On Thursday, the worst-kept secret in college football recruiting was finally made public. 2024 5-Star Michigan quarterback, C.J. Carr, gave his verbal commitment to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Much has already been said about this recruitment after a Notre Dame visit last week followed by multiple predictions for the Irish — so it comes as no surprise. The grandson of former Michigan Wolverines head coach Lloyd Carr chose the Irish over his other finalists; the Skunkbears, Michigan State Spartans, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, and Wisconsin Badgers

247 Sports has this evaluation:

Stands just about 6-foot-3, 190 pounds going into his junior season of high school. Continues to fill in nicely as his high school career progresses. Very cerebral player who studies the game and thinks the game. That was evident in his sophomore even though that was his first as the full-time varsity starter. His processing speed should only get faster in his junior and senior seasons. Has good, classic passing mechanics and accuracy. Arm strength is good and he can get the ball to any part of the field. Good enough athlete to get around in the pocket, escape the rush and run if need be, but running will not be a major part of his game. Very safe projection as a college starter based on maturity, approach and skill set.

The Irish are JUST getting things started with the 2024 class. With three recruits now committed, Notre Dame has the #2 ranked class according to the 247 Team Composite. The early commitment of an elite QB can really help with recruiting for the REST of the class, and we should expect Carr to push hard for the best talent to join him in South Bend.

I put together the 2024 scholarship chart last night in anticipation of a Carr commitment. Again... this is really just something to work off of and is more of a guide than a blueprint. A more realistic picture should be available to us in December.

There is a lot of conflicting information going around about C.J. Carr and what was our #1 QB target for 2023 — Dante Moore. We don’t really need to do the rounds here as this should really be more of a celebration of getting a commitment from an elite quarterback like Carr, but I will say these few things:

• Every big-time recruiting win over Michigan has extra juice because screw those guys.
• I don’t believe Carr will reclassify for 2023. There’s a combination of his and his family’s lack of known interest and the fact that this is Notre Dame and reclassification is much more complicated at ND than Big State U.
• For those holding out any hope of Dante Moore still choosing the Irish, please slam a couple of delicious Strawberry-Apricot Red Bulls and wake the hell up. It isn’t going to happen no matter how much you wish it — and that’s fine. With Carr’s commitment (as I’ve said before) the absolute “need” for Moore fell considerably.

I’m pumped — and you’re pumped, so... I can’t believe I’m typing these words...

FIST PUMPS UP FOR THE GRANDSON OF LLOYD CARR!

Brendan McAlinden