If Buchner had stayed @ ND we would be at best 8-4 team again and at worst 4-8 even the games we've been winning would be nervy last drive wins.. ND should go and get another experienced QB again this year forget about which freshman gets upset. You have to win NOW. Not hope that some freshmen QB is going to do great in 3 years..
To me, this is good reality-check posting.
While I have no way -- nor does anyone -- of "KNOWING" how ND would have fared with Buchner this year, there's certainly a case to be made that his game had enough GLITCHES in it for fans to be at least CONCERNED that at some point, one or more of those glitches would cost ND a winnable game or games as was almost the case against South Carolina and TRULY THE CASE against Marshall.
To this day, Buchner remains an UNFINISHED PRODUCT who may never ADEQUATELY complete his apprenticeship. Only time will tell.
As for bringing in the best talented QB experience on a yearly basis, I couldn't AGREE more. Seriously, why would ND not avail itself of this option if the professed goal each year to win an NC is anything more than a HOLLOW PLEDGE bordering on a SLOGAN.
Recruiting by now has evolved simply past the TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL BASE. Just as MLB now gets far more players from Latin America and the Far East than in years past, college football teams now look regularly for talent to each other. And why not, if the rules don't forbid it?
And at the all important QB position, ND now looks to be two for two. Coan was the driving force at the position on a team that won 11 games -- which by the way it MAY NOT HAVE without him -- and now Hartman has delivered brilliantly for FOUR STRAIGHT WEEKS. To me, it's not even debatable. You get your talent where you can.