The sun beats down on the practice field at the Irish Athletics Center, a familiar haze of humidity hanging in the air. Yet, for Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the heat of the late summer sun is nothing compared to the fire of the quarterback competition. As the team kicks off its 2025 fall camp, a single, monumental question dominates the conversation: who will be the signal-caller to lead this talented squad? The answer, according to Freeman, won’t be found in a single spectacular play or a momentary flash of brilliance. It will be forged in the relentless, day-to-day grind of consistency.
The departure of last year’s starter, Riley Leonard, has left a void under center, and the competition to fill it has been brewing since spring. The two primary combatants are redshirt freshman CJ Carr and rising junior Kenny Minchey.1 Both are unproven commodities with a combined three college completions between them, yet both possess a pedigree and potential that have Irish fans buzzing with a mixture of hope and anxiety.2 This is not a battle of a clear-cut favorite against a long-shot challenger; it’s a genuine, neck-and-neck race where the smallest detail, the most subtle improvement, could tip the scales.
Freeman’s message, delivered with his characteristic intensity during his first press conference of fall camp, was crystal clear. The decision, he stressed, is not his to make. It belongs to the players themselves. “They will determine who’s the starting quarterback,” Freeman stated, a phrase he repeated with deliberate emphasis. The key metric for that determination? Consistency. “We want to see guys that are consistent,” he said. “Who can be the most consistent? Who can take care of the football and who can continue to keep our offense moving forward?”
This philosophy of “consistency builds trust” is not unique to the quarterback position in Freeman’s program.3 It’s the central tenet of his coaching worldview. He believes that no matter a player’s raw athleticism or recruiting ranking, if a coach cannot trust them to execute their assignment with consistency, they cannot be on the field. For the quarterbacks, this means more than just a high completion percentage. It means making the right read, protecting the football, and avoiding the “really bad turnovers” that can kill a momentum-building drive or set up an opponent for an easy score.
The early reports from camp have only served to underscore Freeman’s point. The quarterbacks, in their understandable eagerness to prove themselves, have had their share of “feast and famine moments,” as offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock described them.4 Both Carr and Minchey have had impressive throws, but they have also been “consistently inconsistent,” with Carr throwing three interceptions in one practice and Minchey tossing one of his own.5 These moments, while concerning to some fans, are not a cause for panic for the coaching staff. They are part of the process, a necessary step in the quarterbacks’ development. The real test, as Freeman sees it, is not the initial mistake but the ability to learn from it and move on—the ability to “reload,” a concept the coach has preached since his arrival.6
Delving deeper into the profiles of the two competitors reveals why this battle is so compelling. CJ Carr, the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, arrived in South Bend as a highly-touted, top-50 recruit in the 2024 class.7 He has a polished, pro-style game and has impressed in limited action, particularly in the last two Blue-Gold Games.8 His poise and arm talent are undeniable, and many analysts and fans have him pegged as the slight favorite. However, as an Athlon Sports article pointed out, his youth sometimes leads him to hold onto the ball too long while trying to make a play, a tendency he’ll need to overcome to earn Freeman’s trust.
On the other side of the ledger is Kenny Minchey, a top-200 prospect from the 2023 cycle who has been with the program longer.9 His experience, though limited to just a handful of snaps, gives him a subtle edge in institutional knowledge. A CBS Sports analyst noted that Minchey is also a capable runner and, according to some on campus, might even have the strongest arm in the room. He is a more of a wild card, a player with raw talent that needs to be refined. The narrative surrounding Minchey is one of an underdog with a real chance to pull off an upset, a notion that will only add to the drama of the competition.10
The stakes of this quarterback battle are immense. Notre Dame, coming off a national championship game appearance last season, enters 2025 with sky-high expectations.11 The team has a challenging, front-loaded schedule, with a season opener against Miami and a marquee showdown with Texas A&M in Week 3.12 Getting the quarterback decision right is paramount. The worst-case scenario, as one Sports Illustrated writer noted, would be a prolonged, indecisive battle that drags on for weeks into camp, leaving the team without a clear leader as the season approaches. The ideal outcome is for one player to “emerge to the point where that player essentially names himself the starter by his play,” making the coaching staff’s decision an obvious one for everyone to see.
Beyond the quarterbacks themselves, the rest of the team is watching closely. The leadership vacuum under center must be filled. The other players need to know who they can rally around, who they can trust to make the right decisions with the game on the line. The chosen quarterback, whether it’s Carr or Minchey, will have to command the offense at the highest level, not just by virtue of their physical skills, but through their leadership and ability to earn the confidence of their teammates.
For Marcus Freeman, this is a defining moment in his young head coaching career. He is not just looking for a player with a strong arm or quick feet. He is looking for a leader who embodies the program’s values, a player whose actions speak louder than any words.13 The path to victory for the Fighting Irish in 2025, and their ultimate destination in the College Football Playoff, will be decided not by a single Hail Mary or a miraculous run, but by the relentless pursuit of consistency. And as the clock ticks closer to the season opener, the two young men vying for the starting job know that their every move is being measured against that one, unyielding standard. The battle rages on, and in the end, consistency will determine who leads the Fighting Irish into the next chapter of their storied history.
