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USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Did Notre Dame football tease its starting defensive during Sunday's scrimmage?
As every college football program has to deal with turnover each season, Notre Dame football may have given everyone a preview of who will start on defense when the team opens play on the road against Miami. A full-team scrimmage took place on Sunday and The Athletic's Pete Sampson shared who was out with the first-team defense. Starting with the defensive line, it was Joshua Burnham, Jason Onye, Donovan Hinish, and Boubacar Traore. It's all new full-time starters here, but many of them have play an extensive amount in their careers. Another promising aspect of this group is that it looks like Traore has fully recovered from his ACL injury suffered last fall. The second-team consisted of Junior Tuihalamaka, Gabriel Rubio, Bryce Young and Jared Dawson. Expect all four of these linemen to get plenty of run this fall even though they aren't considered starters right now. The linebackers were Drayk Bowen, and Jaylen Sneed, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Bowen was the starter last fall, and Sneed has been coming on during camp and looks to have taken an early lead over Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Jaiden Ausberry. With a two-linebacker rotation, you're going to see plenty of these top four during the season. As for the secondary, the first-team was Leonard Moore, Christian Gray, DeVonta Smith, Luke Talich and Adon Shuler. This group looks like one of the best in the country, and it was a bit surprising that Smith and Talich were with the 1's. The second-team was Dallas Golden, Mark Zackery, Jalen Stroman, Tae Johnson and Carson Hobbs. This group could start at many other top programs. The depth is impressive along the defense, as it is expected that there shouldn't be much drop off with a change at defensive coordinator from Al Golden to Chris Ash. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
CJ Carr had a rocky start in his pursuit for the Notre Dame starting quarterback job
Notre Dame football started its fall camp today, and all three of our staff members believe that CJ Carr will win out the quarterback competition over Kenny Minchey. However, by a report from Pete Sampson of The Athletic, Carr did not have a great first practice. The second-year player threw three interceptions, while seeing Minchey take a good amount of reps with the first-team offense. You can look at this two different ways, the Irish have a great secondary, with multiple playmakers or that Carr has some nerves with so much riding on the first practice. I'm going to say it had a lot to do with the defensive backs as Sampson also pointed out, but if he does want to win the job, he's going to have to do a much better job protecting the ball. The race between Carr and Minchey is one that many across the nation have eyes on, and it won't just be decided after the first official practice of the fall. Sampson also noted that others stood out like tight end Eli Raridon and defensive lineman Joshua Burnham, with running back Jeremiyah Love, safeties Tae Johnson and Adon Shuler also looking great during the opening day. However, since all eyes will be on the quarterback battle, it's a much bigger story that Minchey was getting more of the first-team reps and Carr having a bad day. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame QB CJ Carr didn't have a great first fall practice
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What does Steve Angeli's transfer say about Notre Dame's QB future, philosophy?
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — You have quarterback questions. How could you not? Steve Angeli's departure via the transfer portal puts a different spin on Notre Dame's offseason and may change where this fall (and winter) could take the Irish. Let's get into those questions and more in this week's Notre Dame mailbag. (Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.) Advertisement If it were (highly-paid) head coach Pete Sampson, how would you prioritize these in choosing the starting quarterback? 1. Best QB in spring/late summer practices 2. Best chance to win against Miami 3. Best chance to win a national championship this season 4. Highest ceiling individually moving forward, even beyond this season 5. Least likely to cause more than one of the other QBs to head for the transfer portal immediately — Michael M. Wait, have you not endowed my position? Am I not Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Pete Sampson? What kind of operation are we running here, Michael? As for your question, I thought this was straightforward in terms of what matters most and what matters least, with one exception. 1. Best chance to win a national championship this season: The whole point of Notre Dame football is to win a national championship. And I'm in the camp that believes Notre Dame needs an exemplary quarterback to do that. Not a game manager. Probably not even Ian Book, who was a playmaker and won 30 games as a starter. The Irish need more than that. So if you think you've got that on the roster for this season, that's the quarterback you start. The hunch is that Marcus Freeman believes the same, which is why Angeli's departure should be seen as a positive message about CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. 