Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has outlined his requisites for naming the starting quarterback ahead of the 2025 season. As fall camp opens, just a month before the Irish face Miami in their season opener, the quarterback position remains the program’s top uncertainty.
Freeman has spoken about the evaluation process and what he’s looking for in a starter. Leadership qualities appear to be a significant factor, as he continues to assess who will command the offense.
Marcus Freeman Evaluates Notre Dame’s Starting Quarterbacks for 2025
For the first time in recent seasons, Notre Dame football enters fall camp without a transfer quarterback leading the competition. Freeman trusts two homegrown talents, CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey, as the Irish prepare for their season opener at Miami in one month.
Neither Carr nor Minchey has started a game, but both have displayed flashes of potential, particularly during the spring game. The quarterback competition, according to Freeman, will hinge on one key element: consistency.
“The criteria that you’re going to use to choose your starting quarterback… it’s going to be consistency,” Freeman said during his July 31 press conference. “We want to see guys that are consistent. We want our quarterbacks, all of them, to be consistent, but who can be the most consistent, who can take care of the football, who can continue to keep our offense moving forward?”
When asked about Carr, Freeman described him as “ultra competitive, talented, smart, gifted, makes great decisions. He’s young, but he’s got an older soul. He’s an extremely talented football player.”
On Minchey, Freeman saw many of the same traits:
“Very similar things. They’re more similar than different. I see Kenny as a… competitive individual. He might not be as outspoken at times as CJ, but he’s a very confident guy. He’s a leader in his own right. He’s athletic. He studies the game.”
He added, “Both really, really unique individuals that either one could be the starting quarterback for Notre Dame.”
As camp progresses, Freeman and his staff will continue daily evaluations. A starter will be named only when one quarterback clearly separates from the other. With the opener at Miami on the horizon, the decision will be driven by who performs most consistently and earns the coaching staff’s trust.
Notre Dame has a mountain to climb in the 2025 season after setting the bar extremely high last time out, booking a runner-up finish in the 2024 campaign.
