CJ Carr enters 2026 as one of the premier quarterbacks in the country after throwing for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns last fall.
Notre Dame quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli has been around the block, mentoring several quarterbacks who have gone on to the NFL and Carr is setting a high bar.
“He just has a big-picture perspective on the game,” Guidugli stated. “I've been around some really good ones and just his ability to piece things together of what's a good play versus a bad play is just unique. For him just to be going into a redshirt sophomore year, unbelievable.”
This spring feels different for Notre Dame’s offense. There are expectations that come with returning a starting quarterback, but when you pair that with Carr’s desire to be perfect and talent, the noise only grows louder.
Guidugli understands Carr’s perfectionist mindset, but he’s also making sure his quarterback doesn’t feel the need to do too much.
“The job he did last year was phenomenal,” explained Guidugli. ‘We need CJ this year just to be a great leader. If he can perform the same way he did last year, great. He doesn't need to do something above and beyond what he was doing last year. So just kind of putting guidelines, putting guardrails up for him.”
At the same time, Notre Dame is giving Carr the freedom to experiment by testing throws and decisions that may fall outside the structure of the offense.
The goal is simple: growth.
Head coach Marcus Freeman believes practice is where great players expand their games.
“If you don't try them, you're not going to know if you can do them and try them in the game,” explained Freeman. “I remember Jeremiyah Love doing stuff like that in practice, and you go, ‘OK, I haven't seen him do that.’ Really being intentional about working different type of moves in practice and then all of a sudden you see him do it in the game.”
For Carr, the guidelines are clear: Be intentional, not careless and don’t waste time.
“We have to give our guys a little bit of freedom,” stated Freeman. “We're not gonna give him freedom to be silly, but if CJ throws a no-look pass and you know what, maybe it's incomplete, it's OK. Don't rip his tail because he tried to do something intentional to make him and our team better, right?
“It's a fine line. We can't be silly and goofy. But if we're trying to do things to really help us as individuals get better and help our team, you have to allow them to do that.”
Carr has earned that freedom through both production and preparation.
In fact, the Michigan native has consumed virtually every piece of film available within Notre Dame’s system.
“I don't know that there's any film in our system that he did not watch,” Guidugli explained. “He did film breakdowns on probably a dozen NFL teams, just watching different quarterbacks, creating cut-ups of concepts that they run that are similar to us that he'd like to implement, looking at under-center footwork.
“I think that was just an important time for him to be able to go back, watch the things we did, understand where we need to improve and also the things that we are really good at and need to continue to be good at.”
Carr didn’t stop with offensive film. He made it a priority to study defensive schemes as well.
“I'm sure if you've got him up here and quizzed him on any NFL team and what they're doing offensively or defensively, he's going to be able to tell you,” said Guidugli. “We had a lot of time just to sit in, watch film. I think it made everybody in the program just anxious to get back to football.”
Guidugli has also noticed Carr growing as a leader within the locker room. It’s allowed Notre Dame to take the next step in accountability, which bodes well for long-term success.
“CJ has the ability to touch everybody in the locker room,” Guidugli stated. “Defensively, offensively, there's a relationship involved with everybody. When you have that, you can confront people when they're wrong and demand that they do it right because you're coming from a place where there is a relationship there.
“It could be taken as, ‘You're talking down to me’ or ‘Why are you attacking me?’ They understand he's coming from a place where he wants his team to be great. He's doing all the things inside of his position to make sure the offense is going to be great, or he's going to be great at the quarterback position, and he just wants to hold them to that same standard.”
Still, Carr knows he doesn’t have to do it alone.
Notre Dame returns a wealth of experience, and leadership is shared across the roster. Carr is learning when to step in and when to let others lead.
“My challenge to him this spring was there's going to be opportunities that arise during spring practice where someone needs to step through, something needs to be said, somebody needs to be confronted,” said Guidugli. “You can't let those moments pass by. You've got to step into that window, in that moment, and be the leader for us.
“The team setting is a little bit more challenging, but he's earned that with the way he played last year. I think people understand our defense is going to play great, but offensively, we're going to go as far as he's going to take us. He understands that, but he understands you've got Drayk Bowen and Adon Shuler. There's plenty of other guys that played a lot of football here that are going to be able to step in as well.”
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