When No. 12 Notre Dame (3-0) visits No. 18 Wisconsin (1-1) on Saturday, quarterback Jack Coan will be wearing navy and gold. But it wasn’t that long ago that he used to wear cardinal and white. And that’s making it all feel a bit “weird” for him.
“It’s definitely going to be weird,” said Coan, who went 12-6 as a starter for the Badgers before transferring to Notre Dame. “It’s going to be a lot of my friends I’m going to be playing against, guys I still talk to today. But at the end of the day, it’s just another football game and I like to think I won’t get more excited for one game than the next.”
Coan actually almost attended Notre Dame originally on a lacrosse scholarship, but he turned it down to play football for Wisconsin. As their quarterback, he threw for 3,278 yards and 23 touchdowns in 25 games. However, a broken foot took him out of the 2020 season and he was replaced at QB by Graham Mertz, whom head coach Paul Chryst decided to stick with this season. So Coan entered the transfer portal and made his way to South Bend.
Coan beat out Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner for the starting role and has thrown for 828 yards and eight touchdowns in Notre Dame’s three wins so far this season, a few of which have been nailbiters.
While it might be a “weird” game for Coan, head coach Brian Kelly doesn’t foresee it being an issue for his QB.
“Jack is a competitor — he loved his time at Wisconsin,” Kelly said. “But it’s a new chapter for him. He’s very mature, level-headed. He wants to beat Wisconsin.”
His former coach at Wisconsin also echoed similar sentiments about Coan.
“Obviously we have respect for Jack and appreciate who he is as a person and player here,” said Chryst. “But it’s Wisconsin versus Notre Dame.”
JACK COAN. AVERY DAVIS. 62 YARD TOUCHDOWN. #CFB https://t.co/Hhxtqfbk9G
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 18, 2021
The big benefit for Coan is that he has intimate knowledge of the players and system over at Wisconsin, so he might be able to use that to his advantage when scouting the defense.
“To be honest, they do everything well on defense,” Coan said. “In my four years there, it felt like whenever the offense gave up the ball, the defense was there getting a stop. It’s been one of the best defenses in the country. [Defensive coordinator Jim] Leonhard does an amazing job with them. It will be a huge challenge for us. I went against the defense in practice for four years, so I know what they like to do.”
We’ll see if that pays off for him on Saturday when Notre Dame and Wisconsin tangle at noon on Fox.
