Notre Dame football quarterback CJ Carr is expected to be among the elite signal-callers in college football heading into the 2026 season.

The Fighting Irish offense and its ceiling will likely be defined by the step Carr takes under offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and head coach Marcus Freeman. But this is also a critical year for quarterback coach Gino Guidugli, and it actually has nothing to do with Carr.

The development Carr shows on the field will certainly reflect well on Guidugli as his position coach and first point of contact. Coming off a season in which Carr threw for 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions while completing over 67% of his passes, Guidugli is clearly doing something right. That followed a year in which he got solid production out of Riley Leonard, who struggled as a vertical passer but still led Notre Dame to a national championship appearance in the 2024 season.

There is little question that Guidugli can coach the position.

The bigger picture beyond Carr

Following Carr’s eventual exit, which could come after the 2026 season if he opts to declare for the 2027 NFL Draft, this stretch could end up being essential in determining just how great of an overall quarterback coach Guidugli truly is. That extends from the recruiting side to the development side to the long-term outlook of building a quarterback room.

For the first time in his Notre Dame career, Guidugli has a quarterback room outside of Carr that is fully his. He recruited Blake Hebert, flipping him from Clemson in the 2025 class. He recruited both Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard, true freshmen in the 2026 class. Notre Dame is also set to welcome 2027 quarterback Champ Monds to South Bend next year.

If Carr does take the next step and declares for the 2027 draft, the 2027 version of this quarterback room will be completely what Guidugli has created. That leaves a lot of hope and optimism, but also potential room for criticism depending on how those young arms develop.

A development race with real consequences

There is a lot on the line for those developmental young quarterbacks all season long, including this offseason. Guidugli will have the opportunity to see if Grubbs, Jarrard, or potentially even Monds can come in and be the quarterback after Carr.

Notre Dame has not been shy about bringing in transfer portal quarterbacks when the need has been there. But the ideology has always been that this is a program that would like to recruit, develop, and retain talent at a high level, and that includes at the quarterback position. How the next several months go in terms of developing the young quarterback talent on the roster could determine whether Freeman and company decide to go to the portal again once Carr is gone.

Can Guidugli develop that trio of young quarterbacks (once Monds arrives) enough to be certain that Notre Dame can stay in-house for its next starting quarterback in the post-Carr era? That is the defining question.

A chance to cement his reputation

No matter which way it goes, the quarterback position feels like it is in a great spot for Notre Dame. But Guidugli has a chance to cement himself among the best quarterback coaches in all of college football depending on the work he does over the next year to 18 months in developing the young talent he has accumulated.

There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Jarrard, Grubbs, and Monds based on their high school tape, and they certainly have the talent to be the next standout quarterback in South Bend. Development will determine the next step for this program, and that track is firmly on the shoulders of just how good a coach Guidugli truly is.