Wake Forest coach rips Notre Dame’s tribute to ex-Demon Deacons QB Sam Hartman: ‘You rented him for a season’

Sam Hartman spent the majority of his college football career in his home state of North Carolina playing for Wake Forest. But, prior to the start of the 2023 season, Hartman transferred to Notre Dame.

Ironicially, Hartman’s final home game with the Fighting Irish was against his former team and his old coach, Dave Clawson. Notre Dame dominated the Demon Deacons this past Saturday and improved their record to 8-3. The Fighting Irish will close out the regular season this weekend on the road against Stanford.

Since Hartman is an outgoing senior and was making his last start at Notre Dame Stadium, the school played a video tribute on the stadium’s big screen — much to Clawson’s dismay.

“We saw it last week [at Notre Dame],” Clawson said during a press conference. 

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Hartman’s 2023 campaign has been productive. Through 11 games, he has racked up 2,549 passing yards and has thrown for 22 touchdowns against seven interceptions. But, from Clawson’s point of view, the player Hartman is today is a result of his development from his five years at Wake Forest.

Clawson argued that the Fighting Irish merely “rented” Hartman for a single season.

“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,” Clawson said.

“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 appeared in 48 games with the Demon Deacons, starting in 45 games. His final season in Winston-Salem was arguably his best. He finished the 2021 season with 4,228 passing yards and 39 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.

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Hartman ended his Wake Forest tenure with just under 13,000 passing yards, 110 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns. 

Norte Dame was No. 18 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings. Wake Forest is 4-7 heading into this Saturday’s matchup with Syracuse.

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