2. Best chance to win against Miami: In reality, this means the best quarterback on the roster on Aug. 31. Would experience help make that quarterback the best option? Yes. Is it a deal breaker or deal maker? No. Freeman started a freshman tackle and redshirt freshman guard at Kyle Field last year. He'll bet on talent to figure it out, even if that talent is young. Before spring practice, I thought Angeli's experience — not just in games but also from being QB2 in practice for two years — would carry him to the starting job at Miami. After watching a scrimmage and spring game, it became clear that experience alone wouldn't be enough. Advertisement 3. Best in spring/summer practices: I thought about putting this fourth and then realized the signal that picking potential over production (even in the offseason) would send to the roster. This gets lost among fans looking for the next big thing. Whether that's Tyler Buchner, Phil Jurkovec, Brandon Wimbush or any other top-100 talent at quarterback … you have to do it on the practice field before the staff can choose to put you in the games. Because you know who knows who's having a great spring or summer? Everybody else on the roster. For a coaching staff to ignore that in favor of potential threatens its credibility with the players. 4. Highest ceiling: I get it. Every top quarterback recruit has it. And potential is undefeated in the offseason and easily rationalized during games when it doesn't all come together. Just give him more reps! Maybe he's just a gamer! Could 247, Rivals and On3 be wrong? Turns out, yes. The highest ceiling is nothing more than a recruiting ranking from a group of analysts who are wrong more than they're right when it comes to quarterbacks. Just look at the 2022 class. 5. Least likely to make other quarterbacks transfer: Everybody can transfer whenever they want. No sense in making a decision based on something you can't control. Will the coaches feed Jeremiyah Love enough carries to make him a Heisman contender? Should they? — Andrew S. No and no. It's worth remembering three running backs have won the Heisman Trophy in the past 20 years: Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry. Those three averaged 315 offensive touches in their Heisman Trophy-winning seasons, which doesn't include Bush getting 46 additional touches on kick and punt returns. For the sake of comparison, Love got 191 offensive touches last season, meaning we'd be talking about a 50 percent jump in usage for a player who's had a run of injuries in the past six months. Advertisement If you're looking for a more recent comparison, Ashton Jeanty got 397 offensive touches for Boise State last season, more than double what Love got at Notre Dame. Jeanty finished runner-up to Travis Hunter. So, would Notre Dame feature Love enough to keep him in true Heisman Trophy contention? Probably not. Would Love's body hold up if the coaching staff tried it? Probably not. The best shot for Love to be a Heisman contender is a combination of otherworldly games against Miami and Texas A&M early to set the stage for the season, plus Notre Dame running the table into the College Football Playoff. Love's candidacy would have to be built on singular moments more than statistical volume because he's unlikely to get that level of work. I'm sick and tired of hearing about the transfer portal! It's ruining college sports! You recruit, develop and then a player leaves for more money. I am losing interest in college sports, and it's being caused by the portal and NIL money. Look what it's done to the women's basketball team. You recruit, develop and then they walk away for bigger bucks. I'm sick of hearing about it! And I think it's time for me to put my money spent on sports to better use! — Terry M. Is there a question in here? Hope you enjoyed Riley Leonard's touchdown pass to Beaux Collins, RJ Oben's strip sack and Jayden Harrison's kickoff return touchdown against Georgia. Or maybe Mitch Jeter's game-winning field goal against Penn State. What is your read on how Pete Bevacqua is doing to ensure Notre Dame has a 'seat at the table' for playoff or other broad college football discussions? It seems like that was one of Jack Swarbrick's biggest strengths as AD and is more important now than ever. — James M. I wouldn't call this my biggest concern when Bevacqua took over for Swarbrick, but it was one of my bigger questions. This is where that one year Bevacqua spent shadowing Swarbrick probably paid the biggest dividends. If there were relationships Bevacqua needed to make on the political side of the sport, those relationships were formed before Notre Dame's athletic director was in his new role. I think Swarbrick and Bevacqua may be described in similar terms as Notre Dame ADs. One was an attorney working during a moment of unprecedented legal change in college athletics. Notre Dame wasn't guaranteed to have a seat at the table when Swarbrick arrived on the job, but he worked to strengthen relationships with Bob Bowlsby, John Swofford and Mike Slive to not only maintain Notre Dame's independence but set up some of the sport's future rules that further strengthen it. Bevacqua arrived at a time when understanding the media landscape, particularly Notre Dame's relationship with NBC, is paramount. It's hard to think Notre Dame could have done better here, never mind Bevacqua's longstanding relationship with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who spent a decade at CBS in a similar role to Bevacqua at NBC. With the revenue stresses on college athletics, a committed media partner is arguably more important than ever before. Notre Dame has an athletic director who understands both sides of that reality better than most. Advertisement Is Notre Dame finally selling booze at sporting events to fill the revenue gap in the athletic department that will come with the House settlement? Will they make $20 million from alcohol sales? — James M. I don't think it's as simple as creating one new revenue stream to meet one new revenue expense. Everything in college athletics is getting more expensive, including the facilities under construction for Notre Dame football, never mind Freeman's new contract, plus the new contracts for the Irish coaching staff. There's a budget to balance. Selling $20 million in alcohol — if every fan at all seven home games bought four $10 beers, the total would come close — is a stretch. But every bit of revenue helps in a world where expenses are spiraling annually. Entering the spring, you said that this year's team felt like a 10-2 roster that should be a contender to make the CFP. Do you still feel that way? — Chris K. I do, although I wonder if 'contender' may prove to be underselling it. Before spring practice began, my theory was that Angeli would open the season as the starting quarterback before Freeman eventually moved to Carr. My hunch was Notre Dame would lose to either Miami or Texas A&M, the offense would appear too limited with Angeli, and the Irish would turn to Carr in search of an offensive spark, which he'd provide. Notre Dame's offense would grow into the season, Freeman would coach with his back against the wall and the Irish would either just make the CFP or just miss it. My other pre-spring theory was that if there was one thing that could move the needle on Notre Dame's potential, it was Carr blowing past Angeli and winning the job. That would give offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock the entire summer and training camp to build the offense around Carr. In that world, Notre Dame probably still splits its opening games, but Carr benefits from the work instead of just watching it unfold. The Irish still have to develop the offense in-season, but they're a few steps ahead with Carr being the guy immediately (how Kenny Minchey fits into this scenario is harder to figure out). Would a season where Carr starts all 12 regular-season games make Notre Dame a stronger CFP contender than one where he started six? It's hard to argue that it wouldn't. And that's where I think Notre Dame could be better coming out of spring practice than it was going in, because the quarterback decision (at least one of them) was made early. (Photo of Marcus Freeman and Kenny Minchey: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Submit a question for Pete Sampson's Notre Dame football mailbag
Notre Dame's spring practice is over, and the spring transfer portal window has only just begun. What's on your mind about Irish football ahead of the summer? Submit your questions below, and Notre Dame writer Pete Sampson will answer the best ones in his next mailbag. Pete Sampson April 16, 2025 12:31 pm EDT
USA Today
05-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Athletic's Pete Sampson names Notre Dame players who shinned in Saturday's practice
The Athletic's Pete Sampson names Notre Dame players who shinned in Saturday's practice Standouts from Notre Dame's open practice: Bryce Young Tae Johnson Jaylen Sneed Elijah Burress Eli Raridon Jason Onye As for the first quarterbacks, Carr and Minchey both had big plays (good and bad). Angeli was more steady but nothing spectacular. — Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) April 5, 2025 There is just a week left until Notre Dame football plays its annual Blue-Gold spring game, but on Saturday there was an open practice that many in the media got the chance to attended. Multiple Irish players stood out according to The Athletic's Pete Sampson, as he named defensive ends Bryce Young and Jason Onye, safety Tae Johnson, linebacker Jaylen Sneed, wide receiver Elijah Burress, and tight end Eli Raridon. He went on to note that the quarterback play was a mixed bag, as CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey each had good and bad plays. Sampson also said that Steve Angeli was 'more steady but nothing spectacular.' The biggest one that stands out to me is the play of Johnson, as there is a race to see who will take over the spot left by outgoing senior Xavier Watts. We are all clearly watching what happens in the quarterback competition, but having an elite player at the back-end of your defense will drive it. While the spring is almost at an end, we are still starting to see who is going to step up for the Irish in 2026. A new leader, Drayk Bowen, is emerging for Notre Dame football at linebacker Notre Dame football loses wide receiver Micah Gilbert for the spring due to an injury Notre Dame star cornerback Leonard Moore has been named as the top player at his position
