Notre Dame has gone from one quarterback fight to another, and this one is all about the No. 2 spot behind CJ Carr.
Last season, the Irish spent camp sorting out the starting job, with Carr edging out Kenny Minchey. Now Minchey is at Kentucky, Steve Angeli is back at Syracuse as the Orange’s starter, and Marcus Freeman is left to sort through a three-man race for the backup role. Sophomore Blake Hebert, true freshman Noah Grubbs and true freshman Teddy Jarrard are the contenders, and Freeman made it clear the staff has to be deliberate about how it handles their reps.
“The way we structure practice has to be intentional about getting those three other quarterbacks enough reps that we can evaluate them,” Freeman explained. “You’ll see Blake and Noah split reps with the ones and twos.
If they don’t go with the twos, they’ll go with the threes, and then we have to be intentional about getting Teddy caught up. He just got here in June and he’s had a really good summer.
But it’s different when you start practicing with coaches around and you start adding install.
“We have to find aways to keep developing those guys,” Freeman continued. “We know at some point, we have to name a backup for week one.
But this will be a unique year where the backup for week doesn’t mean you're the backup for week six. We have to be intentional about who’s doing the scout team, who’s going to be up with the travel squad and what reps they’re getting.
This evaluation will go on until probably the end of the season.”
Hebert and Grubbs have already worked in this version of the offense since spring, but Jarrard brings a different layer to the competition. The Georgia native reclassified from the 2027 recruiting class to the 2026 class, arriving this summer as one of the highest-ranked prospects in the 2027 cycle and still a four-star recruit after the move.
Freeman didn’t shy away from the possibility that Jarrard could win the job.
“It not unrealistic for anybody,” Freeman answered when asked if it was realistic that Jarrard wins the No. 2 job. “Teddy is a talented football player.
His physical skills, we’ve all seen in high school. To be a guy who can reclassify a year up shows you that he’s intelligent and puts the work in.
“Now it's about how fast we can expedite this process to get him to where he’s playing fast,” Freeman continued. “That’s always the challenge.
As you evaluate these guys in high school, you’re evaluating them playing as fast as they can and making decisions as fast as they can. It’s our job to get them caught up so we can evaluate them making fast decisions.
Only time will tell how long that takes.”
The backup job may not carry the spotlight of last year’s starter battle, but it still matters. Notre Dame didn’t need its No. 2 quarterback out of necessity last season, but that wasn’t the norm in 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024. Freeman and his staff know whoever wins this role has to be ready to step in whenever called.
Hebert, Grubbs and Jarrard all have the tools. What separates them now is who learns fastest, runs the offense cleanest and keeps growing once the pads come on.
And based on Freeman’s comments, this competition is likely to stretch well beyond fall camp. If someone holds the job all season, it will have been earned.
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