Last year's three-man battle for the starting quarterback job at Notre Dame has been replaced by a two-man spring competition that will expand to three men this fall.
This spring has a decidedly different look and vibe for Notre Dame’s quarterbacks compared to last spring. A year ago, veteran Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr were in a three-man battle to win the starting quarterback job. Angeli entered the transfer portal by the end of spring, and after Carr edged out Minchey to win the job in last fall’s training camp, Minchey hit the portal after last season ended.
Carr enters this spring with no doubt about who is Notre Dame’s QB1. He is already a Heisman favorite and a bullish bet to be preparing for the NFL Draft a year from now. The only question the Fighting Irish have at quarterback this spring is: Who will be Carr’s backup?
“I think you're going to have a three-way battle for who's going to be the backup quarterback because at some point before the season starts, you have to name a backup quarterback. Because the backup quarterback, if CJ stays healthy, the backup quarterback at any moment can be the starter," Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman explained as his team prepares to begin spring practice this week.
Only two of the three participants in that three-way battle are currently on campus and all three lack game experience. Blake Hebert, who enters his second year on campus, is the veteran after redshirting in 2025. He is joined by early enrollee Noah Grubbs this spring. The third QB who will vie for the backup job, Teddy Jarrard, won’t arrive on campus until this summer.
That gives Hebert and Grubbs added opportunities to show themselves this spring.
“We have to be intentional about where can we script drills our periods where we have a third group, and where can we only have two groups, and if we only have two groups, now we have to rotate those guys with the second group,” Freeman explained.
“So, it's no different than last spring when you have three quarterbacks in a true quarterback battle. It's about how you're intentional with scripting practice to get the right amount of looks or reps to evaluate for the guys in our competition. CJ has to get his work in (with the first team). We know that. But also, we’ve got to see how Blake and Noah handle their opportunities in practice, and we’ve got to be intentional about the way we script.”
Jarrard is a bit of a unicorn, especially by Notre Dame standards. The 6-3 Kennesaw, Ga native was originally a member of the 2027 recruiting class, but he reclassified to join the 2026 class. That means he will graduate high school a full year early and skip his final season with his prep team in order to join the Irish on campus when summer workouts begin this June and then join the QB competition in fall training camp.
“It was something that Teddy had brought up to us and his family. They felt like it was right for him,” Freeman said. “Then we had to have dialogue with our admissions to see if this was possible. Then everybody gave the thumbs up.”
“We want to try to keep four quarterbacks on scholarship, and so, bringing him in in June, we felt there's enough spread between Blake going into his second year and then Noah being here in January and Teddy being here in June,” Freeman continued. “At the end of the day, we let him compete. We let him compete. We wouldn't have signed Teddy if we didn't think he was a great player. He's a really, really good player. He's a Notre Dame kid. He understands the things this place stands for. He's going to have a great career. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does when he gets here.”
With the lofty expectations Notre Dame has for it’s “Leave No Doubt” branded 2026 season, Freeman toyed with the idea of bringing in an experienced quarterback from the transfer portal in January to backup Carr. That didn’t happen this year, but it’s always a possibility next year if Carr heads to the NFL and if, after seeing the three backups in practice this fall, Freeman decides a portal quarterback in necessary.
“If from now until December you did not feel like you have a future starting quarterback in the program, you have to,” Freeman detailed. “I have a strong conviction, and I stated that last year, that we've recruited well enough that our next starting quarterback, which could be this year if something happens to CJ, is right here in this program. I have a strong conviction of that. But you've got to get through the season and evaluate.”
“Do we believe the future starting quarterback is here in this program,” Freeman continued. “But I do. I say this right now. I have a strong conviction. You'll add Teddy in June. You'll put these guys in game-like situations, see how they perform. Again, I want to continue to major in developing our quarterbacks in-house and not having to go get a transfer portal quarterback. But I've still got to make decisions that we believe is best for the program.”
All of that’s for the future; an “uncertain future” as Freeman would say. The task at hand in the present is to find Carr’s backup for the 2026 season. But whoever earns that nod this fall is also not guaranteed to be QB1 a year from now if Carr is indeed bound for the pro ranks.
“That guy (the 2026 backup) has to know, prepare, and take all the two reps in practice, but that doesn't mean you're going to be the starter next year,” Freeman explained. “We need to make sure that we name a backup quarterback for the start of the (2026) season when that time comes, but the competition to who's going to be the starting quarterback next year is going to go all the way until there is no doubt who that person is.”