Likely No. 2 again, Steve Angeli appears ready to shine if and when his number is called for Notre Dame in 2024.
Tim OMalley
First, Drew Pyne left the door open, but Tyler Buchner returned from injury to earn MVP honors in Notre Dame's 2022 Gator Bowl victory.
And Steve Angeli stayed.
Shortly thereafter, the Irish signed certain 2023 starter Sam Hartman from the transfer portal.
And Steve Angeli stayed.
Buchner left, Hartman's eligibility ran out, Notre Dame officially signed highly-touted future starter CJ Carr, and Notre Dame won a bowl game with Angeli at the helm.
Shortly thereafter, Riley Leonard inked Irish, and—you guessed it—Steve Angeli stayed.
A junior with three seasons of eligibility remaining, Angeli's goal is to become Notre Dame's full-time starting quarterback—it won't happen in 2024 without and serious injury to Leonard and the 2025 quarterbacks room is going to feature one heckuva spring-time competition.
But first: summer conditioning, training camp, and certain playing time—at least in reserve—for the 2024, Playoff hope-filled Irish.
Angeli has won a game as Notre Dame's starting quarterback, and it's something he won't soon forget.
"It's a surreal feeling. I mean, winning is addictive and really everything you do here is about winning," Angeli told reporters during the spring. "Notre Dame is a standard set at winning. So, when you walk on that field that's all that's on your mind. So walking off, first start, first win, it means the world, but you're just hungry for more."
All good things to those who wait? It would appear so for Angeli, at least in terms of his sophom*ore season progress when he improved his status from major question mark reserve to eye-opening backup behind center.
To be clear: at this point in the calendar year of 2023, Angeli wasn't an option, at least per his coaches.
"It was probably about midway through fall camp last year. Coach (Marcus Freeman) just asked me, 'Steve has come a long way,'" said Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli noting the staff's decision to eschew a quarterback in the portal when Buchner left for Alabama. "We decided to invest those reps in Steve and Kenny (Minchey) and help there development.
"And those added reps in summer and fall camp, somewhere in Practice 6, Practice 7, all of a sudden Steve was getting off the front side and hitting the backside. Or he was changing the protection and telling this guy 'give me that' and it was like 'sh*t, who's this guy?'
"I think he just continued to progress and his confidence is a lot of that."
Angeli credits both Guidugli and Hartman for helping him reach his potential to date.
"I would definitely say Coach Guidugli coming in and furthering my development (and) I say it every time that I'm able to say it, Sam Hartman played a big role," Angeli told reporters. "Kind of being under his wing for a year, developing that relationship with him. He taught me a lot. Like, I've said it before, he's played a lot of ball.
"So, asking him all those questions, getting to know him on a personal level and how he carries himself on and especially off the field. His process definitely helped me just kind of learn those little secrets. All went into the preparation that I kind of took the mindset every day at practice, like I'm preparing like the starter. So, when my time came it wasn't any different."
'That guy' Angeli is today's focus in our Counting Down the Irish series.
- Irish Illustrated Ranking: 40
- O'Malley Ranking: 46
- Prister Ranking: 44
- Mentock Ranking: 47
- Brice Ranking: 40
- Sinclair Ranking: 13
Prister Says: "Another one of those quarterbacks difficult to slot behind projected starter Riley Leonard. Angeli clearly has taken a significant step forward since last pre-season camp. He'll enter the season poised to make a mark if/when he gets his chance. Is his talent level great enough to lead the Irish to a playoff berth?"
Brice Says: "That Angeli remains on the Notre Dame roster today speaks to his character and competitive make-up. And he's proved a very capable spot starter for the Irish with his Sun Bowl tour de force. How long can Notre Dame retain him? There aren't many backups in college football I'd take over Steve Angeli."
Sinclair Says: "I'm sure my ranking will be much higher than most, if not all of the other projections. The way I see it, Notre Dame's defense could be dominant in Al Golden's third year, the receiver roster is significant bolstered, but the projected starting quarterback has recent injury issues. Should Riley Leonard be sidelined again (knock on wood), Steve Angeli is in line to be the guy. To me, that's one valuable piece of man power, and he's proven he can lead Notre Dame to victories."
Mentock Says: "Angeli has developed well at Notre Dame, improving my leaps and bounds as a passer and decision maker. He's also passed keys tests like leading the Irish to a victory over a ranked Oregon State team in the Sun Bowl. Unfortunately, Riley Leonard is the odds on favorite to win the QB1 job in 2024. After that, he'll have to beat out a wildly talented player like CJ Carr if he ever wants to be the full-time starter in South Bend."
What To Expect In 2024
Myriad scenarios are in play for Angeli as the Irish begin summer conditioning in earnest, but these four seem most likely—the first two appealing to Irish fans and the latter pair definitively not:
- A starting assignment in relief of an injured Riley Leonard, as most quarterbacks don't make it unscathed through 13-plus games.
- A season working as Notre Dame's No. 2 quarterback with no starts but ample action in 8+ blowout contests
- A singular start—the bowl game—the result of Notre Dame missing the 2024 Playoff
- Several starts due to injury or poor play from the starter Leonard
Angeli is clearly the No. 2 quarterback, and as of right now, not close to being No. 3.
Future Prospects
With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Angeli will have a chance to compete with some combination of Kenny Minchey, CJ Carr, and incoming freshman Deuce Knight for the 2025, and thus potentially 2026 starting roles.
The repercussions of that eventual choice made by Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, and head coach Marcus Freeman will provide one, if not two starting quarterbacks for Power 4 programs in need of a starter shortly thereafter.
Stat Of The Day
Angeli finished 34-for-44 with seven touchdowns and one interception last fall. His 504 passing yards broke down as follows per Pro Football Focus:
- Deep (20-plus yards): 5-for-8, 144 yards, 2 TD
- Medium (10-19 yards): 1-for-3, 12 yards
- Short (0-9 yards): 19-for-22, 235 yards, 3 TD (1 INT)
- Behind scrimmage: 9-for-9, 113 yards, 2 TD
Quote To Note
"You go out there in the bowl game and you really don't know what to expect. Like, our whole offense was missing, and we had a bunch of guys getting an opportunity to show what they can do. We're always talking about embracing opportunities because you don't know when they're going to come, well those guys got a little heads-up and got to prepare for that opportunity.
"I'm really happy with his development too because if we saw footage from him last spring compared to this spring? Totally different guy. Last spring, it was like 'Man I don't know.' But it's like "Steve can be a guy.'' — Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli during spring practice.
"Just his decision making. Like last spring, he would get STUCK, like, inside a concept and not know where to go with the ball. Now he'll see it. He's playing with much better anticipation, being able to recognize the defense pre-snap, knowing things like 'Okay, this side might not be good, I'm going to have to get to the backside pretty quickly. Or understand this is a pressure look, where's my best outlet for the ball. That's allowing him to play faster which keeps us on the chains and keeps the ball moving which is going to lead to us scoring more point." — Guidugli on the biggest change in Angeli from spring to bowl game starter.
