Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Sunday that the quarterback competition between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey is not over yet.
With two weeks until opening kickoff, Notre Dame has yet to choose a starting quarterback.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said after Sunday’s scrimmage — the final scrimmage of fall camp — that the quarterback competition between redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey and redshirt freshman CJ Carr remains undecided. Minchey and Carr have been competing one-on-one since the end of spring practice, when redshirt junior Steve Angeli transferred to Syracuse.
The battle remains neck and neck, with both talented signal-callers making a compelling case for the top job.
“We’re still in a competition,” Freeman told reporters Sunday. “We’ll go back and evaluate today’s practice and make a decision. We have to make a decision here soon. I don’t know when we’ll make it. I don’t want to put a timeline on it. But they’ve both been playing really, really well.
“You’ve got two guys that have been battling all camp. Today was no different. Guys went out there and battled. There were some good things, some things we need to get improved. But the best thing I love is that they’ve both gotten better. And that’s the whole point of having a competition — you have a competition that can raise the level of the people in the competition. That’s what has happened. Both of those two have elevated their play.
“We’ll make a decision here soon.”
Blue & Gold senior writer Eric Hansen reported Wednesday that Freeman and his staff hoped to make a decision by Sunday, but if the choice was not clear, he was comfortable letting the competition continue. Evidently, the choice is not clear — at least before Freeman, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli have a chance to watch the film from Sunday’s scrimmage.
A traditional pocket passer at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Carr has shown the ability to throw to all three levels with accuracy and anticipation since he arrived at Notre Dame in December 2023. His most appealing trait might be his pocket presence, which allows him to extend plays and find downfield targets.
Minchey, on the other hand, is an improvisor with an elastic arm that gives him the ability to make pinpoint passes on the run. When he was a true freshman, then-Notre Dame linebacker JD Bertrandcalled him “Kenny Williams,” referencing the job he did emulating then-USC quarterback Caleb Williams on scout team as the Irish prepared for the Trojans.
While Carr is not a statue, Minchey is the superior runner and several outlets — including Blue & Gold — reported that the tiebreaker in the quarterback competition might go to the latter for that reason. Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has generally preferred dual-threat quarterbacks, from Desmond Ridder to Jayden Daniels to Riley Leonard.
No. 6 Notre Dame opens the 2025 season at No. 10 Miami in a standalone game on ABC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., with the eyes of the country fixated on a top-10 matchup.
The Irish must choose a quarterback by then, or risk a cloud of uncertainty hanging over a promising season.
This story will be updated.
Category: General Sports
