Notre Dame Quarterback Coach Gino Guidugli Pleased With CJ Carr's Development
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For the first time in his tenure, head coach Marcus Freeman has a returning starting quarterback under center. Notre Dame hasn't had this much hype surrounding a returning signal caller since Brady Quinn's return in 2006 after his stellar 2005 performance. Junior CJ Carr is poised for a massive season. He's one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy at the end of the season and will be relied upon to be the primary driver of success in the Fighting Irish offense.
Quarterback coach Gino Guidugli is also heading into his first time in South Bend with a returning starting quarterback. Carr's development from year one to now has been one that Guidugli has watched with great intent. Carr's progress is why he believes he's in for a fantastic fall.
"He made so many mistakes as a freshman," Guidugli shared. "But the thing was, he wasn't scared to make a mistake. He was always super aggressive. If you said something in the meeting room and didn't intend for them to absorb it, he may come into the practice that day, get to a look and check to that play. Nobody has talked about that outside of us in the quarterback room but he was never scared to do that. I think that's what makes him great. He's not scared to make a mistake and he's not scared to take a chance. Do they always work out? No, but more times than not, they do."
The Saline, Michigan native is coming off a fantastic sophomore season. He threw for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and rushed for an additional three scores. Now, Carr enters the 2026 season as one of the premier signal callers in the country. But it's his strides in leadership development that has Guidugli raving about the 6-2, 215-pound quarterback.
"He's been phenomenal, just taking those guys under his wing," Guidugli said of Carr coaching up the young players in the room. "He wants those young guys to be good. I think he appreciates those guys, kind of seeing him as the example, and he’s been great with them. We don't teach the offense any differently, whether CJ or those guys are getting the same installs, they’re getting the same instructions as he is.”
One of the biggest things that sets Carr apart is his level of competitiveness. Freeman, Guidugli and multiple teammates on several different occasions have alluded to how competitive the junior quarterback is in several areas, not just between the white lines on the football field.
"When he's out there with the defense, the chatter in between series, sometimes I’m like, ‘Come on dude, onto the next play," Guidugli said jokingly. "Why do you spend time talking to the defensive guys? Get the signal for the next play. You see it in the meeting room with the other quarterbacks. We play wiffle ball every Friday of game week. You’ll see it there. You'll see it if he’s doing something he wants to win at like ping-pong. He’ll play Roblox with my 9-year-old and he’ll be talking crap about Roblox. Whatever it is, I think it’s between him and his brother. He and Tommy [Carr] grew up competing and if you step into a match with CJ, it don’t matter what it is, he’s trying to win.”
Expectations are at an all-time high for the Notre Dame junior quarterback, but his ability to handle the expectations and block out the outside noise has stood out to his quarterback coach.
“I think he does a good job of blocking out the noise," Guidugli raved about the junior quarterback. "It’s about CJ and our offense improving. He wants to understand defensive football, he wants to understand offensive football and he wants to understand the situation. I don’t think he hears much noise. He's concentrated on what tomorrow brings and what’s right in front of his nose. He’s not looking too far down the road. It’s training camp and what’s after.”
As a team, Notre Dame has a lot of expectations this year. After last year's playoff snub, they're one of the team's projected to contend for the national title after returning the most production and experience in college football. Carr is a major driver of that conversation. If he's the player we believe him to be, this is going to be a special year for the Fighting Irish.
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