JJ McCarthy was a 5-star recruit out of the state of Florida and committed to the University of Michigan in 2019.

McCarthy finished his career at Michigan with a 27–1 record (.964) as the starting quarterback, the third-best winning percentage by a quarterback in college football history and the best by any college quarterback since 1971. Jim Harbaugh said that McCarthy is the greatest quarterback in Michigan football history, which Tom Brady agreed with.

McCarthy was selected by the Minnesota Vikings tenth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.