How Notre Dame Brought in a Member of Michigan Royalty

Alex Madsen
Jul 24
3 min read

The story of how Notre Dame recruited a boy from one of Michigan football’s royal families.

It is a relatively well-known fact that Notre Dame starting Quarterback CJ Carr had ties to Michigan through his family. His paternal grandfather, Lloyd Carr, had a Hall-Of-Fame career coaching the Wolverines to a 122-40 record, along with a 1997 National Championship. His maternal grandfather, Tom Curtis, was an All-American Safety for Michigan before winning Super Bowl V with the Indianapolis Colts. Both Carr’s parents met as students in Ann Arbor, where his father played QB.

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Carr had every reason to continue the family legacy at Michigan. His potential Michigan commitment would have been a huge victory for Wolverine fans, especially in his hometown of Saline, MI, which is less than eight miles away from Ann Arbor. Carr was rated a four-star recruit and top four QB in the 2024 recruiting class by On3 Rivals. Many Michigan fans, along with the actual school itself, felt Carr would simply become a Wolverine based on his family ties. That was not the case. Carr explained this during an interview on the Rich Eisen Show during Notre Dame’s media week.

It was pretty obvious the Michigan coaching staff had early eyes on Carr, as they gave him an official offer after the last game of his freshman season, according to Carr. Carr recalls how his father originally hid the offer from him.

“He had seen a bunch of kids get offered at an early age, and he always thought it was just unnecessary pressure to be recruited as a freshman."

After Michigan State shortly became the second to offer the young QB, his dad finally told him the truth. Carr respectfully turned down the Spartans, as the Wolverines had offered him first. It was understandably a very electric time in the Carr household following then Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s phone call with the young phenom. Despite the shared connection to Michigan, the family remained wholly supportive of the younger Carr.

“My family said, “This is your recruiting process. You know we love Michigan.” My mom went to Michigan. My dad went to Michigan. “You got to make a decision for yourself.” I just continued to keep it open and see where it’d take me.”

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Carr kept his options fully open, even if it meant looking into one of Michigan’s fiercest rivals. Carr traveled to various Midwest schools, including Notre Dame. However, the Irish were not a serious contender for the young QB until Marcus Freeman took over as head coach.

“I visited, but I wasn't really looking to go there until Freeman got hired. People said great things about him, and I love Tommy Rees, who was at Notre Dame for a couple years then.”

According to Carr, he had the perspective that Michigan was already expecting him to go there; due to this, they really had not been recruiting him hard. However, Rees, then Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach, inevitably pursued Carr heavily.

“Tommy Rees came in with the approach that until I say no to him, he's going to recruit me as hard as he can. He's going to be in the school, and he's going to show Notre Dame's love and want for me. That meant a lot to me throughout the process. Eventually I visited four or five times, and I said, "This is a place for me. This is home. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." And I made that decision."

Following that decision in June of 2022, Carr has led the Irish to a 10-2 record as a Redshirt Freshman in 2025, and has emerged as one of College Football's best talents. In fact, FanDuel currently has Carr (+750) as the favorite to win the coveted Heisman Memorial Trophy this upcoming season.

However, it is continually evident throughout Carr’s career that he beats to his own drum. He won’t let outside noise determine his decisions. Nevertheless, the commitment from one of Michigan's golden families has certainly paid off for the Fighting Irish.

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