Florida football: Did impatience cost the Gators Sam Hartman?

Florida football has already landed their transfer portal QB in Graham Mertz. And while Mertz isn’t necessarily a fan favorite to this point, he’s just about locked in to be the Gators’ QB next season.

But this morning, Sam Hartman announced that he would be entering the transfer portal, and now Pete Thamel is reporting that Hartman is going to end up at Notre Dame.

After rumors came out about possible mutual interest between Hartman and the Gators earlier this offseason, a lot of UF fans started dreaming about what Hartman could do in Gainesville.

But now, it’s starting to look like impatience could have cost the Gators a shot at Sam Hartman.

After he came back to earth this season following a remarkable 2021 year, Hartman was looking for a one-year stop to help him get NFL-ready. If that’s true, why did he go to South Bend?

The most recent Notre Dame QB to go pro is Ian Book, who was taken in the 4th round of the 2021 Draft. UF had their guy, Kyle Trask, taken in the 2nd round of that same draft.

This year, Notre Dame’s Drew Pyne, had an ok year and transferred away from the program. Anthony Richardson, despite his struggles at certain points of the year, is graded out as the 4th best QB in the class.

If becoming NFL-ready was Hartman’s true goal, why wouldn’t he come to Florida?

It’s probably because the Gators already got their QB and the spot was filled. Even though Hartman would’ve beaten out Mertz in all likelihood, he had no reason to come compete for a job when he could go start somewhere else.

It’s hard to ignore the idea that springing for Mertz early on may have cost the Gators a legitimate shot at Sam Hartman.

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