Notre Dame honored transfer QB Sam Hartman, and his former coach at Wake Forest hated it

Notre Dame football fans treated sixth-year senior quarterback Sam Hartman like Fighting Irish royalty on senior day Saturday despite Hartman only spending one season in South Bend.

Notre Dame played Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” for Hartman, although the Wake Forest transfer has played in only 11 games for the Irish.

Hartman’s senior day came against his former team, and Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson got an up-close look at what he thought was an over-the-top celebration.

“Here’s a guy we recruited and we developed, and they are putting on a video of him, saying, ‘We will always love you,’ ” Clawson told reporters this week.

“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.’ “

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Hartman has been solid in his lone season at Notre Dame (8-3), passing for 2,549 yards and 22 touchdowns to seven interceptions before the season finale against Stanford on Saturday. But his play with Wake Forest was what made him one of the most sought-after transfer-portal prospects in the country before the 2023 season, as he made 45 starts for the Demon Deacons and passed for 12,967 yards and 110 passing touchdowns with 858 rushing yards and another 17 scores in his career.

Hartman didn’t hold back against his former team, throwing for 277 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-7 win.

Clawson acknowledged in the days leading up to the game it was hard to see Hartman leave Wake Forest.

“I think the world of Sam,” Clawson said. “Quite honestly, it’s hard for me to watch Notre Dame football because that’s the Wake Forest quarterback playing for them. He spent five years here and did a lot for our program. We’re still close.”