(Notre Dame) — It turns out explaining Notre Dame’s quarterback decision was almost as difficult for Marcus Freeman as the decision itself.

Last week, Notre Dame announced on social media that redshirt freshman CJ Carr would be the starting quarterback Sunday at Miami, winning the post after a lengthy fall camp battle with sophomore Kenny Minchey.  At his press conference Tuesday, Marcus Freeman tried his best to describe what put Carr over the top.

“Statistically, it was as close as any quarterback competition I’ve ever been a part of ,” noted Freeman. “I was looking for that to be the reason that I would make a decision and it wasn’t clear. They were both really, really good. I just had to make a difficult decision. I had to trust my gut a little bit on what I feel we needed week one versus this opponent…who will be able to handle that decision the right way. All those things played into my decision.”

It was much easier for Freeman to talk about the strengths that Carr brings to the position.

“He’s as intelligent of a football player as you’ll be around,” lauds the Irish coach. “Works extremely hard in his preparation. He’s a guy that studies the game endlessly to try to find a way to improve. He’s a guy that’s very confident — at some points, maybe a little bit over confident –but you want that in your quarterback. You want your quarterback to say ‘I want the ball in my hands every play when the game is on the line and I believe I’m going to make the right decision’. He has a lot of those intangibles outside of the skill set that many people see.”

Despite all those attributes, Carr was pushed hard by Minchey throughout camp, because of Minchey’s development.

“His decision making, his arm strength, his leadership in his own way,” listed Freeman, when asked what Minchey showed. “You’re talking about a guy who has probably gained more trust from the start of spring ball until now than anybody in our program. He is good enough to be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. It was a tough decision, but I had to make the decision on a number of factors.”

In fact, Freeman went out of his way in his opening remarks to stress the need for both quarterbacks.

“I think CJ and Kenny both improved in training camp, and that’s what you want out of a competition,” said the fourth-year Notre Dame head coach. “You want both guys to find ways to elevate, and I believe they both did. As I told both of them, we’re going to need both of them this year, and they both have to be mature enough to handle that decision and understand they are chasing their full potential.”

As for now, Freeman is focused on Sunday night’s season opener against Miami, Fla., and what he expects out of Carr for that game.

“You want him to make good decisions,” comments Freeman. “Every play can’t be a touchdown. Every play can’t be a bomb. Trust the game plan. Trust what you see. Be who you are and win this play.”

In other words, be like your coach and go with your gut.