returning qb and coordinators give marcus freeman a better feeling this spring
For the first time since 2020, Notre Dame will have a returning starter under center. as quarterback CJ Carr returns to become the face of the Irish offense heading into a very important spring practice schedule. Carr had an impressive start to his 2025 season, but leveled off towards the end of the season. Despite disappointing late season performances, he threw for 2,741 yards and completed over 66 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns, and seven interception. Head coach Marcus Freeman recently sat down with On3's JD Pickell and talked about his confidence in what he’s seen from his second year signal-caller.
"It's exciting," Freeman stated. "It's my first time having a returning starting quarterback along with all three coordinators returning as well. There's a level of comfort knowing who they are as people, knowing that they know the schemes, knowing who CJ Carr is and the work ethic that he puts in as well as the work our coaches put in. There's a level of confidence we have but we still have to continue to do the work."
According to FanDuel, Carr is currently the favorite to win the Heisman and widely considered one of the best returning quarterbacks according to several outlets. Multiple outlets project Carr to be the number one quarterback in college football with a chance of being a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. The off-season buzz matches the buzz generated by his arrival during bowl practices for the 2023 Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. Since then, the sound coming from his talent and preparation have been unavoidable.
"He's prepared," Freeman answered when asked about Carr. "From the moment he stepped on campus, he's prepared to be the starter. It's just a reflection of the way he was raised, being obviously a coach's kid and a coach's grandson. He prepares tremendously. That's the one thing you appreciate about CJ Carr is there is no finish line for him and that's what I'm excited for."
Now, the pressure ratchets up for Carr and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, who will also have the same conductor for his offense returning for the first time since returning prior to the 2024 season. Both Freeman and Denbrock have high expectations for their quarterback, and his maturity is greatly needed as the offense loses almost 73 percent of it’s production with players like Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Eli Raridon, and others leaving for the NFL. The passing game must take a step forward with Carr becoming the focal point of the offense.
"The thing that you're seeing him do now is him truly let his leadership shine," Freeman explained. "He's making the guys around him better. You see him getting the wide outs, tight ends and the running backs together saying, 'Okay, we're going to throw on Saturdays at this time and you have to be there. Then they're going to watch film at this time and they have to be there. He is always looking for ways to improve."
Defensive coordinator Chris Ash has continuity in the coaching staff with the hiring of Charlie Partridge, Aaron Henry and Brian Jean-Mary. All three coaches had existing relationships with Ash and understand how he wants things communicated to the players. That may have been difficult with the previous staff that had coached under former defensive coordinator Al Golden. Going into his second year, Ash has a better feel for what the players can do and the defense should benefit from it.”
"Every year before this, I was spending time with a certain side of the ball trying to make sure we understand what the new scheme was," Freeman stated. "You're trying to figure out how we're going to script practice to get enough reps for this quarterback competition. Every year is different, but this one's different. I don't need to go spend a whole bunch of time figuring out what we're doing on offense, defense and special teams because the coordinators are back."
Marcus Freeman has an early season hurdle to get over in the form of his team getting off to slow starts, and the continuity flowing from his quarterback and coordinators has him extremely confident about the Fighting Irish being able to fulfill his mantra for the season. “Leave No Doubt”.
jeremiyah love and jadarian price make all-combine team
Notre Dame standouts Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were the best running back duo in 2025, and the pair went into the 2026 NFL Draft cycle mocked to be the first two backs selected according to most industry experts. They both lived up to the expectations of NFL scout and coaches in Indianapolis.
Love and Price both had outstanding performances, and they were recognized by NFL.com as two of the standouts. NFL.com released its All-Combine team, and the Notre Dame stars were the two backs listed on the ranking.
Love kicked things off with an elite performance in the 40-yard dash. Despite checking in at 212 pounds, Love had a blazing time, posting a 4.36 in his first run and a 4.37 time in his second run. His official 4.36 time was the second best at running back and continued to separate himself as the best back in the draft. In fact, Love's performance helped him continue to put himself in the debate as the best overall player in the draft.
The 40-yard dash was the only testing aspect of Love's performance, but he did participate in the on-field position drills. Love was also a standout there, showing explosiveness, impressive route running skills and he caught the ball extremely well. Love certainly impressed NFL teams with his performance, which comes after an elite 2025 season in which he won the Doak Walker Award, was a unanimous All-American season and rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Price also had a strong testing performance, running a 4.49 in the 40-yard dash. Love also had a 35-inch vertical jump and a 10'4" broad jump. Price's 10'4" broad jump was tied for the third best among the running backs. His 21 reps on the bench press was also impressive.
