Notre Dame’s quarterback recruiting story looked like a major win when CJ Carr committed, and it still does. Carr has lived up to the hype since stepping in as the starter in his redshirt freshman season, showing why he was one of the most coveted prospects in the country coming out of high school.
But there’s another layer to the story now: the Fighting Irish apparently had an elite backup plan if Carr had gone to Michigan instead of South Bend.
That detail surfaced through 247Sports analyst Tom Loy, who weighed in on a discussion from The Echoes podcast featuring Jessica Smetana and Mike Golic Jr. The two were talking about Carr’s recent appearance on the Rich Eisen show during Notre Dame’s “Media Days,” and the conversation centered on how polished and mature Carr comes across, along with how welcoming his family has been. That warmth extended to Notre Dame staff too, even with the Carrs being very much a Michigan family.
The hosts also gave Tommy Rees plenty of credit for helping land Carr. Loy backed that up, saying Rees was a major reason Notre Dame was in such strong position with Carr in the first place. Then he dropped the part that really stood out.
“Rees not only had ND in the driver’s seat for CJ Carr,” Loy wrote. “But he was the reason they would have landed Julian Sayin if Carr went elsewhere.”
Loy repeated that point on social media, adding: “A) Facts. Carr family is incredible.
Welcomed me into their home on commitment day. Been friends for years.
Just tremendous human beings.”
That’s a striking fallback option. Sayin ended up at Ohio State and has become one of the best quarterbacks in the country, which says plenty about how strong Notre Dame’s quarterback board was under Rees. Carr is in that same elite conversation, and the Irish clearly had a high-end answer ready if the original plan had fallen apart.
Rees later left before the 2024 season for Alabama, then moved on to the Cleveland Browns after Nick Saban retired. He was promoted this offseason to Browns offensive coordinator.
His exit also reshaped Notre Dame’s staff in a way that matters here. Some fans lump Rees in with Brian Kelly when they talk about departures, but the situations weren’t the same. Rees left to work under one of the best coaches in the country, and he did it while Marcus Freeman was still early in his tenure as head coach.
And Notre Dame didn’t just lose Rees and move on empty-handed. That departure helped open the door for Mike Denbrock to come to South Bend.
So even in a what-if scenario where Carr had gone elsewhere and Sayin became the fallback, the Irish still ended up with Carr in the fold. If Notre Dame goes on to win a national title, the 2026 season could end up looking like the perfect example of all’s well that ends well.
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Now the next adjustment has sent Knapp back inside, where he is settling in at guard as Notre Dame reconfigures the line again for 2026. The move comes as the Irish absorb departures up front and try to keep the unit steady, and it has given Knapp another chance to prove how far his game has come. Coaches have liked what they have seen early, and Knapp has embraced the learning curve, but the bigger question is how quickly that new alignment can settle into something dependable. [Read more 🡒]