SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Steve Angeli swears he doesn’t even know which day of the week it is. That’s how consumed the sophomore quarterback has been by Notre Dame football’s preseason camp.
The days blur together with an endless cycle of meetings, workouts, practices, film breakdowns and meals. He’s probably spending more time in quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli’s office with his fellow quarterbacks on a daily basis than in his own bed.
“We're always in there, all four of us,” Angeli said Saturday following preseason practice No. 9. “We're a really close-knit group, so pretty much every minute of the day, we're in Gino's office. He has to step out of his office to take a phone call.”
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Notre Dame’s quarterback depth chart couldn’t be any clearer heading into the 2023 season. Wake Forest grad transfer Sam Hartman, the ACC’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns, is QB1. Angeli, who played seven snaps in two games last season, is Hartman’s backup. Freshman Kenny Minchey, who arrived in January as an early enrollee, is third string. Then walk-on sophomore Dylan Devezin, who wasn’t even on the team last season, is QB4.
Certainly, lessons trickle down from Hartman’s experience, but the reverse can happen too.
“It's a difficult situation when only one person in our room's able to take the field and be named the starter,” Angeli said. “But I think we all play a role in getting everybody to their best and getting everybody prepared. So, it's more of the behind the scenes work of being in there together and going through everything together, reading scripts, watching film. It's very collaborative. Only one guy is out there doing it on game day, but it really takes all four of us.”
In the spare moments when Angeli isn’t in Guidugli’s office, he’s likely hanging out with Hartman elsewhere. The New Jersey native has even tried his hand at fishing, a favorite hobby of Hartman’s in which Angeli had very little experience.
“It's been awesome having Sam,” Angeli said. “Being able to just ask him any questions that I have, he pretty much has an answer for every single one of my questions. He's played five years going on six years of college football, so he's seen almost everything there is.
“I'm pretty much attached to his hip every single day and just trying to gain and soak up any knowledge, his routine, just see what makes him so great and just see how he got to this place. But really, just having him as a friend and as a person has been really special as well. Just going through camp with him and everything that he's been able to teach me from a mental side to the physical side. His pointers and knowledge are extremely helpful.”
Guidugli challenged Angeli to shrink the gap between him and Hartman. It’s not realistic for the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Angeli to overtake the starting spot, but this preseason Angeli needs to prove he can be ready to play at a moment’s notice.
The first snaps of Angeli’s college career came due to an injury scare. He inserted an already lopsided game against UNLV on Oct. 22 when Drew Pyne needed to be evaluated for an injury. The first play was a direct snap to tight end Mitchell Evans for a one-yard touchdown sneak. Angeli took two more snaps before Pyne returned to action.
Angeli’s other game experience came a week later in the final four minutes of a 41-24 victory over Syracuse. He handed the ball off four times to set the Irish up for a 20-yard field goal with 1:58 remaining.
“It's really, really difficult to simulate game reps, situational score, just kind of the environment,” Angeli said. “So anytime I was able to get on the field and in a real game, it's been really valuable.”
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Angeli didn’t attempt a pass in either of his two appearances. That hopefully wouldn’t be the case if he was forced into the game in a tight spot this season. It’s up to Guidugli and offensive coordinator Gerad Parker to figure out what Angeli could handle if he’s needed to take over the reins.
“Would our offense change?” Guidugli said. “I’m sure it would change a little bit. We're going to do what Steve is best at doing, and tailor it to him, but he's got to be prepared to go in there and operate our offense.”
Angeli’s knowledge of the offense has been touted. So much so that he was helping Hartman along in the spring.
“Steve is way beyond his years,” Hartman said. “I always forget he’s a sophomore. I treat him like an older guy, so he sometimes gets mad at me. He’s grown a lot. He looks really good.”
Angeli focused on improving his ability to recognize defensive coverages throughout the offseason. He wants to have a command of the offense and the defense to allow him to get through more reads in his progression. Playing quarterback requires so much game management that Angeli needs to be able to process all of his knowledge quickly on the field.
He’s getting plenty of opportunities to prove it as the No. 2 quarterback. Those reps come with failure at times, but the experience should put him in a better position for Saturdays later this year.
“He threw a dumb pick [Saturday], but we’ll learn from it,” Guidugli said. “But he had a tremendous [Thursday] night at Mishawaka [High School]. And he's made a lot of steps.
“And him and Kenny are getting an unbelievable opportunity with us just having three scholarship guys in fall camp. Like invaluable experience for those guys, just to be able to get in there and get all the reps that they're getting right now and be able to put them in situations where they’ve got to do things versus live bullets and make decisions. Happy with his progress.”
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