Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Q uarterback CJ Carr's un- derstanding of what he can do with a football increased with all the lessons he learned as a first-year, redshirt freshman starter last season. Even in the season-opening loss at Miami, Carr used his eyes to mis- lead defenders before throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide re- ceiver Micah Gilbert. Carr learned more about what he could get away with and what he shouldn't try as the season progressed. For instance, the interception he threw Sept. 13 against Texas A&M on a misguided pass attempt to running back Jadarian Price didn't need to happen. On the other hand, forcing a 35-yard pass to wide re- ceiver Malachi Fields Nov. 15 when the Pittsburgh defense jumped off- side to start the play was a smart decision even if Fields had to make an acrobatic one-handed catch. Those are all moments Carr learned from playing a role in them himself. But he's spent just as much time learning from the decisions others have made through film study. Carr, who previ- ously spent hours watching film of leg- endary quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, became obsessed with watching Los Angeles Rams quarter- back Matthew Stafford this offseason. "The things they're doing schemati- cally and the throws that he makes, show that those throws are possible to be made," Carr said. "And you're seeing that up and down the tape. "Let's try it. Let's go out there and try it and see what it looks like." Stafford, the NFL's MVP last season, continues to thrive because of his will- ingness to test defenses. He makes good decisions and anticipates where to put the ball. But he'll manipulate the de- fense with eyes and even throw in a no- look pass on occasion. Notre Dame has given Carr permis- sion to experiment in similar ways. Head coach Marcus Freeman compared it to watching former Notre Dame run- ning back Jeremiyah Love practice dif- ferent moves in practice that eventu- ally showed up in games and helped him earn the Doak Walker Award as the na- tion's top running back last year. "It's a fine line," Freeman said. "We can't be silly and goofy. But if we're try- ing to do things to really help us as in- dividuals get better and help our team, you have to allow them to do that. "I don't want our guys practicing or playing with fear. I say it all the time: the worst thing that's going to happen is your coach is going to yell at you. You can't worry about that. You got to ac- cept that coaching and learn from it and get better. "I want our guys to be aggressive and try different things that are ultimately going to help us." That's not to say no-look passes are going to be a part of Notre Dame's playbook entering the 2026 season, but Carr earned the trust to tinker with his game at a level reserved for elite quar- terbacks. Carr set a standard for his play by completing 66.6 percent of his passes (195 of 293) for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and 6 interceptions last season. His passing efficiency rating of 168.1 finished fifth in the FBS be- hind three Heisman Trophy final- ists — Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (182.9), Ohio State's Julian Sayin (177.5) and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (170.4) — and North Texas' Drew Mestemaker (168.7). W h e n No t re Da m e 's sea so n ended abruptly without a College Football Playoff spot, the Irish off- season became much longer than normal. That gave Carr plenty of time to dive as deep into film study as he wanted. "I don't know that there's any film in our system that he did not watch," said Irish quarterback coach and passing game coordi- nator Gino Guidugli. "He did film breakdowns on probably a dozen NFL teams, just watching differ- ent quarterbacks, creating cut-ups of concepts that they run that are similar to us and that he'd like to implement, looking at under-cen- ter footwork. I think that was just an important time for him to be able to go back, watch the things we did, under- stand where we need to improve, and also the things that we are really good at and need to continue to be good at." One year from now, Carr could be preparing for the NFL Draft. But in or- der for him to truly propel himself into the NFL conversation next offseason, he has to prove that last season wasn't a fluke. He'll need to do so against de- fenses that will be more likely to fo- cus on slowing him down rather than Notre Dame's running game. The Fight- ing Irish are working on giving him the tools to take advantage of whichever defensive scheme he sees across the line of scrimmage. "He just has a big-picture perspective on the game," Guidugli said. "I've been around some really good ones, and 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 is unbelievable." ✦ Carr is using the spring to experiment with approaches that will improve him as the starting quarterback in 2026. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Finding The Next Level For CJ Carr Tyler James has been covering Notre Dame athletics since 2011. He can be reached on X @ TJamesND FIRST AND LAST TYLER JAMES