Notre Dame Football Quarterback Competition Is Underway

Notre Dame’s three-man quarterback competition is underway this spring. Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr began their official auditions for the 2025 starting job when the Fighting Irish opened their spring practice schedule on Wednesday inside the Irish Athletic Center and afterward Irish head coach Marcus Freeman discussed what the plan to select the next starter will entail over the next three weeks.

“I don't know if there's a perfect science that I'm going to be able to tell you right now that this is exactly how we're going to do it,” Freeman explained. “But the general theme of it's they're all going to get reps with the ones they're all going to get reps that we split. I'm talking Kenny, Steve and CJ. They're going to split reps and each day could be different, but it's important for us to communicate with them beforehand and no matter if they like what group they're going with or not, which it shouldn't matter, that we're upfront and honest with them and then we give them feedback after each practice.”

Wednesday’s first spring practice spanned just a little more than an hour, with roughly the first half of it open to media viewing. The brief window shed no real light on what shapes up to be a wide-open competition over the next few weeks. The three signal-callers warmed-up during the first two of four open practice periods and then threw short passes to running backs in period three and both short and intermediate passes to receivers and tight ends in the fourth and final period that was open for viewing.

“They've all got great arms,” Freeman said when asked to name the strengths of each of his quarterbacks. “They all can throw the ball. One's a senior (Angeli) that has been here that has experience. One's been here going into a second year (Carr) and one's going into his third year (Minchey). Is that a strength or a weakness? I don't know. That's to be determined. I think all three have the ability to extend plays with their legs. They all three make really great decisions. There's nothing I'm going to say right now to say, 'Hey, they're separated.' Those three are competing and I look forward to the competition and at the end of the day, when one clearly shows that he's the best person to lead our offense, then he'll be named a starter.”

With 245 career snaps to his credit, Angeli is the most experienced of the group. He played 103 total snaps last season, with the bulk of them coming in blowouts of Purdue (24) and Stanford (21). Minchey and Carr each took far fewer game reps than Angeli but each of them bring their own strengths to the competition that could mean subtle tweaks to the Fighting Irish offense.

“I would think they all have similar skillsets, right,” Freeman remarked. “Kenny might argue with me that he's as good as a runner as Riley (Leonard), but I don't know. I think they all have similar skillsets with the ability to throw it. The ability if they need to keep the ball in their hands and extend the play or have an option to run the ball, they can. As we look at it from the big picture is 'OK, we knew what Riley's strengths were, we knew what Sam Hartman's strengths were. Now we have an idea of what the collective group in that room the strengths are, and so how do we tailor what we do offensively to fit the quarterback and what are we going to ask that guy to do?' 

"You've heard me say it many times, great coaches call or ask their players to do what they do well," Freeman continued. "It is not a play call that you created. It's calling what your guys do well. And that's the objective of the spring is how can we tailor what we do offensively and call things that we believe our quarterback can perform well?”

Each quarterback also enters the competition on fairly even footing thanks to coaching consistency. Angeli had three offensive coordinators over his first three seasons and Minchey had two in his first two years. Mike Denbrock is now entering his second season as Irish OC, meaning all three QBs have played for him for a year and they have the consistency with their quarterbacks coach as well.

“Coach (Gino) Guidugli's third year, too,” Freeman commented. “So that camaraderie, that consistency is important. I think it's going to help everybody enhance faster. We've really, really preached the details of our offense. How do we continue to enhance the details of our offense? Well, you're not enhancing the details if you ain't got a great foundation. Well, we do have a great foundation, so now they're able to enhance the details of our offense. So, it's exciting. It's definitely an added benefit knowing that you have consistency in your coordinator, but you're also have consistency in your quarterback's coach.”

After going to the transfer portal to bring in Hartman and Leonard the last two years, Freeman will have just the second home grown starting quarterback in his Irish tenure. It will also be just the second quarterback recruited and signed out of high school by the Irish since 2019.

Who ultimately wins the job will be an important decision for Freeman, Denbrock and Guidugli but it is also not a decision that the head coach is willing to rush.

“We'll name a starter when a starter clearly shows that he's the best quarterback,” Freeman explained. “I don't want to put a timetable on (it) and I refuse to do that. To me, if you don't have a decision made by then, it's going to frustrate you and there's no need to put a timetable on it. You let those guys compete and when a starter is determined, we're going to announce it. But again, I'm excited. I truly love competition. I think it's going to make all three of those guys better.

“It is the first true competition with three guys that I've been a part of,” Freeman continued. “But I think it's going to be a fair competition. I know it's going to be a fair competition. I'm really excited for it and looking forward to seeing how everyone in that room enhances, but also at some point somebody's going to be named a starter.”

The Fighting Irish have a total of 15 practices this spring from now through early April. Spring culminates with the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium on April 12.