Angeli Feeling Comfortable With More Reps

Steve Angeli arrived at Notre Dame with little fanfare.Though he was a 4-star recruit, he wasn’t seen as someone who could play early in his career.

He turned some heads with some exciting flashes as an early enrollee last spring and was all set to have a comfortable year of development as the number three quarterback with Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne ahead of him on the depth chart.

Things changed pretty quickly.

An injury to Buchner forced Angeli into a backup role. He went from scout team to the second team and had to prepare to play in case he was forced into the lineup, even though he had a very limited amount of reps in practice heading into last season.

This spring he was the number three again while Buchner and graduate transfer Sam Hartman battled it out for the starting job. Then when Buchner transferred at the end of spring ball, Angeli was right back as the number two, but this time he would get the necessary reps in the summer to help him be better prepared.

This could have looked a lot different if a quarterback battle was still ongoing and if Notre Dame had four quarterbacks instead of three. Quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, who said Angeli had a tremendous day in their practice in Mishawaka earlier this week, knows exactly how valuable these reps have been for both Angeli and true freshman Kenny Minchey.

“Him and Kenny [Minchey] are getting an unbelievable opportunity with us just having three scholarship guys in fall camp. Like, invaluable experience for those guys, just to be able to get in there and get all the reps that they’re getting right now and be able to put them in situations where they’ve got to do things versus live bullets and make decisions. Happy with his progress.”

Angeli has enjoyed all of the extra reps this summer that he never got last year.

“Yeah, it's been good,” admitted Angeli. “A lot more reps, definitely. Just getting more opportunities to show what I can do and execute the plays and just earn more trust from the coaches every practice. Every rep I do I just try to compete and do my job.”

Guidugli wants Minchey to push Angeli for that backup role behind Hartman, but Angeli has the clear edge at the moment and has to be prepared to play when his opportunity arises. “

This was my message to both of those guys heading into the summer,” explained Guidugli. “Kenny, I want you to try and beat Steve Angeli out for the 2 spot. Steve, you need to stay ahead of Kenny and you need to be ready in case Sam goes [down]. And the message to both of them was Sam Hartman is one play away from being out against Ohio State. And here you come walking into the game.

“If you don’t walk every day into the Gug and prepare yourself for that situation, when that situation arises, you’re not going to be ready. You’ve got to prepare yourself every single day that we’re playing USC at night and all 77,000 people — and here comes Steve Angeli or Kenny MInchey in at quarterback. Whether that’s his helmet popping off or he gets dinged and has to come out, you’re going into those games and the other 10 guys in the huddle are looking at you, expecting you to get the job done.”

Angeli understands the assignment. He knows he hasn’t thrown a pass yet in a college football game. Despite that, if he was asked to step in and play tomorrow, he’s confident that he’ll be ready.

“I think I'd be pretty comfortable,” Angeli said.

Part of the reason why is because of his growth during camp. He’s approaching it one rep at a time and going from there.

“I think every day my goal is just to go out there you know, one day at a time and just focus on my job, focus on every rep I have and do the best I can to just continue to improve and be the best I can for this team every day.”

It’s more than just the reps on the field that have been helping him prepare this season. Him, Minchey, and Hartman have pretty much camped out in Guidugli’s office and in addition to all the help Angeli gets from his position coach, he has also been able to lean on Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, who has thrown more touchdown passes than any quarterback in the history of the ACC.

“It's been awesome having Sam. Being able to just ask him any questions that I have, he pretty much has an answer for every single one of my questions. He's played five years going on six years of college football, so he's seen almost everything there. I'm pretty much attached to his hip every single day and just trying to gain and soak up any knowledge, his routine, just see what makes him so great and just see how he got to this place.

“But really, just having him as a friend and as a person has been really special as well. Just going through camp with him and everything that he's been able to teach me from a mental side to the physical side. His pointers and knowledge are extremely helpful.”

Having that resource is making Angeli better today and can only help him in the future when Hartman is gone. There will be a battle to replace him as QB1 at Notre Dame. Angeli and Minchey are two of competitors who will be trying to win that job, but Angeli isn’t thinking about it from that perspective. He know how much help he received from the older quarterbacks on the roster last season and he is paying it forward with Minchey.

“I remember when I was in Kenny's situation asking the guys that were above me. Just trying to do the best I can to answer any of his questions and bring him along the way and just do whatever I can to help him be great.”

Everything Angeli and Minchey are doing right now to get better during camp has an impact on where things can go in the future. It’s all being evaluated by Guidugli because he understands that the development of these players is as much about the long term of them potentially starting for Notre Dame as it is the short term of trying to earn a spot as a backup.

“That’s what training camp is about, is proving that you belong at Notre Dame and potentially you could be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame,” acknowledged Guidugli.

“And you hope that throughout the season, there’s going to be an opportunity for us to get those guys into the game, but there’s no guarantee of that. So, these are the most valuable reps, because they’re the reps that are happening right now.”

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