While Notre Dame’s quarterback room continues to wait for a likely transfer to join it, the Irish have officially added consensus four-star quarterback Kenny Minchey to the group, with the Tennessee product signing his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday morning as the December signing period commenced. An early enrollee, Minchey should join current sophomore Tyler Buchner and current freshman Steve Angeli in spring practices.
KENNY MINCHEY
Pope John Paul II High School; Hendersonville, Tenn.Measurements: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Accolades: Minchey’s recruiting rankings moved up gradually, reaching consensus four-star status only a few weeks ago. The No. 11 pro-style quarterback and No. 207 recruit in the country, per rivals.com, Minchey will play in the All-American Bowl next month.
Other notable offers: As Notre Dame struggled to find its quarterback for this class, Minchey was a relatively late Irish target. For more than six months this year, he was committed to Pittsburgh, de-commiting only a week before pledging to Notre Dame in late November. Homestate Tennessee and Vanderbilt, as well as Michigan State and West Virginia all also chased Minchey.
Projected position: Well, quarterback. With the one-time transfer allowance, landing at least one quarterback in each recruiting class is more important than ever.
Quick take: A shoulder injury limited Minchey this fall and then knocked him out of the playoffs, so finding health with that will be the first priority for both him and the Irish. That should not be a lasting concern, though, gien he is still expected to play in the All-American Bowl in just a couple weeks.
Deep accuracy and underrated mobility raise Minchey’s ceiling as high as any currently on the Notre Dame roster.
Short-term roster outlook: It should still be expected that the Irish will land a transfer in the next few weeks. Maybe that is Texas’ Hudson Card. Maybe it is Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman. Maybe it is someone else not yet floating to the top of speculation. Whomever it is, he will be the immediate presumptive starter in 2023.
Then comes Buchner and Angeli. All of which is to say, Minchey should have a full year to develop with little else to worry about.
Long-term depth chart impact: Next year’s recruiting cycle should not have the same quarterback worries as this one did — a chase that saw the Irish work through a long pursuit of recent UCLA commit Dante Moore before opening up the board to a wider array of possibilities, including Austin Novosad who flipped his commitment on Wednesday from Baylor to Oregon, recently spurned by Moore.
Consensus four-star CJ Carr is already committed to Notre Dame and has shown no signs of wavering.
Unless Minchey quickly establishes himself as a gem, there will be widespread anticipation Carr may leapfrog him in the depth chart. That is unfair to both Minchey’s potential and Carr’s development, but such are the habits of fans watching quarterbacks.
RELATED READING: Notre Dame finally adds a QB to its recruiting class of 2023, landing former Pitt commit Kenny Minchey
SIGNING DAY COVERAGE
Consensus four-star QB Kenny Minchey, former Pittsburgh commit
Consensus four-star running back Jeremiyah Love, No. 4 RB in the country
Five offensive lineman signees continue Irish trend up front
Four receivers fill greatest Irish need
Irish secondary boosted by four signees, speed included, despite Signing Day disappointment
Three linebackers continue Marcus Freeman’s defensive emphasis, led by Drayk Bowen
Four defensive linemen, led by consensus four-star Brenan Vernon
Consensus four-star tight end Cooper Flanagan
Brandyn Hillman, athlete who may end up on defense
