SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Marcus Freeman knew Kenny Minchey would make a case for belonging in the conversation with former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard on the basis of athleticism.
“Kenny might argue with me that he's as good a runner as Riley,” the Notre Dame football head coach said Wednesday, “but I don't know.”
Minchey, a junior-to-be quarterback for the Irish, admitted that last year he joked with Leonard, who broke ND’s single-season rushing touchdowns record for quarterbacks with 17, about it. But they never lined up for a race, and Minchey said the may have the same level of athleticism.
“I think we might tie,” Minchey said Friday of a hypothetical race with Leonard.
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The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Minchey might be more athletic than the other two contenders in this year’s quarterback competition, senior-to-be Steve Angeli and sophomore-to-be CJ Carr, but he’s also someone quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli has previously described as a gunslinger. Guidugli also described Minchey as a “really accurate passer” on Friday.
“Personally, I would say the accuracy and I’m trying to work on my decision-making,” Minchey said of what he hopes sets him apart in the quarterback competition. “Playmaking ability, which could tie into athleticism.”
Minchey has been statistically accurate in his very limited playing time at Notre Dame. He completed all three of his pass attempts for 16 yards while appearing in four games the past two seasons. He also rushed twice for 12 yards and one touchdown. Minchey’s accuracy goes back to his days at Pope John Paul II High in Hendersonville, Tenn., when he completed 67.7% of his passes (67-of-99) for 1,042 yards and 15 touchdowns with one interception while playing in just six games as a senior due to a shoulder injury.
Minchey wants to be able to pair his athleticism and accuracy together by making throws on the move when necessary.
“From a quarterback’s perspective, it’s all about your mechanics and it’s something you have to work on,” Minchey said. “One small movement of the way your shoulders are tilted or the way your hips are angled, the ball could sail or go in the dirt.
“It’s all about being comfortable and trying to stick to your mechanics when throwing on the move, which is a very hard thing to do. Some guys make it look easy, but it’s very difficult.”
Minchey doesn’t lack arm strength either. He estimated he could throw the ball roughly 70 yards, but he hasn’t tried to throw his farthest in more than a year. The last time he did so may have been messing around with former Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman in 2023.
Guidugli pointed to 2023 when Minchey was a freshman as a reason for Minchey being ahead of the curve. Notre Dame was down to just three scholarship quarterbacks — Hartman, Angeli and Minchey — after Tyler Buchner transferred to Alabama that summer and fall. That allowed Minchey to take practice reps that Guidugli suggested most true freshmen don’t typically receive.
“Mentally, Kenny’s on it now,” Guidugli said. “We do a script review every practice in our meeting before we walk out. Kenny’s the guy who’s gonna come in, and when the coach is making a mistake on the script, he’s gonna be the first one to say, ‘Hey, on Play 12, is that supposed to be —’ ‘No, Kenny, you’re right. That was supposed to be this.’”
Minchey trusts that Guidugli will continue to help develop his game, too.
“With three springs in a row, he knows where I started and where I’ve come to. He knows small mistakes that maybe I was making my first spring and if I make that mistake out here, he’s easy to correct that,” Minchey said. “We’re not trying to go back to old habits.
“Also building that connection over the past two years, if he’s getting on me about something, I know it’s coming from a good place.”
As Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock continues to evolve the Irish offense, Minchey sees himself as a quarterback who can help achieve the bigger goals.
“You hear him at practice and in the film room. You know he wants us to take shots,” Minchey said. “He wants us to push the ball down the field because you have to do that to be successful in college football. With some plays we have — allowing us as quarterbacks to move around and read some of the defensive linemen, get around on the edge and I feel that suits me pretty well.”
Like Angeli and Carr, Minchey downplayed the idea that there’s any discomfort among the trio of competitors. They’re all trying to get better together rather than focusing on beating each other.
“It’s never something we’re talking about,” Minchey said. “We’re all friends. We hang out outside of the field, outside of The Gug (Guglielmino Athletics Complex). There’s no tension, at least from my perspective. We’re all friends and we happen to be competing for the same position.”
Notre Dame’s coaching staff has intentionally mapped out a plan to get all three quarterbacks an equal amount of first-team reps in spring practice. Minchey took some first-team reps during ND’s winter program, which helped prepare him for the first-team reps he received in practice last week.
“At the beginning, it was like, ‘Oh, crap. First team. It's getting real,’” Minchey said Friday. “Today, taking first team reps it felt a lot more comfortable.”
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