CJ Carr’s first college offer arrived right after a strong freshman game, and his father chose not to tell him. The offer carried extra weight because it came from Michigan, where his grandfather Lloyd Carr won a national title as head coach and both of his parents studied and played football. Jason Carr kept that news to himself on purpose.

“Michigan was my first offer coming out of high school,” CJ Carr revealed on The Rich Eisen Show. “My dad actually tried to hide the Michigan offer from me at first.”

Jason Carr did not want recruiting to dominate his son’s life before he finished his freshman year. He had seen too many young players get caught up in the attention of early offers.

“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,” he said. In CJ’s father’s own playing days, offers mostly came in the junior and senior years, so Jason chose to keep that first offer quiet.

The secret did not last long. Michigan State offered soon after Michigan, and Jason decided he could not keep quiet once a second major program entered the picture.

“He said, ‘Well, I was trying to hide this from you, but I can’t if Michigan State is going to offer you now,'” the Notre Dame starting QB recalled. “Coach Harbaugh had called last night. They want to offer you.”

Carr called that stretch “a crazy week and a half” for his family. Once both offers were official, his parents drew a clear line.

“This is your recruiting process,” he recalled his family telling him. “We love Michigan. My mom went to Michigan. My dad went to Michigan. But you’ve got to make a decision for yourself.”

That choice brought him to South Bend. Even though he grew up near Ann Arbor and carried Michigan’s legacy in his family, Carr picked Notre Dame over the Wolverines in 2022. His move was not about turning away from his family’s past. He went where he felt coaches were most focused on his growth.

Carr has said Notre Dame’s coaches, including then-offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and head coach Marcus Freeman, never acted as if his family ties made him a lost cause. They kept recruiting him hard. They stayed in contact, showed genuine interest, and gave him solid reasons to see himself in their program. By contrast, he sensed Michigan did not push with the same urgency, as if his choice for the Wolverines was already assumed.

At Notre Dame, Carr spent his first season observing and learning behind veteran quarterback Riley Leonard. When his chance arrived, he earned the starting role and took command of the offense. There was no family conflict over his decision. Lloyd Carr backed his choice, and the family grew to support Notre Dame once he committed.

Jason Carr did not conceal Michigan’s offer to push his son away from the Wolverines. He did it so his son could go through recruiting on his own terms. That space to decide for himself helped CJ Carr make a choice that now ranks among the most significant recruiting decisions in Notre Dame’s recent history.