Notre Dame Football: Jack Coan named top-20 transfer by PFF

Pro Football Focus, or PFF, a website that covers football and gives analytical grades on players, ranked Jack Coan as a top-20 transfer in all of college football this season. That’s not just among quarterbacks, but among all players who are on the move, a great sign for this Notre Dame football program entering the 2021 campaign.

There are, however, three quarterbacks who ranked ahead of Coan according to PFF; McKenzie Milton, Grant Gunnell, and Hendon Hooker. Meanwhile, the top-rated transfer is listed as Derion Kendrick, who has yet to find a home upon leaving Clemson.

Jack Coan was not the sexiest transfer that the Notre Dame football program could have landed, but he was a solid, under-the-radar, pickup. He was the starter at Wisconsin for 2019, where he led the Badgers to a Rose Bowl appearance.

Now, Coan’s numbers don’t jump off the page at you, with only 18 touchdown passes and 2,727 yards in 2019. However, he was deadly efficient, completing near 70% of his passes and only throwing five interceptions. In that way, he’s a less athletic version of Ian Book.

Notre Dame football getting a leader in Jack Coan

Coan would have been the starter again in 2020, but an injury derailed his season. Graham Mertz slid in and announced the job was his, and that left Coan with a final year of eligibility but no job at Wisconsin. Notre Dame, meanwhile, is moving on from its winningest quarterback in program history in Ian Book.

Incoming freshman, Tyler Buchner, is highly touted, but he didn’t even play his senior year of high school due to COVID-19. What are the realistic odds he can go as a true freshman? Pretty low.

This combination of needs made Coan and the Irish fit in neatly together, as he needed somewhere to play for a season, while Notre Dame needed a stopgap to give Buchner time to get ready.

Will Coan set the world on fire at Notre Dame? Probably not, but he’s going to effectively run the offense. He’s going to be reliable, and he won’t turn the ball over. Furthermore, he can act as a mentor to the young quarterbacks on the roster, which in its own right is vitally important to the program’s long-term growth.

Hopefully, Coan can stay consistent underneath and improve his deep ball. If he does this, Notre Dame football will add an element to their offense that was missing in 2020, by stretching the ball downfield. If a Braden Lenzy, or anyone who steps up, can become a deep threat that Coan learns to take advantage of, then the Irish will find it much easier to run the ball or throw a crosser to someone like Michael Mayer.

No, this isn’t a long-term solution to a pretty major problem, but it’s a very good short-term solution and it’s good that organizations like PFF are noticing this before the season even starts. It will also be interesting to see if Brian Kelly goes back to the grad transfer well, in a season where there should be plenty of transfers, to fill in other weak and inexperienced points on the team, like wide receiver or defensive back.