ANN ARBOR, Mich. — J.J. McCarthy, Michigan's national-championship winning quarterback, is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
McCarthy made the announcement Sunday, a day after being begged to stay.
“The decision was not easy and how could it be — I love my teammates, I love my coaches and I love it here in Ann Arbor," he wrote on his social media accounts.
Jim Harbaugh might be the next to go.
Harbaugh will meet with the Los Angeles Chargers about their head coach vacancy this week, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the person wasn’t at liberty to publicly discuss personnel moves.
Besides the Chargers, Atlanta, Carolina, Las Vegas, Seattle, Tennessee and Washington have openings and at least some of those teams may have an interest in bringing Harbaugh back to the NFL.
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Many Michigan players have announced they're going pro, including senior running back Blake Corum, who potentially could have returned for a fifth season, and junior linebacker Junior Colson.
The Wolverines had a parade through town Saturday, winding their way to their basketball arena. When it was McCarthy's turn to talk to the sold-out crowd, a chant broke out as he stood and smiled.
“One more year! One more year!" the maize-and-blue clad fans shouted in unison.
The AP All-Big Ten quarterback completed 72.3% of his passes, ranking sixth, just ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU. He was ninth in the nation in passing efficiency.
McCarthy threw for 2,991 pass yards, ranking fourth in a single season at Michigan, and 22 touchdowns for the second straight season. He threw four interceptions, none over the last four games and was picked off only once after Week 3.
He was 27-1 record as a starter over two years, winning 96.4% of his games for the best mark by a quarterback with at least 20 starts since Toledo’s Chuck Ealey closed his career 35-0 in 1971.
Washington hires Fisch
Washington hired Arizona’s Jedd Fisch to succeed Kalen DeBoer as the next coach of the Huskies on Sunday. A person familiar with the deal told AP that Fisch had agreed to a seven-year contract that will pay him an average of $7.75 million annually.
Less than a week after playing for the national championship, the Huskies moved quickly to fill the vacancy created when DeBoer left for Alabama on Friday. DeBoer's contract called for a $12 million buyout paid to Washington if he left, and it will cost the school $5.5 million to hire Fisch, the person said.
Washington scheduled a news conference to introduce Fisch for Tuesday.
“Just can't wait to see you, meet you, meet our players. Let's go get that championship we've been talking about," Fisch said in a video message he posted on social media to Huskies Nation.
Fisch has received rave reviews for his work at Arizona. He took over a program in 2021 that had sunk to the bottom of the Pac-12, and had the Wildcats competing for a conference title in 2023. The 11th-ranked Wildcats finished 10-3, were third in the Pac-12 standings and beat Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.