The Wisconsin football program will know if it made the right decision between Graham Mertz and Jack Coan after the Badgers’ neutral-site game with the Notre Dame football team in two weeks.
When Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst opted to go with Graham Mertz under center over Jack Coan, the latter ended up transferring to Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame football program.
Fate would have it, the Irish are the Badgers’ next opponent with their season hanging in the balances. Wisconsin already lost its home opener to Penn State, largely due to Mertz’s atrocious decision-making in the red zone. All the while, Coan has done his best to fill the giant shoes of Ian Book over in South Bend. With only the Purdue game in between, Sept. 25 will be judgement day.
Did the Badgers make the right decision in going with Mertz, or did they make a huge mistake by letting Coan leave Madison with a massive chip on his shoulder to Notre Dame?
Wisconsin football: Jack Coan can have his revenge game at Soldier Field
Last year saw Coan deal with an injury that kept him out all season long. Mertz had been highly recruited out of high school. He was seen as the most gifted quarterback the Badgers have had since that one year of Russell Wilson back in 2011. While Mertz has shown flashes of brilliance, he is incredibly inconsistent. We also may overlook the fact that his former teammates loved Coan.
While Notre Dame has not looked like a top-10 team in Coan’s first two starts for the Golden Domers, they still found a way to beat Florida State and Toledo. His signature moment thus far for Notre Dame is having a coach help unjam his finger before shooting down the Rockets once and for all. It was so graphic only Notre Dame diehards and wrestling fans could watch it on Peacock.
So did Wisconsin make a mistake only GOB Bluth would make when it comes to kicking Coan to the curb? Frankly, we are not going to know until after the Badgers take on the Irish in Chicago in two weeks. However, the early returns on the Mertz era have been mostly painful for Chryst and company. As for Coan and the Irish, they have their whole season ahead of them to get better.
Oddly enough, it really feels like Coan went to a better version of Wisconsin as a graduate transfer.
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.