This past Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took down the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Senior Day, 45-7. The score wasn’t too shocking, considering Notre Dame is a ranked team and Wake Forest is in last place in the ACC.
But, perhaps the biggest headline from this game was Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman playing against his old team for the first and last time. Hartman spent a whopping five seasons as quarterback for Wake Forest, until deciding to transfer to Notre Dame for his final season.
So, when Notre Dame honored Hartman on Senior Day, you can imagine that struck a nerve with Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson, who sounds like a bitter ex.
Clawson said during the midweek press conference:
“We saw it last week (at Notre Dame). 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.”
Clawson does make a very fair point here, as Hartman was reportedly offered a BAG to transfer to Notre Dame ($1.1 million in NIL money to be exact), even though the QB basically spent his whole career at Wake Forest. Not to mention, it has to be weird seeing your former QB getting praised on Senior Day at the school he only spent a handful of months at.
However, I must say that “they bought him and rented him for a year” is a WILD statement.
