Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman is keeping it simple for team's QBs

It's going to be an interesting season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and head coach Marcus Freeman.

Notre Dame is coming off an incredible season that saw the Irish not just make the College Football Playoff, but advance all the way to the national championship game.

The Irish ultimately lost to Ohio State, 34-23, and now Freeman's program has the tough task of rebounding from that loss in 2025.

Making matters even tougher for the Irish is the fact that quarterback Riley Leonard, who led that CFP push, is now in the NFL. His backup, Steve Angeli, is also no longer with the program as he transferred to Syracuse.

That means the Irish are heading into 2025 with a brand new quarterback, but that player has not yet been named.

It's going to come down to redshirt freshman CJ Carr, the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, and redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey.

The two will do battle in camp and ultimately, one will come away as the starter. And yes, it's absolutely going to be interesting to see which way this shakes out, but in the here and now, Freeman at least knows what he's looking for.

No matter how the quarterback battle goes, Freeman is looking for each quarterback to play their own game.

“You want them to really just be the best version of themselves,” Freeman said Thursday on ESPN's "SportsCenter" (h/t On3). "Play within the offense and the scheme of what we ask them to do, take care of the football, make good decisions and have answers. We want to make sure they’re seeing things, they have answers, they can tell us why."

Both quarterbacks are inexperienced. Carr doesn't have a snap to his name at the college level, though he is a former four-star recruit, ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in the 2024 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Minchey has thrown only three passes since 2023, though to be fair to him, he did complete them all. He also notched a rushing touchdown in 2024.

There could be pressure on both of these young players to take over, be a leader in the locker room and play well above their experience level when the hits actually mean something.

One will lead Notre Dame into its next chapter, but Freeman doesn't see this as a reason to feel pressure.

After all, it's just football.

"Just go out there and play," Freeman said.