Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he line of questioning at Marcus Freeman's latest meeting with the media, on April Fool's Day, almost felt like a prank at times. Especially when the Notre Dame head football coach was pressed about whether the national championship trophy making a statewide tour stop at a nearby Indiana University satellite campus — in a county teeming with IU alumni, no less — might be considered an act of trolling, to him and his team. Beyond that, it almost felt as if the perception was that six practices into the 15 allowable and scheduled this spring, the Notre Dame coaching staff had culled all the answers it needed to make an extended College Football Playoff run in December and January. And the trajectory is promising, maybe as promising as any time since the peak years of the Lou Holtz era. But an aus- picious spring trajectory doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of work to be done between now and the start of the season. Here's what needs to top the agenda over the second half of spring. 1. Evolving The Backup QBs Nothing could leave actual doubt about national title aspirations for the Irish in their "leave no doubt" 2026 re- venge tour than losing QB1 CJ Carr for a stretch and not having a Plan B capable enough to keep the mission alive. The Irish coaching staff pondered a transfer portal addition as a backup, then instead pushed their chips into the middle of the table on redshirt freshman Blake Hebert and true freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard. Jarrard doesn't arrive until June, hav- ing reclassified to graduate from high school as a true junior, but he's engaged back in Georgia while taking online classes and learning the Irish offensive playbook this spring. He's also taken in a spring practice in person. Hebert has been the all-around ath- lete the coaches thought he was and continues to press forward in develop- ing the mental side of playing QB at the college level. Grubbs has been an early revelation in terms of processing speed, decision-making and arm strength. But making progress is a lot different than, say, having to step in and play a sec- ond half on the road at BYU in mid-Octo- ber. Spring isn't about creating separation between the backups. It's about bringing both (and eventually all three) along in the coming months, and then figuring out the pecking order midway through fall camp. 2. Transfer Player Development We think of transfer players as plug- and-play because of their experience. But even Notre Dame's extremely experienced grad transfers in recent years had a hard reboot mentally in learning a new system. Former Ohio State defensive end trans- fer Javontae Jean-Baptiste, for instance, was one of the Irish's best five players by the end of the 2023 season. In the spring ahead of that season, he was a big body with an untapped promise. And he really didn't shift out of his "meh" cycle and start hitting his stride until mid-September. Every one of Notre Dame's seven posi- tion-player transfers this offseason proj- ects as a starter or key rotational player, so speeding up the timeline of getting comfortable with the offensive or defen- sive playbook needs to be a priority. 3. Defining And Refining An Ex- plosive Passing Attack Notre Dame lost a lot of home run ability in its offense with the early NFL Draft en- tries of running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. That position group, while deep and talented in 2026, isn't going to be able to replicate that aspect of production. Where those big plays are more likely to come from is the passing game. And Carr and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock made the most of the Irish getting shut out of the CFP by taking advantage of a much longer offseason runway. This spring, it's not just within the prac- tices but outside of them where Carr must — and will — make headway with the new offensive direction, with timing and chem- istry, with dissecting defenses to check into those explosive plays when a defense leaves a trap door open to be exposed. Additionally, figuring out how deep the wide receiver rotation should be and who's in it needs to find some definition by the end of spring. 4. Pass Rush Options, And Marry- ing Fronts With Coverages The good news is Notre Dame has continuity in scheme. More good news, two of the three new defensive assistants have longtime familiarity with defensive coordinator Chris Ash. And D-line coach Charlie Partridge is known for his ability to pair fronts with effective coverages. But all three of those position coaches — Partridge, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and DBs coach Aaron Henry — still need to continue to learn their players and how to bring out the best in them. And while early returns are very posi- tive on Notre Dame's pass-rush options, they're nowhere near a finished product. 5. Change At The Nickel In Notre Dame's two losses in 2025, Notre Dame got a Pro Football Focus film grade at the nickel position of 64.1 from starter DeVonta Smith and 51.7 from tag-teamer Karson Hobbs in a the loss at Miami. The next game, it was a 49.0 from Hobbs filling in for an injured Smith in a 41-40 loss to Texas A&M. That's how critical a single position upgrade can be in the context of a season's bottom line. The Irish need both senior Christian Gray and sophomore Dallas Golden to be strong in an otherwise deep and elite secondary. ✦ True freshman quarterback Noah Grubbs, who is battling for the backup spot behind CJ Carr, has impressed the coaching staff with his processing speed, decision-making and arm strength. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Five Priorities For Football's Spring Stretch Run Eric Hansen covers Notre Dame athletics for On3, with a focus on Irish football. He can be reached on X @ EHansenND THE DEEP READ ERIC HANSEN