Quarterback coach Gino Guidugli cultivates rising talent, shaping a new generation of Irish signal-callers through intense spring competitions.
In back to back seasons, the Notre Dame quarterback room has generated a lot of attention. In the spring of 2025, there was a three-way competition to see who the starter was going to be. This offseason, there's going to be a three-way competition to see who the back to CJ Carr is going to be.
A competition isn't something quarterback's coach Gino Guidugli is unfamiliar with. Redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Hebert also has familiarity with quarterback competitions. Last year, he was around for the three-way battle for the No. 1 spot. Now, the 6-2, 216-pound Massachusetts native is a part of one.
"We're in a three-quarterback competition, trying to figure out who the guy is," Guidugli explained. "Blake didn't get a whole lot of reps last spring. And then you go to fall, and Blake ends up being the scout team quarterback. So, it's almost like Blake's coming in almost as the true freshman in terms of him being in there and repping with the offense."
Early enrollee true freshman Noah Grubbs is one of the other quarterbacks battling for the No. 2 spot this spring. The Florida native is fresh off of winning a state championship for his high school team and was named the 'Mr. Football' in the state of Florida for the 2025 season. The spring battle between Grubbs and Hebert is starting to heat up.
"My expectation for them this spring is to get through spring ball," Guidugli explained. "I want them to understand defensively, if they're in man or zone during pre-snap reads. I want them to be able to adjust our protection schemes, and I want them to be able to execute our offense.
"The things CJ is doing, like we're not going to put that on their shoulders yet," Guidugli continued. "We’ve got to get a base and a fundamental understanding of our offense and see them go execute that before we get into changing plays and tapping plays out, all the things that eventually come with responsibility to be the quarterback of this offense."
Everything about the spring is a learning process. It's a time to test your abilities and see what you can and can't do. It's a fine line to walk when you're in the midst of a quarterback competition, but Coach Guidugli understands that's how you get the most out of the guys in the competition.
"I always tell him in practice, ‘You've got to figure out what you can and can't do,’ and that's part of that process," Guidugli shared. "It's going to be a learning process the whole way through, but they're embracing that struggle. I'm just anxious to watch them continue to grow through the spring."
The competition won't be over in the spring, similar to the outcome of last year's quarterback competition. Notre Dame has elected to bring in two quarterbacks in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Grubbs is already on campus, but former 2027 recruit Teddy Jarrard reclassified and will add his name to the mix when he arrives on campus in the summer.
A battle for the No. 2 quarterback spot won't draw as much attention as a battle for the starting job at the University of Notre Dame. But that doesn't make it any less important. If anything were to happen to Carr, the next guy in has to be ready. This will also begin to lay the ground work for life at the quarterback position post-Carr whenever he elects to leave.
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