As good as his testing numbers were, Price was even better during the on-field drills. He was incredibly smooth and efficient with his footwork going through the bag drills, which are meant to replicate making cuts with the ball in his hands. Price also showed himself to be a good route runner and he caught the ball extremely well. While Love showed off his pass catching skills at Notre Dame, Price didn't get as much of a chance to do so, hauling in just 15 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns in his career.
jeremiyah love on maxwell watch list
Today, Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love was named to the Maxwell Award watchlist. The Maxwell is awarded every year to the most outstanding player in college football; it recognizes superb play on the field and outstanding contributions to the game. Historically, this award is typically given to premier quarterbacks in the country, but last season, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty won the Maxwell after a stellar season. Jeanty was the first running back who won the award since Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015.
During the 2024 season, Love racked up 1,125 rushing yards, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, totaled 17 rushing touchdowns, 237 receiving yards and recorded two receiving touchdowns. The versatile back took advantage of being the primary ball-carrier for the first by quickly becoming one of the most dynamic and explosive players in the country after recording touchdown runs of 48, 64, 68, 76 and 98 yards. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Love at 100 percent in the post season due to an injury sustained in the last regular season game. Fortunately that didn’t stop him from rattling off a 98 yard touchdown run to open up the 2024 College Football Playoffs.
This season, Love returns to the Fighting Irish backfield and is expected to be a main focal point of the offense. Notre Dame returns an experienced offensive line and will be breaking in a first time starter under center for the first time since 2022. Love and the rest of new running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider’s stable of ball carriers should take the pressure off a first time starter at quarterback earlier in the season.
Notre Dame has found success in receiving the prestigious award with six players winning the award since it’s origin with the most recent player being star linebacker Manti Te’o in 2012. Love has the opportunity to be the first Irish running back to win the award since John Lattner who won the Maxwell in back to back seasons in 1952 and 1953. Love has received a lot of preseason hype and is being coined as one of, if not the best, returning running back in the country and has been named to numerous preseason All-American teams. With renewed energy and the additions at wide receiver via the transfer portal, Love should have even more room to operate and should land on the finalist list during the season.
ja’ juan seider has a clear plan for his running backs
When new Fighting Irish running back coach Ja’ Juan Seider departed Penn State, he knew he was stepping into an uber talented running back room. However, he also knew that he would be challenged to gain the trust of young men that had strong ties and belief in former running back coach Deland McCullough, who departed South Bend for a similar position with the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL. Coach Seider met with the assembled media and laid out his plan for his room during spring practice.
“Let's make the rep count because we in spring,” Seider explained. “We’re still in the process of learning new teaching, new read keys. I mean a bunch of newness, right? So we talked early when we first got here being uncomfortable and now it's time for us to be comfortable as a group and I think we're starting to get to that point where they trust me, I trust them and it's evolving.”
Seider’s Nittany Lion backfiield tandem combined for 2207 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on the ground last year. By comparison, the top two Notre Dame running backs combined for 1871 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground. Notre Dame also got contributions from Freshman Aneyas Williams who thrived as the third down back. He rushed for 219 yards and two touchdown in addition to 18 receptions for 172 yards. The depth and versatility is an incredible luxury for Seider, but he feels that the room will go as the best player in the room goes.
Notre Dame RB Coach Ja’ Juan Seider
“Then with a guy like Jeremiyah who's obviously on a natural scale,” Seider said. How do you push in on this? Listen, my whole life and philosophy, how I grew as a coach, it doesn't matter if you are a national player, you coach your best players hard because if you don't, you fell on that kid in that moment, he don't improve, right? Last year is last year, nobody cared about last year. This is a new year. We talked about new year, new us. I wasn't here, nobody cares what Jeremiyah Love last year, it’s what Jeremiyah Love is going to do this year. So that's kind of been our mindset because you have to have a growth mindset, otherwise you could complain.”
That's definitely the type of coaching great players like Jeremiyah Love want because it sets the stage for evolution. You want to be able to take your game up from the next level, read keys and change the game, but your knowledge is supposed to expand and grow. Seider definitely seem like a coach that's going to promote that in new and fresh way. He has to keep the running backs on their toes and continue to push these guys forward so that they don't get comfortable in the sense that they can rely on the things that they could get away with last year. Whenever you're in a new relationship, there's a lot of proving that has to take place in regaining or building trust, and Seider’s design for his players seems to be resonationg. Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both spoke about Seider’s playing experience as a quarterback and how it gives them both a new pre-snap perspective and understanding that they look forward to implementing in spring and fall practices.
One difference from last season for a talented six man room may be the usage of Jeremiyah Love on third downs and in clutch moments;
“I mean it's hard to go in a game, say you're going to play six, Seider explained. “ To me, that's impossible. I can always go back to what I'd done in 19. I had four freshmen hadn't separated they self, so we were trying to figure out who was going to be the guy and then eventually we had a kid named Jamie Brown, separate from everybody and then became a star player. And then you kind of balance even you got a star player. He shouldn't take every snap, right? He need balance. He need to be fresh for the fourth quarter. He need to be fresh for game winning situations. So here we got a good depth because you got Jay Love, you got your JaDarian, you got Gi’ Bran, you got Aneyas and you got Kedren. All those guys play. You just got to find out how you're going to fit those guys.”