Notre Dame Transfer Steve Angeli Wins Syracuse Quarterback Job

Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli (18) aims a pass during the first half of the Orange Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff semifinal game against Penn State, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

AP

If not for backup quarterback Steve Angeli, Notre Dame may have never played for a national title last season. Angeli led the Fighting Irish on a crucial drive late in the first half of their College Football Playoff semifinal victory over Penn State, displaying skills that portended a potential starting job this fall.

Angeli will indeed start a season opener for the first time in his career, but not at Notre Dame. Instead, Angeli will be the starter for Syracuse, the school he transferred to in April after he was the odd man out in Notre Dame’s quarterback competition.

Syracuse made the news official on Monday, declaring that Angeli had beaten out Rickie Collins, an LSU transfer. Angeli will start when the Orange face No. 24 Tennessee in Atlanta on Aug. 30. The Volunteers will start Joey Aguilar, a transfer who completed 60.1% of his passes for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns as Appalachian State’s starter the past two seasons.

Angeli committed to Notre Dame in March 2021 when Brian Kelly was the head coach. He signed with the program in December 2021 shortly after Kelly left for LSU and Marcus Freeman replaced Kelly. Angeli redshirted his freshman season, then played in eight games in 2023, including making his first (and only) career start in the Sun Bowl when he completed 15 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns and led the Fighting Irish to a 40-8 victory over Oregon State.

Last season, Angeli served as the backup to Riley Leonard, a Duke transfer. Angeli played sparingly in 11 games but made an impact in the CFP semifinal against Penn State. When Leonard went into the concussion protocol late in the first half, Angeli entered and completed 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards on the final drive of the half, leading to Mitch Jeter’s field goal that cut Notre Dame’s deficit to 10-3. The Fighting Irish ended up winning 27-24 to advance to the national title game, where they lost to Ohio State.

Despite being the most experienced quarterback on the roster in the spring, Angeli knew his days were numbered when Freeman chose to narrow the competition to then-freshman CJ Carr and then-sophomore Kenny Minchey. Carr, a top recruit in the high school class of 2024, has yet to throw a pass in college, while Minchey has only attempted three passes in two seasons.

Freeman still hasn’t announced a starter, telling reporters on Sunday that Carr and Minchey have “both been playing really, really well” and noting that he will make a decision soon. Notre Dame is No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press poll and visits No. 10 Miami in the season opener on Aug. 31.

Angeli, who graduated from Notre Dame, will return to the school when Syracuse plays at Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 22. Even when Angeli transferred to Syracuse, he was not guaranteed the starting position, as Collins had been with the Orange since December after transferring from LSU. Collins, who grew up near LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge, only appeared in four games over two seasons with the Tigers. Still, Syracuse named Collins the starter in early April before Angeli committed.

Now, it is Angeli’s turn to lead the Orange, which is coming off a 10-3 season in which quarterback Kyle McCord threw for 4,779 yards (the most in the Football Championship Subdivision) and 34 touchdowns. Syracuse faces a difficult schedule, including playing Atlantic Coast Conference foes Clemson (No. 4 in the preseason AP poll), SMU (No. 16), Miami (No. 10) and Notre Dame on the road. Angeli may face some obstacles along the way, but he is in an enviable position he’s never been in before, seizing an opportunity and starting for a major program.