Marcus Freeman opens up on facing Caleb Williams, Drake Maye in 2023

In his first season as the head coach at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman drew an incredibly difficult schedule that was littered with elite quarterbacks, including CJ Stroud, Caleb Williams, and Drake Maye among others to make life difficult on a first year head coach.

Freeman made an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, where he explained what it’s like to have to play elite quarterbacks.

“We faced some extremely talented quarterbacks last year and you know, that’s going to be every year with our schedule,” Marcus Freeman said. “We’re going to play some of the best teams in the country, the best quarterbacks in the country, and we look forward to those challenges.”

Notre Dame’s schedule isn’t going to get easier in Freeman’s second season. Ohio State, USC, and Clemson all make appearances on a schedule with nine Power Five opponents on it in total.

It’s going to be challenging but Marcus Freeman is confident that Notre Dame landed a transfer quarterback in Sam Hartman who can handle it and be an elite talent in his own right.

“Obviously, I’m a little bit biased, but you know, I feel like we have a special quarterback that’s gonna lead us to, you know, great heights,” Freeman said.

“And as I’ve told him, his job isn’t to lead us to win every game we play. It’s just to help us reach our full potential. And part of that is making his teammates better. Part of that is through his experience, making sure everybody knows that this is the expectation and standard for our Notre Dame offense. And so I’m excited to have the one we have and looking forward to competition we face this year.”

Sam Hartman spent five seasons with Wake Forest, taking a redshirt in 2019 while playing in four games and earning an extra season of eligibility due to the Covid season. He was also arguably the best quarterback in Wake Forest’s history, leaving as the program’s career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. With a sixth season in his back pocket, he transferred to Notre Dame to lead the Irish offense.

Sam Hartman on his mindset after Tommy Rees left

When Sam Hartman transferred to Notre Dame, Tommy Rees was the offensive coordinator. Shortly after, though, he left for Alabama. However, as Hartman explained, it wasn’t easy but this is something to grow from.

“I think [Marcus Freeman] just really instilled what — one of the reasons why I chose Notre Dame is just who he is and his transparency through the whole process. I mean, I think we know good and well how college football is at this point, with the transfer portal and then coaching changes and just this, that and the other that, as Coach Freeman always says, is the bumpy road the better? And I mean, I think you know, it was a good opportunity for me to take this challenge on and again, you know, something that I’m not too — nothing that I’m not used to of just things not always going in the right way. And again, it was an opportunity to grow as a leader and to really grow as a quarterback,” Hartman said.

“Where, you know, new system, new place, and then okay, well, new coach as well, on top of basically having a new coach already. And I think it also spoke to the locker room. I think the locker room really came together and understood that yeah, we might have lost somebody but we can grow from it and be even better for it. It gave me an opportunity to kind of take a step back and really hone in on, you know, my teammates and learning them and because again, going from Wake to Notre Dame you know, you’re around the same guys for five years and you kind of know everybody’s ins and outs like the back of your hand, and then you got to Notre Dame, you walk in you don’t know a single guy’s name or you know, a couple of guys’ names, and so that was also a good opportunity for me while we’re in the search, just being able to focus on you know, my team and getting better for them.”