Sam Hartman’s arrival in South Bend has Brady Quinn thinking College Football Playoff or bust for his alma mater.
Joining the “Rich Eisen Show,” Quinn laid out his expectations for Notre Dame in Marcus Freeman’s second year. Saying that the move to bring in a QB like Hartman shows the Fighting Irish are going all in on winning right now.
Anytime you’ve got a guy who’s, I think, the all-time leading passer in ACC history coming in for a sixth year, you’ve got high aspirations at Notre Dame. And Sam is a very mature, very productive, smart player, tough player … So, you know, having him gives you a huge shot at doing that.
Quinn went on to say that Notre Dame also has the guys in the trenches to make a CFP run, especially if the defense can take another step after a solid 2022.
Their offensive line, it’s a bunch of future NFL players so they’re gonna be able to run the football … And defensively … they’ve done a tremendous job to really be in that stable place. But now we got to have some stars emerge … So there’s always high aspirations when you’re playing [for] Notre Dame, right. You talk to players and coaches, their goal is to win the conference, [but] at Notre Dame you’re just trying to get in that Playoff trying to win a national championship.
ND went 9-4 under Marcus Freeman in his first season taking over the program, but had a really nice 8-1 stretch towards the end of the season.
This year’s schedule sees the Irish face programs like Ohio State, USC and Clemson, so it won’t be easy. But Notre Dame could be in the mix with improved quarterback play from last season.