[Notre Dame football names CJ Carr starting quarterback]
Carr beat out redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey, who will assume the backup quarterback role. Carr also beat out redshirt junior Steve Angeli, who transferred to Syracuse, in spring practice. The youngest participant came out on top in Freeman’s first legitimate quarterback battle since becoming head coach in 2022.
Carr committed to Notre Dame over Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan State and LSU on June 9, 2022. Since that day, the Saline (Mich.) High product has been considered the quarterback of the future in South Bend, ranking as the No. 6 quarterback player and No. 68 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class. On Sunday, that vision became reality.
Due to a September elbow injury, Carr only played in one game during his true freshman season. He will enter Week 1 with zero pass attempts at the college level.
A traditional pocket passer at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Carr has shown in practice settings the ability to throw to all three levels with accuracy and anticipation since he arrived at Notre Dame in December 2023. His most appealing trait might be his pocket presence, which allows him to extend plays and find downfield targets.
While Carr is not a statue, Minchey is the superior runner and many outlets — including Blue & Gold — reported that the tiebreaker in the quarterback competition might go to the latter for that reason. Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has generally preferred dual-threat quarterbacks, from Desmond Ridder to Jayden Daniels to Riley Leonard.
For Carr to win the competition, he had to prove his skills as a passer were too good to pass up. Evidently, he did. Notre Dame named him the starter two days after its jersey scrimmage, during which he and Minchey split reps with the first-team offense.
“We’ll go back and evaluate today’s practice,” Freeman said. “Make a decision. We’ve got to make a decision here soon. I don’t know when we’ll make it. I don’t want to put a timeline on it. But they’ve both been playing really, really well.”
The Carr era begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 31, against Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. It will be a standalone game on ABC, so the eyes of the country will rest upon No. 13 in blue and gold.
