You’d think Notre Dame are merely at the onset of a special few years. Yes, they almost climbed to the apex of the proverbial mountain, and there’s only 1 further step to be taken. But it did feel like they were ahead of schedule. Marcus Freeman has only been in his capacity for 3 years in total. His individual trajectory as a head coach is pointed skywards. The program, collectively, is well-positioned on the recruiting front to keep providing him with competitive rosters. When the emotions from losing Natty eventually settle down, Notre Dame can take solace from their efforts to get there. However, they can’t rest on their laurels. A glaring issue is staring Coach Freeman in the face. Teams go as far as their quarterback takes them. That holds true even for a roster as stacked across the board as the one the Irish have at his disposal. 

Riley Leonard’s watch has ceased, and Freeman needs to find a succession plan. A new dawn is imminent over South Bend. Peep over the horizon, and some inexperienced QBs are standing there, waiting to ascend through the depth chart. Now, the Irish do have a lot of talent in the wings. CJ Carr, Kenny Minchey, Steve Angeli, and Blake Herbert are all highly-rated prospects. However, not one of them is a 5-star recruit. Now, that is hardly the benchmark for how a high school player will translate to college. Leonard wasn’t one, either. But it’s interesting that Marcus Freeman has more 5-stars across the rest of the roster than downtown LA. Yet, the most important position group is missing out completely. More importantly, they’ve made a grand total of 1 start between them. This creates a conundrum. One Notre Dame insider/fan has offered up a solution.

Over the “Locked on Irish” podcast, Tyler Wojciak discussed the pros of giving the QB1 shirt to former 4-star Kenny Minchey. This was part of a series on the podcast where he dissected every quarterback at Notre Dame. Wojciak’s assessment of Minchey’s prospects was particularly intriguing. He’s confident Minchey could win the shirt vacated by Leonard. “Some people are counting [Minchey] out in this quarterback competition, and I believe that is a big mistake. He has got the arm talent, mobility, and the upside to make a real push for the job,” said Wojciak. He pointed to two attributes in particular that give Minchey the edge over all his contemporaries.

“Number one—his arm talent is special. He might be the best pure passer in this [QB] competition…just watch Kenny Minchey throw. It’s special,” remarked Tyler Wojciak. Notre Dame’s passing game isn’t their modus operandi on offense. But Minchey can expand the playbook and add variety, which will, by extension, make the run game more potent. Wojciak acknowledges the rushing aspect of Riley Leonard, which helped Marcus Freeman and co. have the success they did. Which is why point #2 is even more resounding.

“The second big reason why I think Kenny Minchey has a great chance to be the starting quarterback is that he’s the most mobile guy in the room,” said Wojciak. He might be the best fit for what Mike Denbrock wants in a quarterback. Offensive coordinator Denbrock can find a level of continuity in his schemes from last season with Minchey. So why’s he not considered to be leading the charge headed into spring?

Steve Angeli’s been in the program longer and is the QB1-elect. He’s backed up Riley Leonard for multiple seasons now. The fact that he’s staying put and not leaving via the transfer portal suggests Angeli knows, or at least believes, he’ll get the nod from Marcus Freeman. It’s not frequent that a 3-star such as Riley Leonard pans out the way he did, and fellow 3-star Angeli will have to hope lightning strikes twice. Technically, he has some big-game experience. Angeli did come into the Nation title game for one series after Leonard had to sit out with an injury. Speaking of which, a $13 million gap to Ohio State has cast doubt over Notre Dame’s progression. Tyler Wojciak has addressed the elephant in the room regarding his team’s future relative to the champions.

Marcus Freeman’s got more impending issues beyond picking his next quarterback

During a previous iteration of the podcast, Wojciak spoke about the NIL deficit Marcus Freeman is dealing with relative to Ryan Day. A fair benchmark, given OSU, is the standard, and did cease the Irish’s own hopes. “Even though they’re a lot more competitive in the NIL space, the number that’s been reported recently is that this team that they just took to the national championship accounted for about $7-8 million. It’s a pretty good number, but it’s nothing compared to Ohio State’s famous $20 million [roster],” he said. Wojciak did suggest the impending introduction of revenue sharing will either iron this deficiency out or enlarge it. The signs do point towards the former, though. 

Notre Dame’s independent status could be a massive edge in the revenue share era. Take their CFP payout last season, for instance. Neither they nor Ohio State had a bye, so they played an equal number of games to get to the championship. Set aside the winner. Surely, both teams received equal rewards for reaching the Natty? Not quite. The CFP pays conferences depending on how far a member makes it a round. $20 million has been given to the Big 10 thanks to Ohio State alone, plus more for PSU and Oregon. $4 million for firstly making the CFP. Then an additional $4 million for making round 2, and then $6 million each for making the semis and the championship. That’s $20 million, which is divided among the 18 B1G schools. Just over a million were received for their personal efforts. Notre Dame gets the entire $20 million to themselves…

Now, it’s not like the Irish will have deep playoff runs every year. The revenue will fluctuate more than it will for teams in a conference. However, they’ll live and die by it. As for footballing affairs, it’s important to temper expectations with an inexperienced QB due to being the starter. No matter which one it is. Notre Dame will seek to keep their forward momentum going under Marcus Freeman. There may be a flatlining or even a downward trajectory on the graph. But it’s on the board that the Irish thwart all expectations and conventional wisdom a second year running. Given their admittedly soft schedule, which caused a lot of moaning, it’s likely they make the playoffs again. A schedule that’ll allow room for growing pains for their signal-caller.