Urban Meyer calls out Notre Dame’s weak recruitment game regarding Sam Hartman

Urban Meyer believes that Notre Dame should be doing a better job of recruiting quarterbacks out of high school.

While much is made about the stringent academic standards of Notre Dame, the reason everybody knows about this Catholic school in Northern Indiana is because of its college football program.

Former national championship-winning head coach at Florida and Ohio State Urban Meyer used to coach the Fighting Irish wide receivers back in the late 1990s. Although Notre Dame has had plenty of success on the field in the decades since, they have not won a national title since the world has bequeathed us internet. Obviously, there are issues at hand that need to be solved before it's too late.

One issue that Meyer seems to have with Marcus Freeman's program is that the Irish don't seem to recruit top-tier quarterbacks to the degree of regional rivals such as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Sam Hartman is outstanding, but he is a sixth-year senior coming over from Wake Forest. Ian Book and Jimmy Clausen were more than fine, but the Irish need more Brady Quinns playing for them.

Here is the latest episode of Urban's Take with Tim May on On3 with Meyer talking about Notre Dame.

Is Meyer right that Freeman and the Irish must do a better job of recruiting or is he missing the point?

Urban Meyer thinks that Notre Dame should do a better job of recruiting

Look. I think the biggest reason why Freeman got promoted from within to replace Brian Kelly was his recruiting chops. He has the look of a Power Five coach, but the former Irish and Cincinnati defensive coordinator is still relatively green at this. Freeman does provide a cool factor to Notre Dame it quite frankly never had. However, he is a defensive-minded coach as a former Ohio State Buckeyes player.

The great news is did you see what Hartman did in Gerad Parker's offense vs. Navy?! Yes, it was Navy, as new Midshipmen head coach Brian Newberry looked lost at sea over in Dublin in his debut. That being said, we haven't seen a vertical passing game look this explosive for the Irish since Quinn was slinging the pill for ole Charlie Weis nearly two decades ago. Even then, it was not all that downfield...

Ultimately, Freeman's ability to recruit under tough circumstances will inevitably determine if he sinks or swims up in South Bend. I am optimistic that it will work out for him, but Meyer is absolutely right in that Notre Dame cannot fail to participate in recruiting top-100 players at the quarterback position and see them go to the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and now Wisconsin. So figure it out!

It may not solve all of their issues, but Hartman running Parker's offense looked like barrels of fun!