Notre Dame's quarterback competition: How will Irish decide CJ Carr vs. Kenny Minchey?

New York Times

3 days ago

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — At some point, probably during the next two weeks, Marcus Freeman will need to find answers on the practice field. Whether they're in the form of CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey doesn't matter, at least not yet. For now, the priority for Notre Dame's coaching staff is making sure they're asking the right questions of their potential quarterbacks.
Advertisement
Sometimes that means pushing that pair to failure, seeing how these quarterbacks without a meaningful snap to their name respond. Other times, that means putting them under classic pressure, why Notre Dame worked its two-minute offense on opening day. Every data point matters, and there's hardly a limit to the information Notre Dame wants to track before coming to a quarterback decision.
'To me, it's 50-50,' quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli said. 'Whoever the next two weeks has the best practices will be the starting quarterback. There isn't one guy that's coming in saying like, 'Right now, he's got the edge. Right now, he would be the guy.' It's a wide-open competition.
'The reps are going to be split right down the middle. Whoever puts together the most consistent training camp's gonna be the guy Week 1.'
No pressure, but this August decision might set the ceiling for January, whether the Irish can repeat last year's run through the College Football Playoff or whether they make it at all. That could overwhelm a young quarterback without game film, which is why no one inside the program wants to focus on a competition that could burn all of training camp's oxygen.
The staff could rather not consider a competition at all, acknowledging that the hyperfocus on who's QB1 probably isn't healthy for either of the contenders. During opening day, Carr threw three interceptions compared with Minchey's one, with some of those decisions 'catastrophic,' offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. For quarterbacks whose spring practices felt like jazz, that debut was a needle scratching the record.
Maybe it's putting a silver lining on a brutal stat line, but there can be progress in that failure.
'I think that's what fall camp is for, to come out here and push the ball down the field, see if you can fit a ball into a tight window, see if you can make the throws, see which guys can come up for you big time and make a big play on the outside, which DBs you can attack,' Carr said. 'Coming out of day one, I thought that although we had a bunch of turnovers and didn't protect the ball, and we need to continue to get better at that, I thought it was a really good day, explosively. We pushed the ball on the field. Guys were getting open.
Advertisement
'From the outside looking in, it's a different narrative than I think we feel.'
That depends on whom you ask.
'These last two days we've struggled,' Guidugli said. 'But we've got nowhere to go but up.'
If all goes to plan, Notre Dame's starting quarterback will reveal himself before training camp wraps and Miami prep begins in full. Freeman has a habit of saying the players decide position battles and consistency usually casts the deciding vote. There's also the matter of Carr's ability in the pass game being a cut above Notre Dame's recent quarterbacks, and the fact Minchey offers a mobility Denbrock has weaponized in recent playbooks.
As much as Notre Dame wants an honest competition, Carr and Minchey are different quarterbacks who can push Denbrock's offense in different directions. Nobody is ready to go there quite yet, though.
'Right now, it's more of, 'Hey, let's put them all in as many high-pressure, volatile, chaotic situations as we possibly can, and let's watch how they respond and then make sure we're picking the right guy,'' Denbrock said. 'We have full confidence in whichever one of those guys wins the job to lead this football team and do a good job of doing it.'
Among the tightropes Notre Dame will walk during camp with both quarterbacks is how much leeway the staff gives each. Denbrock said Carr and Minchey can make checks at the line, basically taking a good play and potentially making it a great one. The issue is that doesn't happen every time, and if it doesn't click on a Friday morning in South Bend, expecting it to happen on a Sunday night in Miami Gardens is a big ask.
There's a science to the perfect play call, but there's an art to knowing when it's better to accept good enough and just snap the ball.
'I think they understand how to fix certain problems,' Denbrock said. 'I think now it's an opportunity for us to put them in positions where they make a better decision as to whether to actually fix it or leave it be.
Advertisement
'And there's always a tendency — when you get into a little bit of a competition, especially at quarterback — where guys try to be too perfect at what they do instead of just letting it rip and let's just play.'
Working for Minchey and Carr as they rotate through the first team is the talent surrounding them. The offensive line should be among the better ones nationally. The running backs room might be the best. And the receivers group appears to be the best of Freeman's tenure, even if that's not a bold statement. How all that talent supports the quarterback might help decide who is QB1.
'Our quarterback hasn't started a college football game. And we've got a lot of guys that are surrounding him that have,' Guidugli said. 'And I think early in the season we gotta lean on those guys and not put all the pressure on the quarterback. Just not making every snap life or death on a quarterback decision.'
During Notre Dame's opening practice, it felt like every snap by Carr and Minchey held that kind of gravity, which isn't healthy for anybody. Then again, the quarterback job at Notre Dame with a CFP-talented roster surrounding it doesn't come open very often. And how Carr and Minchey perform during the next two weeks will determine QB1 and set the course for where this season is headed.
Again, no pressure. Other than all the pressure.
'I hope CJ goes out and plays his best. And I also hope that I go out and play my best. So it's not so much me versus him. We're both trying to be the best us that we can be,' Minchey said. 'It's less on me focusing about someone else and, trying not to sound selfish, but focusing on how I can be the best me I can be.'
'It doesn't really matter to me (when it's decided). Just hopefully before Miami.'
(Top photo of Marcus Freeman: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)