Breaking Down the Worst Takes on Notre Dame’s Quarterback Battle

In the Always Irish Podcast, the quest for clarity led to well-intentioned but faulty reasoning

Apr 12, 2025; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) throws a pass during the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images / Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Limited access to practice leads to shaky hot takes

Access to spring practice has been historically extremely limited, and that was the case this year, too.

This meant that both Irish fans and media only caught small glimpses into the happenings of the Irish quarterback competition, and had to do their best to try to piecing together the realities of this high-level three-way competition between Steve Angeli, CJ Carr, and Kenny Minchey

This dynamic led down a path where, depending on which day it was, it seemed like a different player excelled and was deemed the "leader" in this highly publicized battle - and then Angeli took off for Syracuse.

Based on this information, some opinions were formed that I felt overstepped the realites of the situation.

Premature declarations are dangerous

I want to be very clear here. I'm not accusing any fan or Irish media member of taking liberties with the truth for clicks or online clout. This was much more of a case of limited information leading honest minds to draw much too early conclusions.

From "Angeli should be the starter due to experience and is the man to beat," to "Kenny Minchey is a distant third in the race and has no chance to start," to "Notre Dame should start Angeli against Miami, then hand the reins over to a younger player," the desire for certainty on this issue has led to some wildly aggressive takes.

By the end of Notre Dame's spring practice window, some clarity did emerge when Angeli hit the transfer portal, but many questions will remain until the team reunites in early August. There's never a dull moment in Notre Dame land, and this exciting quarterback battle is just the latest example of this.

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