Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 17 fer from Elon, which at the time was just as much of a validation of his on- field acumen as it was a sentimental reminder of Allison. An FCS offer was big news for an undersized quarterback who could only dream of playing Divi- sion I ball given physical limitations. Or so he thought. A life-changing offer from Wake For- est went Hartman's way in May. He committed to the Demon Deacons in June. That was a no-brainer; Hartman's father, Mark, went to medical school at Wake Forest. The beat went on for Hartman that summer. He kept adding weight and working on his game — until he physi- cally couldn't. Hartman complained to Grier about a sore arm prior to a youth camp the two were working. Grier could tell the muscle gains Hartman toiled for months for were subsiding, too. He couldn't eat. He couldn't sleep. Something was seriously awry. Doctors discovered a leak in Hart- man's thyroid that required emergency surgery. The scar Hartman wears on his neck is from the incision through which half of his thyroid was removed. Out went a softball-sized abscess from Hartman's chest cavity, too. He lost more than 20 pounds in two weeks. Doctors told Grier that Hartman was "definitely" not going to play in 2016. They figured there was a chance Hart- man might not ever play competitively again. But like when Hartman told Grier there wasn't a doubt he'd play two days after Allison's death, Hartman again de- fied the odds and suited up sooner than anyone expected. Hartman returned to the field in Week 1 and threw for 493 yards. His first pass at- tempt of the game was an 80-yard touch- down — all while he resembled, in Grier's own words, a "POW" — prisoner of war. "He looked awful," Grier said. "He looked feeble. He looked weak. He looked malnourished." Grier continued, "It was unbeliev- able. You can't make this stuff up. They should make a movie about this kid." STARTING ANEW The movie must include Hartman set- ting the all-time record for touchdown passes by an ACC quarterback. He racked up 110 of them in a Wake Forest uniform. It also should include the part where, two weeks after firing the 108th, 109th and 110th of those in a Gasparilla Bowl victory, Hartman announced his deci- sion to spend his final year of collegiate eligibility at one of the most historic institutions in the sport: Notre Dame. But even a program like that of the Fighting Irish isn't immune to adversity. And Hartman obviously isn't either. Almost exactly four weeks to the day of Hartman's announcement, news broke of Notre Dame offensive coordi- nator Tommy Rees' exit to Alabama to assume the same position there. The coach who was responsible for a good deal of Hartman's recruitment from Wake Forest to Notre Dame up and left Hartman at the altar. No worries. He's put his own stamp on a program on a whim before. Grier left Davidson Day for Oceanside Collegiate Academy in Mount Pleasant, S.C., after Hartman's junior year. The Hartman family followed him. "His parents decided, 'You know what? We love it down there, too,'" Grier said. "They bought a house and moved to Mount Pleasant." Oceanside Collegiate Academy was in the infancy stage of its program. It had never won a game and went 0-8 the sea- son before Grier and Hartman arrived. In his one season there, Hartman led the team to a 7-3 record. He threw for 3,093 yards and 29 touchdowns. "What his reading was, 'When I go to college, I have to win over a new locker room. I have to start over anyway. It will be good practice for me,'" Grier said. Hartman eventually won over the Wake Forest locker room. He started as a freshman in 2018 before he went down with an ankle injury. Jamie Newman re- placed him, played well and retained the starting position for most of 2019. Then Newman sustained his own ankle injury, forcing Hartman back into QB1 status. He didn't give up that title for the rest of his Demon Deacons career. Wake Forest head coach Dave Claw- son called Hartman "the true embodi- ment of a leader" and "one of the finest young men [he's] ever had the pleasure to coach" last fall. Before he made himself one of the most revered players to ever go through Win- ston-Salem, he did it in Mount Pleasant. And it only took him one year. "Whatever the timeline was going to be for us to be a good program down there, he made it that much shorter be- cause of what he did as a worker," Grier said. "The kids responded to him." Irish coaches expect Hartman to make the same sort of impact in one season at Notre Dame. His history de- mands respect, but so does his everyday presence. People don't have to know what he's been through to gravitate to- ward him. But if they ever found out, it would all make so much sense. "Having a quarterback like Sam Hart- man in your program is going to elevate the play of everybody," Notre Dame head coach Sam Hartman said. "The quarter- back room, the wideouts — everybody." Replace the word quarterback with person. In the case of Hartman, they're interchangeable. ✦ Notre Dame Brings In Five Transfers Sam Hartman certainly headlines Notre Dame's 2023 transfer portal additions. ESPN's Pete Thamel called his decision to play for the Fighting Irish "the biggest move of the portal this whole offseason." But the Fighting Irish brought in four others who could all play important roles this fall. Here's a look at all five. Quarterback Sam Hartman Hartman is the ACC's all-time leader with 110 touchdown passes. In five years at Wake Forest, he threw for 12,967 yards and ran for 856 yards and an additional 17 scores. Wide Receiver Kaleb Smith Hartman and former Virginia Tech wide re- ceiver Kaleb Smith could be a common con- nection in 2023. Smith caught 37 passes for 674 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2022, and he has 74 receptions for 1,143 yards and 7 scores in his career. Defensive Back Thomas Harper A veteran DB, Harper totaled 93 total tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble at Oklahoma State. He could play a vari- ety of positions in the Notre Dame secondary. Kicker Spencer Shrader Shrader was the first transfer to pledge to play for the Irish this cycle. He made 28 of 41 field goals and 95 of 96 extra points in his South Florida career. He was 9 of 13 and 37 of 37, respectively, in 2022. Defensive End Javontae Jean-Baptiste The former Ohio State Buckeye had 4 sacks and 14 quarterback pressures in 2022. His 10.7 percent pressure rate was nearly identi- cal to that of departed Irish pass rusher Isaiah Foskey (10.5). — Tyler Horka