DETROIT — During his high school playing days in Texas, before he received any college scholarship offers, Michigan quarterback Alex Orji would hear from those who were more supportive of him switching positions than sticking with the one he loved.
“All the time,” Orji said before co-hosting a youth quarterback camp in Detroit with Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles last Sunday.
He is 6-foot-3, 236 pounds, an imposing sight behind center, and it was his size and athleticism that had so many suggesting he would see more playing time in college at a position other than quarterback. Orji, who was a three-star recruit from Texas, is now among the main contenders for the Wolverines’ starting job this fall now that J.J. McCarthy has moved on to the NFL. He said he owes this opportunity in large part to his resolve in high school and the support of his family and coaches to continue pursuing playing quarterback.
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“Just letting me know that I could do whatever I put my mind to,” Orji said. “It's been huge for me, and something that I've always passed along to whoever. There's a ton of kids out there right now that are at this camp and plenty of people are going to tell them they can't play quarterback, and one thing that always helped me out is that whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.
“At the end of the day, if you think you can do it, then go do it. If you think you can’t, you already lost the battle. It helped me out a lot. I got plenty of offers at other positions and plenty of interest doing other stuff and plenty of persuasion, but I think putting your foot down at a certain point and doing what you want to do and doing what you love is super important.”
Sophomore running back Ben Hall said Orji is authentic to himself, and that shows.
“Alex is just everything he does,” Hall said. “He's thorough. His processes are huge to him, and so when someone's telling you that they want you to do something else, he's sticking with it. He knows what he wants to do it his life. That's in everything he does. He's a dog in everything he does, and when he makes a decision to do something, he's gonna do it to the fullest of his capability.”
Jack Tuttle, coming off an injury and granted a seventh year of eligibility, did not participate in much of spring practice, but has starting experience from his time at Indiana. He is expected to be chief competition for the starting quarterback job with Orji and Davis Warren, who both practiced during he spring. Jayden Denegal, a sophomore, and freshman Jadyn Davis, an early enrollee, also will compete for the job.
There was some talk that perhaps Michigan would shop in the portal for a transfer quarterback, but Kirk Campbell, in his first year as offensive coordinator and second as quarterback coach, said after the spring he was happy with the group already in place. Orji said there’s a camaraderie in the quarterback room.
“Everybody that's been in there, a guy like Jack, who's been playing football for a ton of years, and a guy like Jadyn, who just got there, at the end of the day, we all have stuff to offer each other,” Orji said. “It’s awesome that we all want to see each other be the best quarterback possible, because at the end of the day, I don't think any of us really committed to being a starter in Michigan. We committed to just helping the Michigan football team win.”
Orji has been on the field in special situations and last year was in six games and had 15 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. For his career, he has 21 carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns. In the spring game, Orji was 13-of-18 passing for 103 yards and had five carries for two yards — he was sacked three times — and had an 18-yard touchdown for the Blue team’s only points in a 17-7 loss to the Maize team.
“I think that I was on a steady incline,” Orji said of his spring practice. “I think the whole offense was. I didn't really notice anybody on the team, especially the offense, that didn't get a lot better during the spring. I think it was a great opportunity for us to get around our new coaches and new roles and familiar faces, as well, and just be able to mesh together and combine to make a good offense.”
He was coming off the obvious high of the season shared by all his teammates after winning the national championship, but he also gained confidence with his increased role in Rose Bowl preparations as the Wolverines were getting ready to face Alabama. He is similar in size to Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, a quarterback Orji respected as they both came up the high school ranks in Texas. Orji led the scout team and was tasked with giving Michigan’s defense a good look at what it would be like facing Milroe.
In the end, while Orji did his job preparing the defense, it was his time facing Michigan’s top-rated defense that proved beneficial to his growth as a quarterback.
“There's never going to be a group like that again, trying to put balls around (defensive backs) Mike (Sainristil) and Will (Johnson); it's difficult,” Orji said. “Trying to run away from (tackles) Mason (Graham) and K.G. (Kenneth Grant) pisses me off to this day. So I think that it's definitely good to be able to go against a really good defense, but it's even better knowing that they're gonna be wearing the same jersey on Saturdays.”
He also took plenty from being around McCarthy and said there are lasting effects on the returning quarterbacks. They learned from watching him as a player and a leader. Orji and Denegal, his roommate, called McCarthy last week.
“Two rings in, boom, he's answering just updating us with whatever he's about,” Orji said. “The biggest things overall are knowing how to lead, knowing how to direct men, direct the people around you no matter what position you're in. He took on a number of various roles throughout his time here at Michigan, and he really stepped up to the plate with all of them.
“It was awesome the way that he handled everything, just being able to talk to him whenever, and he talks to everyone on the team. That's one thing that he really inspired everyone else to do is just be a man of the people. Be able to lead everybody. You're not just going to lead the quarterbacks or just lead the receivers or the offense. You got to be able to talk to everybody. That's just what it is when you're taking snaps, and then on the field, always being calm, cool and collected, always having a plan and knowing the game before the game, being able to have an idea of what's about to happen before you ever snap the ball.”
As Michigan and the rest of college football head toward preseason camp in the coming weeks, Orji said the quarterbacks have paid no attention to reports about the quarterback competition and who is suspected to be in the lead for the Wolverines.
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore and Campbell told reporters in June there’s no firm timetable for naming a starting quarterback. Orji said Sunday that those handicapping the race for the job don’t have all the information.
“It's pretty easy for the guys that are in the building, because we know what's going on,” Orji said of not getting caught up in preseason speculation. “I mean, the outside perception of media is what it is. People are going to say what they say, and sometimes they're going to be right, sometimes they're going to be wrong.
“I don't think it really has any bearing on our competition. I think we all go back to the facility, we work as hard as we can, work our tails off and compete with each other while trying to bring the best out of each other, because at the end of the day, we all individually want to succeed. We all want to be the starter, but ultimately, we want the best quarterback at the end of the camp, at the end of every practice, to go out there and take snaps on Saturdays. If you want to be an elite football program, we don't want to do it in a selfish way.”