Switching sides: Notre Dame QB Jack Coan is all in on beating the Badgers
Jonathan Taylor doesn’t tweet much.
Less than once per day, on average, since the second-year Indianapolis Colts running back joined Twitter in September 2014, in fact. When he does share something on the social media platform, it’s usually a retweet related to where he played college football: Wisconsin. Sometimes he tweets his own Colts or Badgers content, too.
But Sept. 5, 2021, was different.
Taylor tweeted back-to-back times. It had nothing to do with Wisconsin or the Colts. The first tweet: “Coannnnnnnn” with three fire emojis. That was his own. Then he retweeted Barstool Sports personality “Big Cat” who said: “Jack Coan put that thing in a bucket! Wow. #JackyHeisman.” Big Cat is an avid Wisconsin football fan.
Both tweets were sent while Notre Dame starting quarterback Jack Coan was in the middle of throwing for 366 yards and four touchdowns in the Irish’s season-opening 41-38 overtime win over Florida State.
Taylor and Coan played together at Wisconsin from 2017-19. They arrived in Madison as part of the same recruiting class. They led the Badgers to 10 wins and an appearance in the Rose Bowl. They’ll forever be bonded through the Badgers brand.
But that bond will have to be put on hold this week.
Taylor is one of many members of Wisconsin faithful who will be a bit conflicted when Coan, who played in 25 games with 18 starts with a big, red ‘W’ on his helmet, throws a golden helmet on his head instead and goes against his alma mater at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Yes, his alma mater.
Coan is a graduate of Wisconsin. He spent four of his prime football-playing years there. He made friends there. Made memories there. Studied real estate and urban land there. Threw for 3,278 yards and 23 touchdowns there.
None of it matters this week. Coan is the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The next game on the schedule says Wisconsin. The opponent matters less than simply securing another victory.
Through two games, Coan said he had not even thought about the Wisconsin contest looming on the schedule. He said he hadn't talked to any of his Badger friends and former teammates recently at that point either.
Could he at least forecast what his emotions would be running out in front of the fans at Soldier Field, seeing the ones in red who used to support him but would be steadfastly against him if only for one day?
Only a little.
“I’m not really sure at this point,” Coan said Sept. 11. “It’ll definitely be crazy playing against a bunch of my friends. It’ll be fun, but at the end of the day it’s just another game.”
That mindset hadn't changed a week later when Coan shared the same sentiment immediately after throwing for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-13 win over Purdue.
“A lot of people ask if I’m taking this game personally and things like that,” Coan said. “Not really. There’s no reason why I should take one game more personally than the next.
“I just want to go out there and win this one like all the rest.”
“Jack is a competitor,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly added. “He loved his time at Wisconsin, but this is a new chapter for him. He’s very mature. Level-headed. He wants to beat Wisconsin, but he wants to beat Cincinnati the following week.
“I think we can make it [about Coan and Wisconsin] as much as we want and make it a story. In the building, it’s not that much of a story to him.”
You can’t expect Coan and Kelly to say anything else. Publicly, Coan’s decision to transfer from Wisconsin to Notre Dame was made because he felt he needed a fresh start somewhere else coming off a foot injury that sidelined him for most of the 2020 season. Period.
Privately? Maybe there’s more to it.
Quarterbacks get hurt all the time. There’s a saying some in football ardently adhere to; a player shouldn’t lose his starting slot because of injury. But we all know not everyone sticks to that. It’s possible seventh-year Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst didn’t.
Coan dressed for Wisconsin’s final three regular-season games in 2020. He didn’t play a single snap. His decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal wasn’t announced until Dec. 20, one day after the Badgers’ regular-season finale.
Coan did things in a classy way. He didn’t draw attention to himself when redshirt freshman Graham Mertz was making the first starts of his collegiate career in his stead. When Coan announced he was leaving, he made sure Wisconsin got its due.
All of it.
Coan thanked Chryst, other coaches, his teammates, athletic trainers and the support staff. He said the decision to leave Wisconsin wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do.
Chryst sent him off with well wishes.
“I want to thank Jack for all that he has meant to this team and program during his time as a Badger,” Chryst said. “He represented Wisconsin with class both on and off the field. He is a tremendous person, and we wish him all the best.”
All the best … except for this week.
Because this week, Coan’s 12-6 record as a starter at Wisconsin doesn’t matter. His 8-3 mark in Big Ten games doesn’t matter. Whether or not Wisconsin made the right move in starting Mertz and letting Coan walk — if that’s indeed what happened, as one can only assume — doesn’t matter.
Taylor’s tweets in support of Coan don’t matter either. Think he’s rooting against the school that helped make him a top-five finisher in 2019 Heisman Trophy voting? Heck no, even if Coan was the one handing him the ball.
This is Wisconsin versus Notre Dame. Not Mertz versus Coan. That’s simply an appetizing side story fit for some to be a full-course meal.
“I hope they have a great season,” Mertz said of Coan and Notre Dame, “but when we play them, we’re going to be ready to go. For us we just have to keep it up week by week. For us, it’s just another game.”
Eat up.
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