As Michigan football searches for next quarterback, Alex Orji knows what he has to do

For months now, the answers have been few and far between.

Questions have been posed to Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore, offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell and all of the quarterbacks involved in U-M's first battle for a starting signal caller since J.J. McCarthy was anointed over then-captain Cade McNamara after his Week 2 performance against Hawaii in 2022. No one has even hinted as to who will be the Wolverines' starting quarterback when the season kicks off against Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Big House (NBC).

In fact, when Moore was asked about it recently at a high school football camp in Detroit, he shut it down entirely.

"I'm not going to answer any questions on the quarterback situation," he said.

Despite no indications of who will be under center or a timeline for when that decision will be made, the requirements to earn the job have been made crystal clear since the spring, shortly after Campbell was promoted to Moore's old position.

"For me and the University of Michigan, (No.) 1 is the production on the field," Campbell said of what he will evaluate when making the decision. "They gotta be a low-turnover, high-completion player. There's stuff off the field that we're looking at. They're all great leaders, but who's the best guy to go out there and lead this team?

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"We were fortunate last year to have a guy that was outstanding at that, and we need to see the guy that can replace that."

While the official pecking order is being fully kept under wraps, that hasn't stopped the speculation, and as of early June, the presumptive starter is junior Alex Orji.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound former three-star recruit out of Sachse, Texas, served as a change-of-pace option behind McCarthy last season; he had 21 career carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns which included a career-long 20-yard dash against Ohio State.

Though Orji didn't attempt a single pass last year, he did get sacked once. He has completed only one attempt (his lone college throw) for five yards in a 59-0 win over UConn during his true freshman season.

But just because he hasn't been asked to move the ball through the air, doesn't mean he's not capable.

"I mean, it's pretty hard to play quarterback without throwing the football," Orji said last week, just before he served as a leader at Will Johnson's camp in Detroit. "(The) throwing aspect, Coach (Jim) Harbaugh once told us, as a quarterback, accuracy was gonna get you paid, accuracy was gonna get you a job.

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"All the extracurricular — all the other stuff — it's gonna keep your job. But at the end of the day, you're not anything without accuracy."

If there is an aspect that is as important as accuracy, it's leadership. That's not just what Orji told reporters is his focus, but it's what the leading returning wide receiver, Semaj Morgan, singled out to the Free Press last month at his own camp at West Bloomfield High School as what he would most like to see.

"Not trying to compare anybody to J.J. (McCarthy) but you know he was a great leader last year," Morgan said. "We all knew we could follow him and he would do his job. That’s what we need out of the quarterback this year."

For Orji's part, he knows as much.

Sure, going 13-for-18 passing for 103 yards and rushing in an 18-yard touchdown in the Maize & Blue scrimmage in April showed his ability to both take the safe throw underneath as well as use his legs to make a play, but it's Orji's demeanor (or whoever is under center) that will set the heartbeat of the team.

Orji has never been the voice in the quarterback room in Ann Arbor; he was seen as third in command last year behind McCarthy and Jack Tuttle (who is still in the mix for the starting role this season). Though he may now be the face of the program, that hasn't affected how he goes about his business behind the scenes.

"At the end of the day, nothing really changed as far as a preparation and an expectation standpoint for me," he said. "I just want to be the best that I can be. Same as in years past where there was the second thing. Third, fourth, first, eighth string, whatever it is, try to be the best quarterback that I can be to add value to the team.

"I think that it’s just, figuring out how everything shakes out, and finding a way to be the type of leader that, gets respect from the guys. It’s different for everybody. For a guy like Colston (Loveland), he became a leader in his room earlier than a guy like me. We had a leader in our room (McCarthy), who was the best leader of the nation, in my opinion. Whenever it happens, it happens and everyone can kind of feel it. But at the end of the day, it’s time to step up and time is now.”

That's why just like in recent offseasons, Orji has put in the work to earn his teammates' respect.

He trained both in Atlanta and Austin earlier this spring, with specific focuses when he was throwing routes. That's when Orji said there's an emphasis on mechanics; like inverting his hip and getting the association between the upper and lower half, and feeling the mechanics of the throwing motion.

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All he needed was a ball, a field and some cleats, he said, and he would go through his routine and make sure he hit all the checkpoints — two completions on a slant route from each spot, five completions on the out-route — before he could move onto his next target.

"Make sure you're not doing it til you get it right," he explained. "You're doing it until you can't get it wrong."

Improving passing acumen is about doing drills, repetition and muscle memory, Orji said. There's too much going on in a live game to worry about every little detail. Live snaps require a QB to revert to his training.

"Then, when bullets are flying, you don't have to think about it," Orji said. "It's second nature. It's the same thing with (basketball) shooters doing the same, thing they've got a stationary target they're just putting the ball through the net ... they got a basketball net, I've got Colston Loveland, so that's a pretty big target."

The defending national champions and three-time defending Big Ten champions, the Wolverines have somewhat flown under the radar after seeing more than 20 notable contributors from last year's team walk out the door.

But those who returned say this year's group has a chance, just like last year's team did, to do something special. Much of that starts with Orji, or whoever is anointed as McCarthy's successor.

The team needs a leader at quarterback and although it was just the summer, Orji sounded the part last week.

“I committed to the University of Michigan," he said. "I didn’t commit to being a starter. I committed here to support the University of Michigan. Try to give us the best chance to win and whatever I can do and try to add value to the team. It’s not a personal or selfish ideology when you come here at all.”

Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan QB Alex Orji focused on what he can control: The fundamentals