Kenny Minchey spent three years with the Notre Dame football team, serving as a good soldier and doing everything asked of him. However, once CJ Carr won the quarterback battle between the two last fall, and it became clear he was the QB of the present and the future, Minchey moved on to Kentucky via the transfer portal. Now, as Minchey prepares for his first season as a starting quarterback in the college ranks, he has a message for the man he spent a year backing up.
For anyone thinking there might be some animosity between the two, who battled for the starting spot last fall, Minchey had nothing but encouragement for Carr when talking to On3’s Pete Nakos in a podcast episode earlier in June. He knows the two won’t face off against each other this year unless it’s in the postseason, so he wants his former teammate to have as much success as possible.
“Unless we play them in the playoffs, I hope he goes out and kills it,” Minchey said about Carr and Notre Dame. “I hope the whole team does. I’m excited to be able to tune in and watch some of their games whenever we’re not playing because I still have a bunch of buddies there who are hoping to have a really good season.”
Minchey arrived in South Bend as the 11th-ranked QB in the 2023 class, having thrown for 3,280 yards and 32 TDs as a junior in high school before an injury shortened his senior year. Possessing both a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his feet, it was never that Minchey didn’t measure up enough to be a starter for the Fighting Irish. Instead, it was more bad timing than anything that constantly stood in his way for Marcus Freeman’s squad.
Kenny Minchey rooting for CJ Carr after Notre Dame football transfer
During his first two seasons, Kenny Minchey sat behind older transfer quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard. He was also behind Steve Angeli on the depth chart. Angeli was once considered the “heir apparent” before departing for the transfer portal before the 2025 quarterback battle really began. Because of this, Minchey played only sparingly. Across three years with the Fighting Irish, he played in 10 games and completed 23 of 29 passes for 212 yards without throwing an interception. He also showed his mobility with 96 rushing yards and a touchdown. His biggest chance for a starting job came last spring and fall.
However, despite what everyone in and around the program considered a very close battle, CJ Carr emerged the victor and followed up his one-on-one battle with Kenny Minchey by forging an excellent 2025 regular season. The writing was then on the wall for the talented backup, and he went to seek his own starting job.
Now, with a Wildcat team under a new coaching staff and hoping to make noise in the SEC, he explained exactly why he decided to go to Kentucky.
“It was just that I wasn’t playing there, so that was really the main reason,” Minchey said about his reason to enter the portal. “These are basically the best two guys (Will Stein and OC Joe Sloan) at their positions across the country, and with what they’ve been able to do in terms of quarterback development, I think it ended up being a no-brainer.”
As for Kenny Minchey’s former teammates, Notre Dame hopes to see him again on the field. If they do, it would almost certainly mean both squads made the College Football Playoff field.
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