Gauging the fandom on the most important decision for Notre Dame football
Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold Game just happened, but, oddly enough, spring practice is still ongoing. Hence why there are four scholarship quarterbacks still on the Irish roster. Which brings us to today’s discussion.
The three-man quarterback battle between Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr is well-known. And, at this point, it’s still very difficult to pin down who the starter will be for the 2025 season. Does Carr become the anointed one in Miami? Does Angeli get the nod given his experience? Does Minchey make believers of the coaching staff with his dual-threat ability?
It’s all up in the air. So, for the time being, I figured it’s worthwhile to ask the fans for their input. But here’s the catch: you have to choose two of the three front-runners to be on the roster next year and let the other one go, since that feels like the most likely outcome at this point.
The pros and cons of each permutation are assessed below, for whatever role my analysis plays in your decision. So, keeping in mind that Marcus Freeman doesn’t make decisions based off the sentiment of the fans, have at it.
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Option 1: Angeli starts, Carr backs up
What does a Steve Angeli-led offense look like? We’ve already seen it in the Sun Bowl against Oregon State and for a series against Penn State in the Orange Bowl. It’s a lot of quick game and checkdowns, with much more throwing to running backs out of the backfield, and a little sneaky quarterback mobility. It’s also taking some bad sacks after struggling to move past the first or second read and not having great evasiveness in the pocket. But the hallmark is steadiness — seldom making a really bad throw, and hitting players when they’re open.
The upside to this arrangement is two-fold. First, if Carr really is the chosen one, he can usurp Angeli in 2025, and if he needs a little more time to cook he’s still young enough that he has a chance to win the job in 2026 and helm the Irish for two or even three more seasons. Second, both quarterbacks have similar enough play-styles that the offense doesn’t change dramatically if Carr gets called into duty. The down-side is that the lack of a true running threat under center allows defenses to have one more guy accounting for the running back.
Option 2: Angeli starts, Minchey backs up
We know the pros of Angeli starting. The benefit to Minchey as a backup is having another guy who has multiple years in the Notre Dame system and a college weight room. But better than that is the change-up pitch Minchey offers for offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, particularly in red zone situations.
The down-side to this is that Minchey is still unexperienced despite entering his third collegiate year (but, of course, Carr would be the same as a backup in that regard). And, to be sure, the offense changes in approach with two different styles of quarterback if the backup needs to play. But the biggest drawback is that — given the conditions this thought-experiment imposes — it means Carr leaves in the portal, costing the Irish a quarterback with upside generally considered to have not seen since Jimmy Clausen.
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Option 3: Minchey starts, Angeli backs up
This feels like the most unlikely scenario, because Minchey has felt like the odd man out for the longest time and Angeli sticking around as a backup for the fourth straight year would be an outlier in modern college football. But assuming it happens, the 2025 Irish offense doesn’t have to change radically from the previous year given Minchey’s running ability.
Minchey’s not as dynamic as Riley Leonard, but behind an improved offensive line and with probably (if not extremely) better accuracy than Leonard, Notre Dame’s run game should continue to cause headaches for opponents. Keep the veteran security blanket that is Angeli as your backup in the event Minchey gets hurt on a scramble and it relieves a lot of angst. But, again, the down-side to this arrangement is the dichotomy of play-styles and losing out on the (certainly not guaranteed to be fulfilled) promise of Carr.
Option 4: Minchey Starts, Carr backs up
Same as above, but trade the sure-handedness of Angeli in reserve for a younger backup prone to a few more underclassman mistakes but also with upside and more opportunity to usurp Minchey mid-2025 or in 2026.
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Option 5: Carr starts, Angeli backs up
We all know Carr’s pedigree, potential, and how he’s looked in the last two spring games. He almost undeniably played the best of the three quarterbacks on Saturday, especially considering the pieces he was working with during his series. But he also had the only turnover of the day on an ill-advised throw to a smothered receiver. That’s indicative of a guy who will probably have at least a couple of borderline-agonizing (redshirt-)freshman blunders in 2025. Still, say it with me — UPSIDE.
Put a veteran Angeli behind Carr — who, again, doesn’t necessitate a wild change in offensive scheme — and it leaves open the option to pull Carr before a couple of mistakes turn into a meltdown. But this scenario lacks the running-game boost Minchey offers. And, looking forward, it probably means trying to find a transfer portal backup for Carr in 2026, cause Blake Hebert probably won’t be ready and Angeli won’t be spending his final collegiate season on the bench.
Option 6: Carr starts, Minchey backs up
Has this — somewhat surprisingly — become the most likely scenario? Minchey continues to make noise in this competition and brings a tantalizing dynamic to the run-game that the other two can’t replicate. Plus, he’s a year behind Angeli, which means he’s less likely to feel the pressure of getting while the getting’s good for a starting job elsewhere.
In any case, while this quarterback room has two different play-styles to cater to, it offers the option of the Minchey redzone package and most likely means Minchey will at least stick around to compete for the 2026 starting job, maybe even staying on for a fourth year as well (like Angeli could this year). But the drawback is losing Angeli’s experience; admittedly, Angeli doesn’t have that many career snaps and only started one game, but still, that end-of-half series against Penn State carries a lot of weight.