What Marcus Freeman said about Notre Dame quarterbacks before transfer portal opens
The spring transfer portal window opens on Wednesday and closes a week from Friday (April 25). During that window, there’s a significant chance Notre Dame loses a quarterback.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said after the Blue-Gold Game this past Saturday that he would like to narrow the current three-man quarterback competition to two before fall camp. That means one of senior Steve Angeli, junior Kenny Minchey and sophomore CJ Carr will be told they are No. 3.
If one of the three signal-callers does decide to enter the portal, Freeman believes they’ll land on their feet. He reiterated Tuesday morning on On3’s The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell that Angeli, Minchey and Carr could all start and win games for Notre Dame.
“And as much of that is an awesome situation, it’s a difficult one, too,” Freeman said. “Ultimately, as we get ready for Miami, Florida, we can only have one being the starter. We have time to figure out who that guy is gonna be.”
Freeman also echoed his post-Blue-Gold Game comments about the quarterbacks’ performances, saying again that they’ve all done good things in spring practice.
“Everybody has areas of improvement,” Freeman said. “But I’ve been so pleased with the collective group of those three guys and the way they perform, the way they’ve handled some difficult situations in spring ball, and the way they’ve led the offense to constantly improve.”
Carr looked the best in the Blue-Gold Game, tossing 2 touchdown passes and dropping an equal number of dimes on his first possession. Minchey and Angeli both had their moments, too. The former ran for a score and did a back flip in celebration, which Freeman said he learned about days later.
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“I’m like, ‘Well, listen, as long as it doesn’t cost our team 15 yards, I’m good with it,’” Freeman said.
“I’m big on team celebrations, like, we’re gonna celebrate together. He tried to incorporate his teammates a little bit. Just make sure you don’t get us 15 yards. And if you’re gonna do it, you better land it.”
PicKell asked Freeman what each quarterback would need to show to be named the Week 1 starter. Freeman said No. 1 taking care of the football, and with that comes making good decisions. After that, Notre Dame is looking for a playmaker.
“When all else fails, we want the guy that’s gonna help us make plays,” Freeman said. “And that’s with the legs, with your arm, with your decision making.”
This is not, however, an exact science. Leadership is also an important part of the competition, which is a box, by all accounts, that each signal-caller checks.
The rest, Freeman explained, is subjective.
“We have, obviously, criterias in terms of decision making, completions and taking care of the football,” Freeman said. “But that always doesn’t tell the story. Sometimes the outcome isn’t a reflection of the reality of what went wrong or what went right with the play. So we have to be really, really subjective and saying, ‘These are things that we believe our starting quarterback must do well.’”
