Last offseason, Notre Dame’s new coach, Marcus Freeman, had a decision to make.
It wasn’t a simple decision. It was a decision that would impact his first season as Notre Dame’s coach.
The decision was to trust the quarterbacks on the roster and not go to the Transfer Portal to find a more experienced one.
It’s safe to say, his predecessor, Brian Kelly, wouldn’t have done the same.
Freeman doesn’t plan on making the same mistake twice. He made it known that the program would go shopping in the Transfer Portal for a quarterback.
Freeman’s honesty was admirable. It also cost the team Drew Pyne.
Pyne decided to jump into the portal sooner rather than later and ended up at Arizona State.
Tyler Buchner is healthy and ready to start the Gator Bowl on Friday. Buchner has to know that this is a high level audition for next season especially when the news that Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman was heading into the Transfer Portal.
Hartman is a dual-threat quarterback who threw 110 touchdowns and 41 interceptions at Wake. He’s slippery in and out of the pocket and, despite his size, has been successful at finding passing lanes to his receivers.
According to several publications, Hartman will be Notre Dame’s top target. It makes all the sense in the world when you consider what Tommy Rees wants out of his quarterback.
It starts with a high IQ. That’s something Hartman has exhibited since he stepped on campus in Winston-Salem.
Hartman is fearless. He has the ability to know when to take chances and when not to. He goes for it down the field. He’s tough as nails.
He fits all of the prerequisites to be a starting quarterback at Notre Dame.
What happens if Notre Dame doesn’t get Hartman? They should look at another ACC quarterback that’s in the transfer portal.
Brennan Armstrong was becoming a household name in Bronco Mendenhall’s offense. Armstrong was playing with all kinds of moxie. He was the consummate playmaker that was a leader at the most important position in football today.
Coming into the season, Armstrong was coming off of a 31 touchdown/10 interception season. Then everything changed. Mendenhall left the program and in came Clemson’s Tony Elliott.
Elliott wanted Armstrong to play more disciplined. He wanted Armstrong to tone down the off-schedule plays. From jump, you could see this wasn’t going to work. Armstrong went from rewriting some records in the school record books to a frustrated quarterback waiting for the season to end.
Armstrong finished the season with 7 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Just like Hartman, Armstrong is a veteran dual threat quarterback that would fit in perfect with Rees’ concepts.
Next season is a big one for Freeman and Notre Dame. Kelly was able to make 10-win a regular thing in South Bend. Freeman rolled the dice with Buchner and Pyne and it produced an eight win season with losses to Marshall and Stanford.
Hartman and Armstrong are both upgrades over Buchner and could be the solution to Freeman’s future.
