SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In the short interlude between the end of spring semester classes and the start of summer workouts, Sam Hartman had a rare few weeks when the world wasn’t watching.
And the sixth-year college quarterback, now roughly two months away from his Notre Dame football debut, opted to spend most of those roughly four weeks being dialed into being a better QB and bringing that version of himself back to South Bend.
Honing his mechanics and evolving his mental game at the 3DQB training center in Huntington Beach, Calif., picking the brain of former Irish QB Jimmy Clausen when the two met during a Notre Dame alumni event in Los Angeles, and reuniting with one-time Irish teammate Tyler Buchner, a junior QB who transferred to Alabama shortly after spring practice concluded in April and roughly three months after Hartman transferred in from Wake Forest.
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“Me and Tyler were together the entire time in California, which was fun,” Hartman told Inside ND Sports on Friday during a one-on-one interview for an in-depth profile to be published next month. “Me and Tyler had a great relationship when we were both here at Notre Dame, and we still do.
“So we still are working to make each other better. We both train at 3DQB with some of the best guys from high school to the NFL. And then what Jimmy Clausen brings is really cool. He was in Carolina (in the NFL) for a while, so we knew some of the same spots and know a lot of the same people. I know I'm hoping to meet up with him here at some point in the summer to kind of just keep growing and learning about really ND and everything about it and being the guy here.”
At the front end of Hartman’s free time, in early May, he spent some time with family in Charleston, S.C., having finished his high school career in that part of the state after previously living and attending high school in Charlotte, N.C.
In Charleston, Hartman attended an ND Club event, with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman as the featured speaker, and finally got to introduce his new coach to the QB’s father, Mark, an orthopedic spine surgeon.
“Even with working on football, it was pretty low key,” Hartman said of his time away. “We did some meetings and whatnot over Zoom with the (coaching) staff, but I'm happy to be back.”
Even though the first part of summer training has been decidedly not low key, with Notre Dame director of football performance Matt Balis setting his typical demanding pace and standards.
The Irish conclude summer school on July 21, opening training camp less than a week later and then open the season a week earlier than most of the rest of the college football world with an Aug. 26 date with Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
“Obviously, we work really hard here,” Hartman said. “And you know, coach Balis is pushing us and pushing each other to kind of grow together through the hard lifts and hard runs. And then we've been doing a lot of football, a lot of throwing.
“I think we're pushing that as much as we can. It's just been cool. I think there's a lot of guys that are here that are hungry to grow and come together as an offense and even as an entire team.
“For me, I'm still learning guys. I'm still figuring out who’s who, how people kind of operate and flow.
“I've just enjoyed every part of the process so far, and that's kind of where we're at right now. We're still growing, but everything's really coming together. We're just continuing to try and climb and get as ready as we can for the first game.”
Hartman, the ACC’s all-time leader in TD passes (110) and with 12,967 career passing yards to go with it, will turn 24 next month. He finished 14th nationally in passing efficiency with a 159.4 rating.
Only two QBs in Notre Dame history have recorded better single-season ratings — Clausen in 2009 and Bob Williams in 1949 (both at 161.4).
Buchner, meanwhile, started three games for the Irish (9-4) in 2022 — the two losses to Ohio State and Marshall to start that season and in the 45-38 Gator Bowl win over South Carolina on Dec. 30 in which he garnered MVP honors.
In the 10 games in between Drew Pyne filled in while Buchner was out with a shoulder injury. Pyne transferred to Arizona State in early December upon hearing from Freeman the Irish would be pursuing a QB from the transfer portal to compete for the starting job.
Buchner initially stayed, but then decided to follow former offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who recruited Buchner to ND in the first place, to Alabama.
“Surprised he left?” Hartman pondered the question. “I think that's kind of one of those things where we had a great relationship and we kind of knew how each other were operating and how this system works, in a day and age where guys want to play.
“Tyler’s one of the best quarterbacks that I've been around on a team, and I think that he knew he had an opportunity. I'm really just excited for him and happy that he's going to have a chance to play. I mean, he played incredible in the spring, so I think it's just more excitement for him than anything.”
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