Marcus Freeman thinks Sam Hartman's deep ball is deceptively good

One of the most interesting ways that the Notre Dame football season shook out, is that it never really seemed like quarterback Sam Hartman and head coach Marcus Freeman were on the same page. That’s not to say that the two men were at odds or were feuding. It just never felt like they had a good feel for one another.

Some of that can be blamed on Hartman only being on South Bend for one season. The fact that the offensive coordinator that started targeting Hartman was gone by the time he got there. And maybe the two men simply had different ideas of what Hartman’s job was supposed to be.

That’s why it was refreshing and fun to see the Notre Dame football head coach come out on Thursday and give a full throated defense for his former quarterback. It’s not like it seemed like Freeman and Hartman didn’t get along persay, but it felt like what Freeman did on Thursday could help Hartman moving forward.

Freeman spoke after Hartman threw for scouts on the Notre Dame football Pro Day and among other things, showed off his arm strength. Freeman was among those who was quite impressed by it. He was impressed to the point he felt the need to explain that some might be discounting the former Wake Forest quarterback’s strengths.

“It was impressive. He's got a strong arm,” Freeman told the assembled media. “I've seen it plenty of times in practice. It's so funny because you always — not you — but a lot of people judge the effectiveness of a deep ball by is it a catch or is it an incompletion, and the reality is there's so much more that goes into it. So, you can't just look at the outcome with Sam and some of his throws, man. He's got a beautiful arm, a strong arm and he has a great touch on it.”

Notre Dame football coach defends Sam Hartman

There’s an argument to be made that Sam Hartman can use all the help he can get.

Despite putting together a solid season with Notre Dame football, it’s not thought he’ll be a very high draft pick. In fact, there are some who think he won’t be drafted at all.

It will be interesting to see if his Pro Day swayed any naysayers. Marcus Freeman seems to have bought in anew.