Sam Hartman opens up on mindset after Notre Dame lost Tommy Rees

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went out and landed one of the most coveted signal-callers in the transfer portal this offseason in former Wake Forest great Sam Hartman. The problem is, the Fighting Irish will be operating this season without their old offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees, who left to work with Nick Saban at Alabama. On Thursday on The Paul Finebaum Show, Hartman opened up on the team’s mindset after Rees left for Alabama.

“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,” the Fighting Irish quarterback said.

Sam Hartman talks about Notre Dame’s tough stretch in 2023

Sam Hartman knows Clemson and Wake Forest await on the Notre Dame football schedule, back-to-back no less.

The former Wake Forest quarterback transferred to Notre Dame in the offseason to go all in for his final season. But facing his former team and the one ACC team that had his number would certainly provide more motivation.

But first up, Clemson for pay back of sorts.

“I mean, I think there’s, you know, a few thoughts at it,” Hartman said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “And obviously the Clemson one is a great opportunity against a great opponent and again, like you said, I’ve been playing in the ACC for so long. I’ve had five opportunities at them and you know, fortunately I get a sixth and it’s also at their place which makes it even more of a challenge.” 

Wake Forest is a different animal. It’s where Hartman made his bones as a college quarterback and progressed to one of the best quarterbacks in conference history.

“And then yeah, the Wake Forest one’s tough,” Hartman said. “It’ll be tough all-around. I mean, I think you’re at a place so long, you know everybody on the team other than the new guys that have just showed up in the summer. And it’s — I mean, it’s a big game for both teams. And obviously, every game that late in the season is going to be a big one.

“So, you probably heard me say before, it’s a one-week season and we’ll attack each game like it’s, you know, the biggest game of the year and that’s the plan for both of those and every other one on the schedule.”

Hartman excelled over the last two years for the Demon Deacons, hitting nearly 40 passing touchdowns in 2021 and ‘22.

Over the course of five seasons, Hartman finished with 12,967 yards, 110 touchdowns, 41 interceptions and a 59.1% completion percentage.

On3’s Nick Kosko and Riley Gates also contributed to this article.