Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman spoke about the Irish quarterback situation heading into the season.
Notre Dame fans were thrilled with the offseason addition of former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman who joined the Irish via the transfer portal.
Hartman is an NFL-caliber quarterback and may very well be a Heisman Trophy dark-horse this season.
However, when it comes to the thought of adding another quarterback through the transfer portal, Freeman isn’t interested. Instead, the team will invest in developing their existing backups, Kenny Minchey and Steve Angeli, to support Hartman.
With Hartman as the starting quarterback, Notre Dame currently has only three scholarship quarterbacks on their roster. Ideally, having four quarterbacks would be considered more advantageous for future development in this crucial position.
However, with Hartman set to graduate after this season, the team is focused on grooming Minchey, a freshman, and Angeli, a sophomore, to be ready to step up.
Angeli was a three-star prospect in the 2022 class, while Kenny Minchey earned significant accolades, being rated as the #14 quarterback prospect nationally and a four-star recruit in the 2023 class.
They also have highly-rated high school quarterback CJ Carr set to arrive on campus next season. And yes, he is the grandson of legendary Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr.
The selection of Minchey and Angeli as backups came after Tyler Buchner, who was a contender for the starting job, decided to transfer to Alabama. Additionally, Notre Dame lost their starter from the previous season, Drew Pyne, who joined Arizona State.
Pyne’s strong performance as the starting quarterback last season was commendable, leading the Fighting Irish to solid wins against Syracuse and Clemson. He accumulated impressive stats, throwing for 2,021 yards, 22 touchdowns, and just six interceptions, with a completion rate of 64.6 percent.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Notre Dame has a challenging schedule, with games against powerhouses such as Ohio State, USC, and Clemson. They will rely largely on Hartman to navigate these tough matchups.
Hartman has been recognized with All-ACC honors in the past two seasons and has an impressive college statistics: 12,961 passing yards, 110 touchdowns, and only 41 interceptions.
How do you think Notre Dame will do this season?
Does Hartman have a realistic chance to lead them to the Playoff?