(Notre Dame) — As he has made the point with his team, Marcus Freeman shared a message with the media at his opening press conference of the fall.

“A lot of these players weren’t with us last year,” Freeman calmly proclaimed from his podium at Notre Dame Stadium. “2024 has nothing to do with 2025.”

The Irish will not get extra bonus points for being national runner-up to Ohio State in January’s title game. And while that run excited fans and apparently, recruits, it will be a distant memory unless Notre Dame can find new heroes.

“Some of the leadership amongst our players showed,” lauded Freeman. “They’re at a level that’s ahead of where you usually start the year.”

Who will be leading from the quarterback position is one of the biggest questions for the Irish this year. Freeman laid out his criteria for that decision.

“It’s gonna be consistency,” said Freeman. “They will determine who is the starting quarterback. Who can be the most consistent? Who can take care of the football? Who can keep our offense moving forward? We’ll grade it every day. We’ll put them in similar challenging situations. At some point when we’re ready, we’ll name a starter.”

That is the same quality Freeman is looking for when it comes to evaluating other positions as well.

“Consistency is the number-one criteria for any position,” Freeman reiterated. ” I’m a firm believer consistency builds trust and coaches are going to play players they trust. At the end of the day, no matter how athletic you are, no matter how many recruiting stars you have, if the coach doesn’t trust you, we can’t put you out there.”

Both quarterback contenders, C.J. Carr and Kenny Minchey, had bright and dark moments during practice Thursday. Carr was intercepted three times, two of them from Fort Wayne North alum Tae Johnson. The safety’s first pick came on an underthrown deep ball, but Johnson made a spectacular leaping snare of a ball thrown over the middle to pilfer the second one. Minchey threw one interception during a seven-on-seven period, hitting safety Adon Shuler right in the numbers.

But Carr also hit Micah Gilbert on a beautiful bomb down the far sideline, and Minchey showed his arm strength, zipping a throw to Malachi Fields.

“I try not to be result-oriented,” noted Freeman. “I’ll get back with the offensive staff and find out if they made the right decision. Here’s what I really like…they both kept saying “reload”. Good play, bad play. Reload for the next play.”

The offensive line had Sullivan Absher replacing the injured Charles Jagusah at guard, lining up next to right tackle Aamil Wagner. Ashton Craig is back from last year’s injury at center with Billy Schrauth and Anthonie Knapp on the left side. Notably, Guerby Lambert, who missed the spring with a torn labrum, was back on the second-team line.

The Irish are also finding ways to use Jeremiyah Love. Not only does the junior running back look spectacular carrying the ball his ability to motion out to the slot creates mismatches for the defense.

As for that defense, the secondary looks spectacular with Adon Shuler at one safety, while Johnson and Luke Talich battle for the other safety slot. Leonard Moore and Christian Gray man the corners and Alabama transfer Devonta Smith starts at nickel.

There was a lot of rotation among the defensive line, as the Irish have 22 on the roster. Donovan Hinish, Gabe Rubio, Jared Dawson and Jason Onye all found time in the interior, with Josh Burnham, Junior Tuihalamaka, Bryce Young and Loghan Thomas all getting reps at the end slots. Thomas, in particular, broke up a pair of passes with his length.

All that, plus a solid linebacking corps featuring Drayk Bowen, Jaylen Sneed, Jaiden Ausberry and Kyngston Villiamu-Asa, gives new defensive coordinator Chris Ash a lot of weapons to use.

“He’s intense and extremely intelligent,” stated Freeman of his new defensive coordinator. “You’ve got a guy that comes in and everybody says ‘you’ve got to fill Al Golden’s shoes’. No, you just have to be the best Chris Ash you can be. His job isn’t to keep things the same. His job is to elevate this defense.”

On special teams, North Carolina transfer Noah Burnette missed a couple kicks, but booted the ball with strength, although backup Marcello Diomede looked impressive as well. Punter James Rendell returns and the Irish auditioned different people in punt return today, including  Aneyas Williams and freshman Dallas Golden.

Notre Dame opens the season in exactly one month, visiting Miami (Florida) in a Sunday night game on ABC.