Wolverines' Rose Bowl triumph over Alabama on Jan. 1. That praise was echoed by none other than fellow former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady.

McCarthy's 2020 tweet went viral in the aftermath of Michigan's championship-sealing win Monday, as Michigan fans marveled at how he had helped make his own words come true.

"This is the single greatest shot call in the social media era of college sports," one fan said.

"This is going to go down as the greatest tweet in Michigan history," another gushed.

How Michigan's winning culture played a key factor in the Wolverines' National Championship run

"It really is wild that he actually did it," another fan said.

"This is why you play the game," another said.

Another fan called for a print-out of the tweet to be framed and hung in Schembechler Hall, Michigan's football headquarters.

As many fans pointed out, Michigan is 40-3 since McCarthy joined the team, one of the greatest runs in program history. There is speculation that McCarthy could be a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft if he chooses to go that route, but that is still to be determined.

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