This story has been updated.
SOUTH BEND —The excruciating wait is over. Notre Dame football has anointed its starting quarterback for the 2025 season opener at Miami.
Redshirt freshman CJ Carr was able to hold off a spirited challenge from third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey to earn the public nod Tuesday. Notre Dame made the announcement via social media.
“CJ can throw the ball effortlessly,” Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli said early in training camp. “That guy can just throw the ball, and some of that’s more confidence-driven than it is anything mechanic. As long as he feels good, he can throw the ball with anybody in the country.”
A 6-foot-3, 210-pounder from Saline, Mich., Curtis Jason Carr has yet to attempt a pass in a college football game. That will change on Aug. 31 at Hard Rock Stadium on national television against the 10th-ranked Hurricanes.
Notre Dame is a 2.5-point betting favorite.
Miami will be a tough place to debut
The last time Notre Dame had a first-time starter behind center in the season opener was 2022 at Ohio State, when current backup Tyler Buchner had the Irish in front late in the third quarter. Buchner, a 21-10 loser that night, had appeared in 10 games off the bench as a freshman in 2021.
Entering year four under coach Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has far more depth and skill-position talent, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiyah Love and graduate transfer wideouts Malachi Fields and Will Pauling.
“Our quarterback hasn’t started a college football game,” Guidugli said on Aug. 1. “And we’ve got a lot of guys that are surrounding him that have. Early in the season we have to lean on those guys and not put all the pressure on the quarterback. We have plenty of talent around him.”
The son of former Michigan backup quarterback Jason Carr (1992-95) and the grandson of two College Football Hall of Famers, former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and former Wolverines defensive back Tom Curtis, the new Irish starter had to overcome throwing elbow issues that sidelined him for an extended period last fall.
Long considered the heir apparent since headlining Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class, Carr played a handful of meaningless snaps at the end of last year’s Week 3 blowout at Purdue.
Carr’s strong showing in the Blue-Gold Game in April, combined with the subsequent transfer to Syracuse of fourth-year junior Steve Angeli, led many pundits to believe Carr had the 2025 job locked up. Angeli was named the Orange’s starter on Monday, roughly 25 hours before the Carr news was released.
Carr’s three-interception showing on July 31 in the opening practice of fall training camp reopened what had been a fairly one-sided public debate over who should succeed Riley Leonard, now in his rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts.
While Minchey made a strong bid while sharing first-team practice repetitions, Carr’s pedigree and greater perceived upside won out.
“I think it’s going to be important that, whoever wins the job, we play to the strengths of who they are and not put them in compromising situations, especially too early in the season,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Sunday Aug. 17. “But I don’t think it’ll change a bunch. There are some subtle strengths and weaknesses and differences that you have to be aware of when you’re making a plan and obviously highlight the strengths and try to diminish as many of the weaknesses as you can.”
Kenny Minchey becomes the qualified backup
A 6-foot-2, 208-pounder from Hendersonville, Tenn., where he starred at the same high school as former Irish wideout Golden Tate, Minchey has yet to throw an incomplete pass in three career attempts at the college level.
A late addition to the 2023 recruiting class after de-committing from Pittsburgh, Minchey won over former Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to earn the bid.
When Notre Dame needed a scout team quarterback to simulate the scrambling skills of former USC Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams in October 2023, Minchey earned raves from his teammates and then Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden.
Now Minchey must sit and wait after coming up short in his upset attempt. He has three remaining years of eligibility, including this one.
Carr’s mobility may be more evident in terms of pocket awareness, but his decision-making and processing speed should make up for any lack of raw quickness. At least that’s the hope among the Irish coaching staff.
Speaking Sunday, Denbrock cited “the importance of understanding offensively that when you’re playing good defenses and you’re playing good football teams, you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some, you’re going to take some lumps.”
The separator, he said, is this: “What type of resiliency do you have about yourself? What is it inside yourself that makes you tick, the real stuff right down deep where it matters? And if you have that, then you’re going to find a way to figure it out, and I believe we will.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football names CJ Carr as starting QB for 2025 season opener at Miami
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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