Sam Hartman Has Unfinished Business As He Completes His College Career At Notre Dame

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman is rolling the dice at the end of his college football career. The former Wake Forest quarterback could be preparing for the NFL Draft with the likes of Bryce Young and CJ Stroud, but instead he is using a rare sixth season of eligibility to play for the Fighting Irish.

"It became one of those things where I just had to make that choice,” Hartman said of his decision. "Frankly, it was probably the one that scared me the most — coming back. You can look at this decision, and if it doesn't go well, then you probably look like the biggest loser of them all.”

Hartman had done virtually everything he could do in his five seasons in a Demon Deacon uniform. His 110 career touchdown passes are an ACC record, and his 12,967 passing yards trails on Philip Rivers (NC State). All of that production doesn't guarantee him a job at the next level.

"The NFL is such a small percentage of success rate, but in college you have a better success rate,” Hartman explained. "Part of it was just knowing that the odds were still going to be stacked against me no matter what I chose.”

So, the Charlotte, NC native packed his bags and headed north after conversations with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, and even with former Irish offensive lineman Josh Lugg, whose career also spanned six years. The lure of Notre Dame was a large factor in his decision to stay in school.

"It's probably the same reason a lot of people are here,” Hartman said when asked why he picked Notre Dame. "You kind of look around and you see the tradition, you see the football history, you see the old national championship trophies, the gold helmets, the Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus. Then you see an opportunity to play football again.”

Hartman was never unnerved as reporters fired off questions at the veteran. A good quality to have in a quarterback. When he arrived on campus in January, Tommy Rees was still Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator, but shortly after the calendar flipped to February, Rees left for Alabama. Despite external concern about what Rees’s departure and the arrival of new quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli could mean for Hartman’s Notre Dame future, he took the moves in stride.

"As the old saying goes, it is what it is,” Hartman deadpanned. "There wasn't much to it. We got the guys hired, we're excited, and the QB room’s fired up. I really like what (quarterbacks) Coach Gino's done. He's obviously had a very successful record with quarterbacks and then college football in general. He's very sharp. You guys will talk to him, you’ll see him, he's very personable. We've jelled really well in a short amount of time. For me, it's different. I had the same coach for five years. It was all new to me, but it's the guys around you that kind of kept you in it for those couple weeks we were in limbo. Then you get your orders and you go.”

Guidugli and Hartman have already spent time together in the film room studying film from Hartman’s Wake Forest days. Hartman also spent time with new Irish offensive coordinator Gerad Parker last weekend. He met Parker’s wife and kids and even did a little fishing.

"It’s building that trust,” stated Hartman. "Building that confidence that he's going to call the right play, and I'm going to execute it to the ability that I need to. If we're on the wrong page, being able to be like ‘Hey, this is what I'm thinking. This is how I'm seeing this or not.’ It's going really well. For him it's all new, for me it's all new. So, we're kind of in the same boat. It's just going to be building trust in him, him trusting me and we roll.”

Hartman threw 12 interceptions last year and 14 in 2021. The last Notre Dame quarterback to throw as many in a season was Everett Golson in 2014. Hartman had a chance to justify the picks when he was asked if the double digit totals were simply due to Wake Forest’s need to score more points to win games, but he pragmatically shut that down.

“No, I think some of it was just bad decisions,” Hartman offered. “Some of its bad luck. Interceptions come. As a quarterback it's just going to happen. You throw the ball a lot. You make different decisions. Guys make plays on balls. We were a high-scoring offensive. We were fast pace. We ran 80, 90 plays. You look at the amount of plays we run to anything else, those percentages, they are what they are. They're interceptions. So, I don't really see it being much of a correlation of anything.”

New school, new team, new quarterback coach, new coordinator – everything is new for the old college quarterback heading into his final season. The NFL is still Hartman’s ultimate goal, but his focus is on his current situation as he prepares for his first and only spring at Notre Dame.

"Being expected to be a leader, be an old guy and learning the ropes while also trying to take charge of the ropes,” Hartman said. “All those things can try to help me in that aspect. But once I stepped foot in here, it's not like is this going to help me. It's more is this going to help the Irish went on Saturdays or in Ireland? That's really the whole goal right now. All the NFL stuff after, that just happens and takes care of itself.”

Irish Breakdown Fans be sure to get your Notre Dame tickets from SI Tickets HERE

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter