Wisconsin football: QB Jack Coan transfers to Notre Dame

In late-breaking Monday night news, former Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Jack Coan announced that he will be taking his talents to South...Bend, Ind. for his final season of eligibility. Coan tweeted, “Extremely thankful for the opportunity. Let’s get to work! @NDFootball,” and then everyone at probably the exact same time remembered who the Fighting Irish play on Sept. 25 next season.

The grad transfer, who entered the transfer portal the day after Wisconsin beat Minnesota, will presumably be the Week 1 starter for the Irish, who are losing Ian Book to the NFL Draft. Over his career in Madison, Coan played in 25 games, and started 18, while completing 68.0 percent of his passes for 3,278 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His record as a starter was 12-6.

After doing a deep dive into Notre Dame’s roster (read: texting my high school buddy Anthony who went to Notre Dame) it would appear that the QB room in South Bend is not very deep. Junior Brendon Clark and sophomore Drew Pyne both have experience but my buddy noted neither is “well regarded.” There is a true freshman, 4-star Tyler Buchner (La Mesa, Calif.), who my buddy likes, calling him “really good” but all signs point to Coan being a “bridge QB” until Buchner is ready.

Fans of recruiting or Fun Facts Presented During Every Broadcast might recall that Coan was, at one point, committed to Notre Dame as a lacrosse player so it’s nice that he’ll finally get to live out his dream of playing a sport for the Irish. As we’ve stated many times before, we wish Coan well but now we’ll have to amend that to include “except on Sept. 25 in Chicago when you play the Badgers.”