I got curious about Sam Hartman earlier and was surprised and mildly embarrassed to learn he was (mostly) an in-state North Carolina product, having been born in Charlotte, grown up in Davidson and transferred from Davidson Day School to Oceanside Collegiate Academy in Mount Pleasant, SC, just outside of Charleston, for his senior year.

He led them to a 7–3 record while throwing for 3,093 yards passing and 29 touchdowns, in addition to nine rushing touchdowns. 24/7 rated him the 21st ranked pro-style QB and he was a three-star recruit with an 87 rating, which was the third highest for Wake Forest in his recruiting class. He also happened to be part of the 2018 recruiting class.

We nabbed Devin Leary out of New Jersey in the 2018 recruiting class. 24/7 ranked Leary the 16th best pro-style QB but still a 3-star with an 88 rating. That was good enough for 7th best in our recruiting class, behind such illustrious names as Payton Wilson, Ricky Person and Alim McNeill and some other guys not in the program anymore for one reason or another. I didn't go looking for Leary's senior season numbers but in his junior season at the same high school where he finished his high school career, he set New Jersey state records in yards (3,688) and TDs (48).

It looks like thanks to his small high school football experience, Hartman was not recruited by many major schools, only getting attention from Charlotte, Elon and Wake. Leary got offers from us, Baylor, Boston College, Coastal Carolina and Indiana. Neither has quite the 6'3"+ frame they like in a prototypical pro-style passer at the next level.

I cherish the memories Devin Leary gave the program. I appreciate the sacrifices Devin Leary made for the program. I have heartfelt sympathy for the injury misfortune that befell Devin Leary at no fault of his own while he was giving his all for the program. I do not blame Devin Leary a single iota for seeking his fortunes elsewhere in his final collegiate season to hopefully achieve the dream of the NFL.

Devin Leary did not break the ACC record for touchdown passes, but he slung 35 in 2021. Hartman's best year was also 2021, throwing for 39, followed closely by 38 in 2022, but he also didn't redshirt his freshman year (throwing 16 that year), and was less bothered by injury (only played 9 games, throwing for 16 TDs in 2018 and 4 games, throwing 4 TDs in 2019).

If you could turn back the clock and switch them, would you? Is a Sam Hartman who redshirts behind Ryan Finley in 2018 like Leary did, had Leary's same targets to pass to in his career (Emezie, Carter, Thomas, Angeline, Rooks, etc), still had to deal with our disastrous Co-OC situation of 2019 and was maybe less affected by injury a better collegiate QB than Devin Leary?