Quarterback C.J. Carr returns to No. 4 Notre Dame trying to ignore the hype while producing results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame quarterback C.J. Carr spent the summer playing ping-pong and golf, hanging out with teammates and, of course, refining his football skills.

He was too busy competing to pay attention to what everyone else was saying — that he could be a Heisman Trophy candidate and that the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish could end their national championship drought.

“I think 90% of that’s coming from social media,” Carr said. “That’s where 80% of the noise comes from, and then you’ll have your mom calling you on a Saturday like, ‘Did you see this?’ And it’s like, ‘Alright, relax.’ If you delete the noise, then it’s not there anymore.”

But when you're the starting quarterback at a storied program, high expectations are just part of the job. And in today's college world, returning for the second year as the starter means it's virtually impossible not to be mentioned in those conversations, especially after the kind of season Carr had in 2025.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior started all 12 games and threw at least one touchdown pass in each one. And though he was far from perfect, he steadied the ship following an 0-2 start with 10 straight wins while leading an offense that finished second in the Bowl Subdivision in scoring (41.8 points). Carr threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns, dominating Arkansas by throwing for 354 yards and four TDs.

Now, he gets to do it all over again, this time as a tested veteran with a new mindset after Notre Dame missed last year's playoff and spending the offseason trying to build more chemistry with his receivers.

“It’s not just an on-the-field thing,” Carr said, noting they traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for some team-building activities. “It’s, ‘Let’s go play ping-pong and eat lunch and hang out.’ There’s a ton of time throughout the summer and camp to do that. So you become really close with these guys off the field. Then, in a way, you can kind of read their minds on the field.”

Receivers Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse are both back with Carr for another season, and Ohio State transfers Ohio State transfers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter add more than depth to Notre Dame's offense. Together, the quartet could emerge as game-changers.

“It makes my life easy,” Carr said. “I wouldn’t want to play us in man coverage because it’s pick your poison. It makes it easy with a bunch of guys who understand football and are really talented.”

Carr understands football better than most. His father, Jason, played football at Michigan and his grandfather, Lloyd, was Michigan's longtime head coach who led the Wolverines to the 1997 national championship.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman believes Carr's lineage gives him a leg up on the competition.

“He’s almost like a version of a coordinator on the field,” Freeman said. “The coach-to-player communication cuts off in 15 seconds, and he’s able to see a defense and anticipate what the defense is going to be and put our offense in a position to not have a negative play. That’s more important, probably, than the explosive plays.”

Freeman added: "Those explosive plays happen for plenty of different reasons, but to keep our offense out of negative plays and have a quarterback that can see it because he’s prepared, he’s intelligent, he has experience, it's an X factor, and you don’t have to depend on a coach telling the player everything.”

While the football IQ has always been there, the processing part consistently sped up as Carr gained experience last season.

But Greathouse believes Carr's progression has continued through the spring and summer, and that what will keep talking this season will be the difference they see Carr on the field.

“Obviously, last season was his first season,” Greathouse said. “You know you’re going to get smarter as you keep going. You can definitely see that throughout practice. The way he leads the team, the way that he leads the offense, I definitely think he’s taken a step up and so that means our chemistry is going even stronger.”

The first test comes Sept. 6 against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

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