Notre Dame QB CJ Carr Addresses Heisman Buzz and Marcus Freeman's Impact at Notre Dame

The expectations surrounding Notre Dame football entering the 2026 season are through the roof, exactly where the program has spent years trying to position itself.

Head coach Marcus Freeman has led the transformation, turning Notre Dame into one of college football's premier programs and earning national respect along the way. As training camp opens, the Fighting Irish boast what is, on paper, the most talented roster South Bend has seen in years.

Quarterback CJ Carr is at the center of those expectations. He'll be the first returning starting quarterback of the Freeman era and enters the season among the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.

Carr isn't the only elite talent choosing Notre Dame these days. The Fighting Irish currently own the nation's No. 2 recruiting class. While NIL has become an important piece of recruiting, Carr believes it all starts with Freeman.

“He's just a real person,” Carr told Rich Eisen last week. “He recruited a certain way. You get to campus and he's the exact same way. He's the same guy on and off the field. He's consistent. He loves every one of his players. He wants the best for them. You believe in him.”

College football is full of coaches who can recruit and others who can win on Saturdays. Freeman has quickly established himself as one of the few capable of consistently doing both.

According to Carr, it all comes back to belief and accountability.

“One of the best messages I’ve heard from him is when things are going great, I want all of you guys to feel the praise,” Carr explained. “When things are not going well, I want everyone to blame me. I’m the guy to blame. I want to take as much responsibility as I can.

“He’s just a guy you want to follow. He’s the best leader we could ask for.”

Freeman has earned widespread respect for his authenticity, but inside the Gug, players see another side of him driven by competition.

“He's just as competitive, if not more competitive than anyone in that locker room,” said Carr. “You feel it on game day as a fan I’m sure, but we feel it in the building every day single day he comes in. He’s in the weight room early. He’s lifting and getting after it. He’s in the office all day. He’s grinding tape.

“We’ll go out and play wiffe ball on Friday before the game and he’s trying to rip our faces off. He’s a competitive sucker and he makes you want to play for him.”

The next challenge for Freeman will be helping his team embrace the lofty expectations without allowing them to become distractions. That includes managing the growing attention surrounding individual awards.

Notre Dame navigated those waters last season with Jeremiyah Love, but this year feels different with Carr emerging as an early Heisman favorite. If the Irish perform the way many expect this fall, the spotlight will only intensify.

Carr insists his focus hasn't changed.

“No, not really,” Carr said when asked if he’s hearing the Heisman hype. “You hear things from the outside, but what matters to me is the people inside of the Notre Dame football building and that they believe in me and that they can count on me. The individual awards is kind of just noise.”

That outside noise only grew louder after Carr's performance at the Manning Passing Academy earlier this month.

Several national analysts named him the top quarterback in attendance, but Carr viewed the experience as an opportunity to learn from Peyton and Eli Manning.

“It was a great camp,” stated Carr. “It was a lot of fun just being able to be in front of two NFL legends. It was a lot of fun being around Peyton and Eli and also a bunch of the other college quarterbacks across America and ask them questions about their experiences and getting close to them. So being able to relate to those guys, be around some of the greats and pick their minds, it was a really cool weekend.”

Perhaps the biggest takeaway came during Peyton Manning's on-field instruction, where the Hall of Famer emphasized trusting his footwork.

“The big thing on the field was let your feet speak to you,” recalled Carr. “If we're taking a certain footwork to throw a certain route and you feel yourself hitching when you shouldn't be, then you should be moving on to two. Just some of those little things that he brought to the table helped me continue to think throughout the upcoming weeks leading into the season.”