Notre Dame’s football team's reaction to its College Football Playoff snub is still sending shockwaves through the sport. After Miami jumped the Irish for the final at-large CFP spot on the strength of their head-to-head win, Notre Dame not only missed the playoff but chose to decline a bowl bid entirely.
Athletic director Pete Bevacqua then publicly blasted the outcome and the ACC’s hard lobbying for Miami, saying the league had done “permanent damage” to its relationship with Notre Dame by “attacking their biggest business partner in football” despite the Irish competing in 24 sports under the ACC umbrella.
Now there is major fallout in the quarterback room as well. As reported by Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer of CBS Sports, “Notre Dame quarterback Kenny Minchey is expected to enter the transfer portal.”
Minchey, a former four-star recruit, “nearly won the Fighting Irish starting QB job before Notre Dame ultimately went with CJ Carr.” With Notre Dame shutting down its season and Carr clearly cemented as QB1 going forward, Minchey is looking elsewhere for a chance to start.
It is a brutal twist for a program already seething over how the CFP picture shook out. On paper, Miami over Notre Dame made sense: both finished 10-2, and the Hurricanes won the head-to-head.
Notre Dame’s bowl opt-out also weirdly reshaped the postseason. By refusing a bid in protest, the Irish opened the door for a 5-7 team to slide into the final bowl slot. Appalachian State, under .500, grabbed the Birmingham Bowl spot that would otherwise have gone to Notre Dame, drawing Georgia Southern as its opponent. That move drew sharp criticism from at least one unnamed bowl official, who contrasted Notre Dame’s stance with BYU choosing to play despite its own CFP disappointment.
Bevacqua, meanwhile, doubled down, calling the 12-team selection process “an absolute joke” and warning the ACC that its push for Miami may have long-term consequences.
Whether that ultimately pushes the Irish toward conference membership or simply hardens their independent stance is a question that will linger long after CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey go their separate ways.
