Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1411895
16 SEPT. 25, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA J onathan Taylor doesn't tweet much. Less than once per day, on aver- age, since the second-year India- napolis Colts running back joined Twit- ter in September 2014, in fact. When he does share something on the social media platform, it's usually a retweet related to where he played college foot- ball: Wisconsin. Sometimes he tweets his own Colts or Badgers content, too. But Sept. 5, 2021, was different. Taylor tweeted back-to-back times. It had nothing to do with Wisconsin or the Colts. The first tweet: "Coannnnnnnn" with three fire emojis. That was his own. Then he retweeted Barstool Sports personality "Big Cat" who said, "Jack Coan put that thing in a bucket! Wow. #JackyHeisman." Both tweets were sent while Notre Dame starting quarterback Jack Coan was in the middle of throwing for 366 yards and four touchdowns in the Irish's season-opening overtime win over Florida State. Taylor and Coan played together at Wisconsin from 2017-19. They ar- rived in Madison as part of the same recruiting class. They led the Badgers to 10 wins and an appearance in the Rose Bowl. They'll forever be bonded through the Badgers brand. But that bond will have to be put on hold this week. Taylor is one of many members of Wisconsin faithful who will be a bit conflicted when Coan, who played in 25 games with 18 starts with a big, red 'W' on his helmet, throws a golden helmet on his head instead and goes against his alma mater at Soldier Field in Chicago. Yes, his alma mater. Coan is a graduate of Wisconsin. He spent four of his prime football play- ing years there. He made friends there. Made memories there. Studied real es- tate and urban land there. Threw for 3,278 yards and 23 touchdowns there. None of it matters this week. Coan is the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The next game on the schedule says Wisconsin. The op- ponent matters less than simply securing another victory. "No, definitely not," Coan said last week when asked if he had gotten any messages from Wiscon- sin friends with the game a p p ro a c h i n g . " W h e n I first decided to come here, I got plenty of texts about it. But that's all out of the way at this point." Had he even thought of the game himself by then? Nope. "Obviously, when you look at the [first] two games, they went down to the wire," Coan said. "We can't take any game lightly. Just have to stay in the moment and take it one game at a time." Could he even forecast what his emotions would be running out in front of the fans at Soldier Field, seeing the ones in red who used to support him but would be steadfastly SWITCHING SIDES Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan won games, formed friendships and made memories at Wisconsin; now he's all in on beating the Badgers PHOTO BY DAVID ST. LUKA/COURTESY WISCONSIN ATHLETICS