Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman rose to prominence at Wake Forest before transferring to the Fighting Irish for the 2023 season. In a twist of fate, Hartman's final home game with Notre Dame was a 45-7 victory over his former school in Week 12, and it even featured a video tribute to Hartman that irked Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson.
Although Hartman's impact at Notre Dame has been pronounced in 2023 -- he's passed for 2,549 and 22 touchdowns with seven interceptions entering Week 13 -- Clawson couldn't help but chuckle at the Fighting Irish's message for a quarterback who spent the overwhelming majority of his career at Wake Forest.
"We saw it last week [at Notre Dame]," Clawson said during his midweek press conference. "Here's a guy [Hartman] we recruited and we developed, and they are putting on a video of him, saying 'We will always love you.' I'm like, you only dated him for a couple of months. It can't be love. We are the ones who love him. We had five years with him. You rented him for a season. They bought him and rented him for a year, and now they love him. When that video played, it's just like, holy cow, this is where college football is."
Hartman spent five seasons with the Deacs from 2018 to 2022, appearing in 48 games with 45 starts. Hartman's time in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, culminated with 4,228 yards passing and 39 touchdowns in 2021. He also rushed for 364 yards and 11 touchdowns that fall en route to earning second-team All-ACC honors.
For his Wake Forest career, Hartman finished with 12,967 yards passing and 110 touchdowns along with 858 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns on the ground.
Hartman and Notre Dame, which came in at No. 18 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings on Tuesday, conclude the regular season Saturday at Stanford before the Irish learn their bowl game destination.
