The biggest question of the offseason for Notre Dame football will be who wins the starting quarterback job ahead of the 2025 season.
The conversation even trumps Notre Dame replacing defensive coordinator Al Golden, who left for the Cincinnati Bengals and was named the Broyles Award winner as the best assistant coach in college football last season, with Chris Ash. The defensive coordinator transition could play as big of a role in Notre Dame’s success in 2025, but it’s not as buzzworthy as a good ole fashioned quarterback competition.
The battle to replace Riley Leonard, who’s off to the NFL after one season at Notre Dame and three previously at Duke, will start in earnest when spring practices begin after the Irish return from spring break later this month. But the fight to gain insight on who will become the next starter is already underway.
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Several former Notre Dame players at the NFL Scouting Combine were asked last week about the future of Notre Dame’s quarterback position. Getting them to choose sides might be harder than predicting the outcome.
Notre Dame is returning three scholarship quarterbacks from last year’s roster: senior-to-be Steve Angeli, junior-to-be Kenny Minchey and sophomore-to-be CJ Carr. Freshman Blake Hebert joined the Irish in December and was able to get some playoff practices in as an extra early enrollee.
The former Irish players certainly have a better understanding of what Angeli, Minchey and Carr bring to the table than Hebert.
“Those are all ballers,” former Notre Dame wide receiver Beaux Collins said of the returning trio. “I feel like it’s gonna be a tough decision for the coaches up there at Notre Dame just to see who starts the season off and things like that. I feel like this spring they’re gonna battle their tails off and try to prove who deserves it, for sure. I think highly of every single one of those dudes. I just can’t wait to see who steps out on the field.”
The confidence in the talent of Notre Dame’s quarterbacks was shared by Leonard and former Irish tight end Mitchell Evans. The 6-foot-2, 208-pound Angeli is the experienced one the group with 21 game appearances in the last three seasons, including a start in the 2023 Sun Bowl and an important mid-game appearance in January’s College Football Playoff semifinal win over Penn State at the Orange Bowl. He accumulated a career passing line of 58-of-80 (72.5%) for 772 yards and 10 touchdowns. He rushed 17 times for 36 yards, a total that’s been limited by taking seven sacks.
Minchey (6-2, 207) played in four games the past two seasons with three completions on all three of his attempts for 12 yards. He also rushed twice for 12 yards and one touchdown. Carr (6-3, 210) made just one game appearance last season, in which he handed the ball off three times and took one kneel to end the 66-7 win over Purdue. He was sidelined with an elbow injury for much of the season.
“One, the Notre Dame quarterback room’s in good hands,” Evans said. “Whoever is gonna be the guy next year going into the fall, the team’s going to be good.
“Steve’s been there for as long as I can remember. He’s a dog. He’s been through the rough. Whenever his number’s been called, he’s been reliable. He’s been dependable. If he gets a shot, Notre Dame will be in good hands.
“Kenny, he’s an all-around great athlete, great player. It’s kind of hard to game plan against him. He’d be another version of kind of Riley in a sense. If he gets a shot to go, then Notre Dame will be good.”
“CJ, he’s a young prodigy. There’s a lot of talk about him. I kind of believe it seeing the way he works, seeing the way he handles himself. When his number’s called, too, it will be in good hands.”
Leonard wanted to express his appreciation for each of them before offering some mild thoughts about the trio. Above all, he believes they’ll support each other through the competition.
“I could go on and on about all three of those guys,” Leonard said. “Honestly, when I think about the Notre Dame quarterback room right now, I think about their football talents after 10 minutes of thinking about each person. Our group was the closest group that I’ve probably been around.
“Those guys really changed my life in a lot of different ways. I owe them the world. To be a transfer quarterback to come in there, for them to accept me the way that they did kinda means the world to me. But, yeah, each guy’s got a special trait to them.
“Steve, obviously, everybody loves Steve. He’s an outstanding person, outstanding football player. I hope y’all don’t twist these. Every single one of them can start. Kenny, freak athlete who knows a lot of ball. He’s just a football guy. Then CJ as well is a football guy. Huge competitor.
“So all those guys are going to be really rooting for each other, because we’re so close. Somebody’s gonna have to come out on top, but at the end of the day we’re all just rooting for each other and the best version of Notre Dame.”
Other Notre Dame players who drew praise
• Former Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison warned everyone last preseason that then-freshman cornerback Leonard Moore would be better than Morrison, who received many Freshman All-American accolades in 2022. Moore made Morrison look brilliant by becoming a Freshman All-American himself and even being named the Football Writers Association of America’s Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.
Moore’s ascension was made possible by Morrison’s season-ending hip injury six games into the season, which pushed Moore into a role as a full-time starter. What did Morrison see early on?
“He just reminded me a lot of myself,” Morrison said. “He came in with his head on straight, head down, wasn’t trying to be someone he wasn’t.
“He will be up here in two years. I’m gonna say this: He’ll probably be the best cornerback in that draft class. His preparation speaks for himself. For him to come do what he did this year was truly remarkable.
“I’m so proud of that kid. Being able to be his roommate and being a small little part of all the success he had truly brought me a lot of joy.”
Morrison isn’t looking to take credit for Moore being prepared as a freshman.
“If he had a question, I’m gonna answer. But I’m not gonna overstep,” Morrison said. “He was already well-trained before he got to Notre Dame. It wasn’t anything I did or Coach [Mike] Mickens did right away. He had the foundation, and he had the willingness to learn and take it to the next level.”
• The freshman who impressed Beaux Collins the most was Anthonie Knapp, who started the first 15 games at left tackle before being sidelined with an ankle injury. As for the toughest player Collins saw in practice, that honor went to linebacker Jaylen Sneed.
“He’s relentless,” Collins said. “He practices how he plays. Just full speed to the ball at all times.”
• Two-time All-America safety Xavier Watts wasn’t quite willing to make any bold statements about who will step in as a starting safety alongside Adon Shuler with Watts off to the NFL. The Irish brought in Virginia Tech’s Jalen Stroman as a graduate transfer to compete for a starting role with the likes of juniors-to-be Luke Talich and Ben Minich, sophomores-to-be Tae Johnson and Kennedy Urlacher and more.
“Luke Talich will be a good guy,” Watts said. “Ben Minich, those are good guys. And then I know they got some transfers, so I don't know what's going to go on out there. I'm not the coach no more. I'm not up there, but obviously I want to see those guys succeed."
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