Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 25, 2021 17 against him if only for one day? Only a little. "I'm not really sure at this point," Coan said. "Obviously, it's not the game week. But it'll definitely be crazy play- ing against a bunch of my friends. It'll be fun, but at the end of the day it's just another game." You can't expect Coan to say anything else. Publicly, Coan's decision to trans- fer from Wisconsin to Notre Dame was made because he felt he needed a fresh start somewhere else coming off a foot injury that sidelined him for most of the 2020 season. Period. Privately? Maybe there's more to it. Quarterbacks get hurt all the time. There's a saying some in football ar- dently adhere to; a player shouldn't lose his starting slot because of injury. But we all know not everyone sticks to that. It's possible seventh-year Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst didn't. Coan dressed for Wisconsin's final three regular season games. He didn't play a single snap. His decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal wasn't an- nounced until Dec. 20, one day after the Badgers' regular-season finale. Coan did things in a classy way. He didn't draw attention to himself when redshirt freshman Graham Mertz was making the first starts of his collegiate career in his stead. When Coan an- nounced he was leaving, he made sure Wisconsin got its due. All of it. He thanked Chryst, other coaches, his teammates, athletic trainers and the support staff. He said the decision to leave Wisconsin wasn't easy, but it was the right thing to do. Chryst sent him off with well wishes. "I want to thank Jack for all that he has meant to this team and program during his time as a Badger," Chryst said. "He represented Wisconsin with class both on and off the field. He is a tremendous person, and we wish him all the best." All the best … except for this week. Because this week, Coan's 12-6 re- cord as a starter at Wisconsin doesn't matter. His 8-3 mark in Big Ten games doesn't matter. Whether or not Wis- consin made the right move in favoring Mertz and letting Coan walk — if that's indeed what happened, as one can only assume — doesn't matter. Taylor's tweets in support of Coan don't matter either. Think he's root- ing against the school that helped make him a top-five finisher in 2019 Heisman Trophy voting? Heck no, even if Coan was the one handing him the ball. This is Wisconsin versus Notre Dame. Not Mertz versus Coan. That's simply an appetizing side story fit for some to be a full-course meal. "I hope they have a great season," Mertz said of Coan and Notre Dame, "but when we play them, we're going to be ready to go. For us we just have to keep it up week by week. For us, it's just another game." Eat up. ✦ "It'll definitely be crazy playing against a bunch of my friends. It'll be fun, but at the end of the day it's just another game." COAN ON PLAYING AGAINST WISCONSIN Notre Dame graduate student quarterback Jack Coan played in 25 games with 18 starts at Wisconsin from 2017-20. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER