Oh, Notre Dame football—where tradition and drama converge on a grand stage, and the quarterback merry-go-round goes faster than you can say “Fighting Irish.” But now, in a Hollywood-worthy plot twist, their star quarterback, Steve Angeli, is throwing his hat into the transfer portal. Yes, the man who quietly established a tidy little highlight reel and flashed brilliance at times is now shopping for a new address.
Angeli’s ’24 stats weren’t exactly lighting up scoreboards. In 11 games, he threw for a modest 268 yards with 3 touchdowns and, hey, zero interceptions, so points for protecting the ball. The rushing stats? Let’s just say Angeli’s not exactly auditioning for a dual-threat role, with 9 yards on 9 carries. I mean, he gained a yard per carry. But the real tea is about that Orange Bowl appearance against Penn State. Riley Leonard got injured, and Angeli stepped in, completing 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards. Okay, so it wasn’t a Mahomes-esque performance, but he did lead the Irish to a field goal before halftime.
But all that good play is now a thing of the past after Angeli hit the transfer portal on April 17. Exactly after a week, he took to X to announce that he had signed with the Syracuse Orange. “Onward. #9,” he captioned. Now, the rumors are growing louder that Angeli, our Orange Bowl cameo man, may replace Orange QB Kyle McCord. McCord reportedly threw for 8,555 total yards before being scooped up by the NFL. It’s a football fairy tale, instead of a prince charming, we’ve got lots of ‘what ifs’. The onus is on, though, because McCord’s shadow is enormous. Can Angeli match that type of production?
Onward. #9 pic.twitter.com/i9InhC85NA
— Steve Angeli (@SteveAngeli_125) April 23, 2025
And don’t forget the rich subplot: Notre Dame’s Senior Day on November 22. Mark that date on your calendars, folks. It’s going to be an epic reunion between ND and Angeli. Will he burn his old team, or will the Irish defense humiliate him back to the portal with his tail between his legs? Now, Orange HC Fran Brown is okay with this change as long as he is not made to shower after a loss again.
Why did Steve Angeli hit the transfer portal?
The real reason for Steve Angeli’s exit from Notre Dame? Oh, it’s a classic example of “too many quarterbacks, not enough snaps.” ND head coach Marcus Freeman inherited a quarterback room that reminds you of a rush-hour subway car, with CJ Carr, Kenny Minchey, and Angeli all scrambling for the same starting role.
Once Riley Leonard’s eligibility expired, the competition opened wide, but Freeman indicated he would have liked to limit the fight to two QBs going into summer camp. Angeli, for all his good games—like that nail-biting moment in the Penn State CFP semifinal and a Sun Bowl start with three touchdowns—never got a solid lock on the starting job. So was Freeman the quarterback whisperer or the QB executioner? Possibly a little of each.
Here we are, Steve Angeli, the steady-handed, low-key QB who quietly did his thing at Notre Dame, now maybe packing his bags to join the ‘Orange team’. Angeli’s 2024 numbers may not have shouted “superstar,” but he played with enough poise and grit to keep fans wondering and coaches scratching their heads. And Kyle McCord’s 4,779 yards last year? Yeah, that’s a hard act to follow, but hey, maybe Angeli’s the underdog Syracuse needs to shake things up.
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