Notre Dame football names CJ Carr starting QB: What it means for the Irish

100 Yards with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman

Marcus Freeman took Notre Dame to the national championship game in his third year as head coach. He goes 100 Yards with FOX 32's Tina Nguyen and talks about sustaining success at an iconic football program.

Marcus Freeman has made the most important decision Notre Dame football has faced in a long while.

The program has named CJ Carr its starting quarterback. The Michigan native and grandson of legendary Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr came to the Irish as a highly touted quarterback prospect.

Now, he's the future at quarterback for No. 6 Notre Dame in a season full of anticipation, momentum and promise.

"I said, ‘Hey, as soon as one clearly says he should be the starter, then we’ll make a decision.’ Now, we have to make a decision before we play, and we will," Freeman said on Sunday.

Freeman, in a press conference on Sunday, was asked about the quarterback competition. It was clear this was a decision the team was willing to take up to game week.

After all, whoever won this job would be tasked with leading the Irish, who were runners-up in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last January, to the next level.

"I never put a timeline on it," Freeman said on Sunday. "I didn’t because, why? It’s only going to make you frustrated if you do that. 

There's no need for a timeline, now. The Irish now have tabbed their quarterback.

What we know:

Notre Dame entered a quarterback battle when spring practices began in March. Freeman, for the second time as head coach, would need to start a quarterback who had never started before at the college level.

In 2022, Freeman's first year as head coach, Tyler Buchner won the job. Eventually, the Irish finished the season with Drew Pyne at quarterback and Buchner winning the Sun Bowl vs. South Carolina.

In 2025, Notre Dame started with a battle between Steve Angeli, Minchey and Carr. Angeli transferred from Notre Dame to Syracuse in late spring after it became a battle between Carr and Minchey. Until Tuesday, there was no indication if either of those two were even winning the battle.

The Irish staff weren't feeling pressure.

"We’re not as freaked out about the fact that someone hasn’t been named the starting quarterback as a lot of people seem to be," Freeman said on Sunday.

Through spring practices, the Irish had Minchey and Carr rotating between the first-team offense. Neither one took a clear step ahead.

Both Carr and Minchey also represented different identities. Carr is a traditional pro-style passer; Minchey is a dual-threat quarterback who brings an extra running threat to the offense. Both showed glimpses of their talent in the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game, but it would be clear either one would need to win the job in fall camp.

To be clear, this was a difficult task. Notre Dame's first-team defense features plenty of players that have NFL potential, like All-American Leonard Moore, five-star pass rusher Bryce Young and team captain Drayk Bowen.

"There hasn’t been that moment where this guy says he is clearly the starter," Freeman said. "They’ve been battling. They’ve both done a really good job."

Now, though, the staff saw enough from Carr to give him the edge.

His first test will be a massive one.

What's next:

Carr will be the starting quarterback when the Irish step into Hard Rock Stadium on Aug. 31 and face No. 10 Miami.

Carr knows what winning at Hard Rock looks like. He was on the sidelines when the Irish took down Penn State in the CFP Semifinals in Miami. This time, though, the stadium of 65,326 will be a hostile one.

"I hope everybody knows that no matter who we name the quarterback, it’s no easy task going down to Miami and playing in a season opener," Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock told reporters on Sunday. "No matter who the starter is, there will be a learning curve involved in all of this. But we’re confident we’ve got two guys who can compete at a very high level and do a really, really good job."

The Irish are giving the keys to Carr, who was the highest quarterback recruit since Gunner Kiel and Dayne Crist.

Those two never got a chance to live up to the spotlight being quarterback in South Bend can bring. Carr, who watched as Riley Leonard led Notre Dame to a national championship game, will get his chance to do the same.