ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the first time since his brief appearance at the College Football Playoff semifinal postgame press conference, Michigan football quarterback J.J. McCarthy met with the media on Thursday.

Unlike this time last year, when he was limited with a shoulder injury, despite a competition with then-incumbent Cade McNamara, McCarthy is the star of the show, the veritable starter at the position. That means he has a much different approach.

He touched on several topics, including that, as well as the loss to TCU as well as what he’s looking forward to this upcoming season.

Here is everything he had to say.

Is he physically bigger?

Yes, sir. Yeah, I put on — was playing at like 193 last year, now I’m around like 207, 205 — fluctuating in that range. So yeah, Herb definitely did a good job and some outside influences for sure, too.

How is that going to help?

It’s just helped me with my growth — bigger, stronger, faster, every single year just trying to improve those areas of my game. And, yeah, I don’t know how it’s gonna improve it, but I know it’s gonna be for the better.

What are the 'J.J. things' that other players talk about?

Um, I can’t plan for it. That’s what I’ll say. Just unorthodox, but within the system, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn over the years is playing within the system. And letting those abilities come out when they need to.

Jim Harbaugh said the TCU game was a season in itself. How does he see it?

I think it was exactly that, like he couldn’t have said it better — is there’s so much you could learn from. I mean, especially like emotionally going through that game, like now I can have a reference point if there is a game where we’re down and we’re fighting and they just keep hitting us back with more counter punches. Like, I’ll know how to react to it, and I won’t let emotions take control like they did last time.

Difference between this spring and last spring

It’s been absolutely amazing. Like, just effortless. It feels like everything’s in harmony. And just like being able to be solidified as the guy like, it’s a complete honor. And I’m happy that I’ve worked to get that position. But it’s just been so much easier to be on the same page with the guys that I know on the throw to coming this season, and just building up the chemistry has been amazing. So definitely, this spring has been great.

Working with Kirk Campbell

I absolutely love Kirk, not just the fact that he’s a wizard in the pass game and with developing QBs, just because he’s a great friend, a great brother. And when you could have that relationship with the coach, they can push through so many limitations and exceed expectations with my growth and his. And that’s the thing, we feed off each other. And it’s really special, like just extremely grateful to have him here.

Donovan Edwards' performance against Ohio State

For sure. I mean, like everything that Donovan’s put on display, like throughout the entire year, same with Blake, it just shows to the work that they’ve put in, the God-given talent they have. And it just it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing to watch in person, just see it play out. And when it really matters. That’s what we talked about all the time here, you put in the work, but when it really comes down to it, are you going to show up? And just I feel like it gives both those guys enormous amounts of confidence going into this year, and being able to do the same thing again. So just amazing to have those boys.

How many times has he rewatched those runs?

We don’t like to dwell on it because we’re always like, what’s in the past is in the past, and we got to move on. And what’s the next best thing; ‘You’re only as successful as your last successful act.’ Phil Jackson right there. So we always harp on that. And he’s excited to make the next best two big runs that you guys have seen. So be on the lookout for that.

How much of an impact is it entering spring as the starter?

Tremendous, tremendous impact because it just feels like I have a solid foundation right now. And it’s so much easier to grow upon that foundation when it’s safe, secure and just being able to know where I’m at. There’s no like, I’m not in my head as much, everything’s happening so effortlessly now. And just with the preparation coming into the season, like we still have fall camp to prepare for, too, for the season. And it’s just going to do wonders for me. And I just can’t wait to see how the season plays out because of it.

Takeaways from the TCU game

I mean, good or bad experience, I’m always going to try to use it as fuel. And something like that, that’s just a lot of fuel that was added to the tank. So it propelled me and just an exponential growth this past offseason, and definitely reaping the benefits in spring ball right now.

When did he turn the page from TCU?

I mean, the page was turned once that clock hit zero because we got to focus on, ‘Alright, how are we going to prepare to beat a team like that coming a year from then?’ And yeah, it’s just as simple as, ‘Alright, what’s next? What are we going to do? How are we going to break this down and get better?’

Did he take time away after the TCU game?

We definitely took some time, took some time just to disconnect from football as a whole. Because we are all human beings and going through like an eight-month season, that takes a lot on you. Just every aspect of yourself. But after that week off, we just kind of dissected it, broke it down like OK, why did this happen? And we attacked it from every angle. So we figured out, just in our eyes, what was the reason and been hitting it since day one.

Will there be more balance with the passing game?

I’m not sure. I mean, there’s been talks of what it’s going to be. But I guess we just got to wait and see. Because there’s always been talks, but stuff changes. And we’ll just have to see throughout the season.

His emotions in the TCU game

I mean, I was trying to stay level-headed the whole time. But, when your first pass to the field, and it’s one of your first big throws of the game, and it goes back for six, like, oh, wow, alright, here we go. And it was just one of those moments where you just kind of, you can’t think about at that time, the team and you get so wrapped up in, oh, I just got six points for the other team. And my guys are looking at me like that, they’ll just be lost.

But it was just pretty much going through it play-by-play, next play. And, when we’re scoring like on that flea flicker, and we’re getting an interception,  emotions are going like crazy. But in those in those moments, just trying to stay as level-headed as possible. And now we have some more experience and learn from for the next time.

Reaction when the seniors announced their return

I couldn’t be happier because like, those are the guys that we need to win a national championship. Like they are some of the roots of our program, roots of our culture, and just being able to have them back, it’s an extreme blessing because they could go off and make their millions and go into the pros, but they decided to stay back and accomplish something that has been accomplished in a long time.

On the QBs behind him

They’re playing outstanding. Outstanding. Like from Davis, Jack was a great addition to the room. Alex and Denny, like Declan, Brandon has been back and forth with baseball, but they’ve just been playing so well. And we have such a great environment in there. And we’re bouncing off each other with ideas and advice and everything like that. And it’s just really awesome. It really is a special room.

Difference between Matt Weiss and Kirk Campbell

I would say it’s just — coach Weiss hit me with a more of a stoic approach of, OK, let’s break this down in meetings and all that. And Kirk was let’s break it down on the field right now and let’s get to the root of it right away. And he just has this live energy to him that we all gravitate towards. And he just, he’s very relatable to us. So it’s just really awesome. And then kind of just be open and vulnerable with him. And it makes it easier for us to grow because that’s the biggest place where you need to grow.

When did he notice that energy?

Yeah, from the get-go. I mean, he was definitely limited just because he was an analyst but I just felt it from him and just with every conversation we had and he helped a lot last year, too. So it’s been a pretty organic transition.

Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire