Sam Hartman considers impact Notre Dame spotlight has on him

Sam Hartman knows the job of a quarterback is arguably the most important on a football team, especially at Notre Dame.

After five years at Wake Forest, Hartman transferred as a graduate student to the best situation for him in 2023. On what looks like a College Football Playoff contender, Hartman has Notre Dame at 3-0 on the young season.

But there’s a huge spotlight on Hartman and the team, something he has to bear and not let get too bright.

“I look back at when we got to LA, the Notre Dame immersion program and Jimmy Clausen and I were talking for a while at one of the events,” Hartman said. “He talked about just enjoying the moment and you won’t really ever know how big of an outreach you have as a quarterback at Notre Dame until you’re out of it.

“It’s ramping up, it’s been cool to be a part of but not too whatever, but it’s something if you start buying into it and really selling your soul to kind of that fame and that spotlight it’ll go pretty quickly and pretty fast.”

Hartman doubled down about staying in the moment, knowing he’s on one of the biggest stages in college football in his position.

“Playing for six years right, you can get caught up in it, you can get lost in it, but it’s really just about the team,” Hartman said, keeping everything in perspective. “I think one of the biggest themes in my head is just how how much fun it is to be out here and be a part of of Notre Dame football team, the 2023 2024 football program and what we are about.”

Hartman, as a quarterback, is the face of the team in most situations. He wanted to make sure Notre Dame had a specific identity across the board.

“(Also) the identity of our offense, the identity of our defense and just the team as a whole and what Coach Freeman’s been pushing for us,” Hartman said. “It’s just been very, very fun and humbling to be a part of a group of men that come out here every single day and give everything. 

“And if you’re not ready to go you’re gonna get exposed on the practice field and it’s definitely carrying over to the game field.”

So far, so good for Hartman in his final collegiate season. In three games, Hartman is 48-of-64 passing (75%) for 731 yards, 10 touchdowns, zero interceptions and also has a rushing score.