By John Brice
Special Contributor
Yes, Coach.
An answer.
A question.
A lifestyle.
A group text.
Transitioning to new offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, and specifically to new quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, Notre Dame’s quartet of scholarship quarterbacks are speaking their own language.
Well, communicating in their own group to help one another.
From sixth-year college football spring camp veteran Sam Hartman, at once Irish elder statesmen and also first-semester Notre Dame student, to incumbent Tyler Buchner, redshirt-freshman Steve Angeli and should-still-be-in-high-school midyear enrollee Kenny Minchey, the Irish quarterbacks help one another on the field.
Off the field, they have their own communication channel.
“’Yes, Coach’ is the name of it,” Hartman says of the group chat. “It’s a good little deal. One, to keep people on schedule, check in and make sure everybody is up and wake.
“And, again, send some funny memes or some funny things on the weekend. It’s a great group and a great time and we get after it on the field and off the field, we’re going to have a good time as well.”
In building their camaraderie, the Irish quarterbacks – with uber-popular Internet sensation Hasbulla the group’s most popular meme theme – find opportunities to help each individual.
Buchner, for example, is the only Notre Dame quarterback experiencing a third spring camp and spanning the Brian Kelly/Tommy Rees past to the Marcus Freeman/Parker/Guidugli present.
“It’s weird, this is I guess my third year and all the knowledge I’ve picked up over time, I can help them here or there,” says Buchner, with 13 touchdowns in 13 career games at Notre Dame. “But really, Gino is brilliant and super-smart. He gets the message across. The only time I’m ever really saying anything is if they ask me, because I don’t want to say something that’s wrong. But I can help a lot with the off-the-field stuff like classes, where you should park, things like that that can make your life better or easier.
“It’s pretty valuable to have that stuff and to know that stuff.”
A former consensus four-star prospect and the only underclassman signal-caller in Notre Dame’s 2023 signing class, Minchey isn’t overly active in the “Yes, Coach” universe. But he knows he can pick his spots.
“I think it’s really beneficial, just because they’ve started in college football before and that’s something that I have not done, so even just in the film room and on the field, if I have a question, I’ll just ask them; I won’t be afraid to ask them. It’s nice to have someone with experience in the room,” Minchey says.
“Just getting here, everyone’s cool and I can take advantage of the role they take on as far as veteran quarterbacks; they’re cool guys. I don’t text in it too much, but it’s a good group and we like to text in it and make some jokes, hang out together sometimes on the weekends.”
What stands out most to Minchey is the quarterbacks’ individual and collective willingness to admit none of them has every answer – an approachability particularly appealing to Notre Dame’s freshmen.
“I would probably say that not everyone has it figured out,” Minchey says, “even if they think they do. So just taking that because as freshmen, me and all the other midyears, our heads are spinning, so it’s good knowing that not everyone is perfect or has it all worked out.”
With 12,967 passing yards entering his final season at the collegiate level, Hartman’s career tally is 467 yards more than all Irish signal-callers since the start of 2020.
Still, he sees “Yes, Coach” as an avenue for growth.
“I think the other quarterbacks, they teach me as much as I teach them,” Hartman said. “I think there’s a lot to learn from everybody’s experiences, Tyler included. I think me and Tyler have grown so much through each other, meeting each other, working together and I’ve really enjoyed just being a part of this group.
“I think everybody’s got things to learn, and that’s probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned through my career. It’s trying to grow and gain and become a better individual.”
Spoken, well, like a coach.