25d ago football Edit

Freeman breaks down the backstory on Tyler Buchner's return to ND football

Former Notre Dame QB and current Irish lacrosse player will be a walk-on wide receiver fir the Irish in the fall. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

Eric Hansen • InsideNDSports

Publisher

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The letter former Notre Dame quarterback, recent Notre Dame graduate, two-time transfer student and national champion Irish lacrosse player Tyler Buchner posted Friday on social media shows he may have great potential as a writer as well.

Most impressive is how he bared his heart.

And there is a compelling backstory that Irish head football coach Marcus Freeman shared Friday with the core beat media about how it all came together, about how and why Buchner will be Notre Dame’s newest two-sport athlete.

And that is continuing his exhumed lacrosse career and walking back onto the Notre Dame football team as a non-scholarship wide receiver. And helper. And maybe even a scout-team quarterback on occasion?

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“Basically, the timeline of this was three weeks ago,” Freeman said of the 2022 Gator Bowl MVP, who transferred to Alabama for football last summer and transferred back to Notre Dame in January to get his ND degree and pick up lacrosse after a five-year layoff.

“[Buchner] asked if he could meet with me,’ Freeman continued, and I said, ‘Sure.’ He wants to help the football program. He said, ‘Coach, I love Notre Dame. I want to help the program in any capacity.’

“And he kind of went through some different capacities, with the last one being, ‘Hey coach, even if you would let me on the team, I would do that.’ And I said we’ll follow up after your lacrosse season.”

Buchner’s first lacrosse season ended with him playing a meaningful rotational role on the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense, culminating with Notre Dame defending its national title on Monday in Philadelphia with a 15-5 rout of Maryland in the title game.

Freeman was on hand at Lincoln Financial Field to watch it in person, with freshman wide receiver Jordan Faison scoring one of the Irish goals in the game — one of 22 he had as a freshman starter on that team.

Buchner came to Notre Dame as a freshman early enrollee in February of 2021 around the same time Freeman arrived as the defensive coordinator. That fall, Brian Kelly’s last as head coach, Buchner was part of a QB tag team with grad transfer Jack Coan.

Buchner played in 10 games that season, rushing for 336 yards and three touchdowns on 46 carries, and throwing for 298 yards and three TDs while getting picked off three times.

The following fall Buchner won the starting job in the offseason, with Freeman taking over as head coach, and started the first two games, both losses. He suffered a shoulder injury in the home loss to Marshall that sidelined him for the balance of the regular season.

He returned for the Gator Bowl matchup with South Carolina in late December of 2022 and ended up throwing for 651 yards and three touchdowns in three games and rushing for 123 and four scores.

The Irish then brought in grad transfer Sam Hartman from Wake Forest in January, and he and Buchner split first-team reps during the 15 spring practices in March and April.

Hartman dominated in the Blue-Gold Game, but Buchner transferred after 2023 spring football to Alabama before Hartman was every officially anointed the starter. The former four-star prospect from San Diego then rejoined former Irish offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees in Tuscaloosa.

But Buchner played in just two games with the Crimson Tide last season, completing 8 of 19 passes for 61 yards. He ran for 20 yards on three carries with one TD. After Alabama lost in the playoff semifinals in January, Buchner re-enrolled at Notre Dame for the spring semester.

But there wasn’t a hint that football at ND would be part of the plan until he approached Freeman earlier this month to see if there was mutual interest.

“I met with the coaches, talked to some of our players and came to a decision that will allow him to walk on the football team but at the wide receiver position,” Freeman said. “But he can help us at any different position. He’ll go into the wide receivers room.

“He could be a signaler. We don’t know what capacity he’ll be, but he will be on the team starting in fall camp as a walk-on wide receiver.”

And still playing lacrosse next spring, but not in the fall, which is a scrimmaging and developmental time for the team.

“He just consistently keeps kind of chopping away at getting back to really recognizing the plays within our game that he can make and that he should make and that we need him to make,” Irish men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan said of Buchner on the day before the national title game. “So, right now I think that's enough to occupy all of us. And what he becomes after this will depend on what he does with his time in the offseason.

“He didn't even have a fall to acclimate himself and get back to playing lacrosse. So, he's been playing lacrosse since Jan. 10, and that's the first time in probably five years that he's played any serious lacrosse.

“He's got a big gap to cover there, but he's doing a great job at keeping it manageable just by working every day toward what he needs to be capable of doing to help our team right now.”

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Here is Tyler Buchner’s letter to Notre Dame:

And Our Hearts Forever

By Tyler Buchner

Notre Dame ’24

I began my trip from Tuscaloosa to South Bend in a rented U-Haul, filled with memories packed tightly into cardboard boxes and duffel bags. A few days before, I was at the Rose Bowl, and the refrain of Dixieland Delight at Bryant-Denny Stadium still echoed in my ears. The open road stretched ahead as I headed northward, a ribbon of asphalt leading me back to Notre Dame and the snow-draped streets of South Bend. As I approached the familiar bend in the road, my heart quickened, a blend of anticipation and nostalgia swirling within. The towering presence of the Golden Dome loomed ahead, a beacon guiding me home.

Pulling into the Gug, I felt the cold and crisp air envelop me, each breath a sharp reminder of what I had missed. I felt the weight of the past season lift as I left the truck and entered the building. Unlike the steps my body had instinctively taken for the last two years, I did not go to my left to the football facility. Instead, I turned right to the lacrosse offices. I asked for a lacrosse stick.

Alabama had been an adventure, a place where I had tested my limits and discovered both my strengths and vulnerabilities. Nothing felt familiar when I arrived in June: from the Southern drawls to the burnt ends and sweet tea, to the “yes sirs” and addressing women as “Miss First Name,” and to a locker room with teammates whose primary aspirations were to play in the NFL. My new environment felt foreign, and the stifling summer heat was a constant reminder that I was not in South Bend anymore. Even so, I embraced my new landscape and started competing upon my arrival.

I got the green light to start in the third game of the season and had the best week of practice of my career leading up to it. Unfortunately, I played poorly and was benched for the first time in my life by Coach Saban on ESPN. I was devastated and fell into a deep emotional hole. What I had been working so hard for all these years suddenly felt like a pipe dream. And over the following weeks, I felt hopeless and hated football. I had to dig deep to realize that I would have to seek new goals there in Tuscaloosa. I had never played scout team before, but ahead of LSU, I pulled myself out of my funk and volunteered to run scout. After the game, Coach Saban found me and thanked me for helping the team beat the Tigers. I had discovered a new role on the team and recognized that one bad game would not define my contribution. I learned to truly appreciate having shared goals in the common pursuit of excellence, even if I was not playing.

What I also realized at this time was that I had left my heart at Notre Dame.

You see, I had been lured to Alabama by opportunities that glistened like gold in the Southern sun. When I transferred, it was with a heavy heart and a mind clouded by uncertainty. There were whispers in my ear, persuasive voices, and the glittering prospect of opportunity. As a 20-year-old, the ache of leaving behind the Fighting Irish was overshadowed by the pull of the transfer portal and the promise of playing one season for Coach Saban as the next logical step towards playing in the NFL. But I had forgotten why I chose Notre Dame in the first place, and it took a season away to realize what I had and why I loved Notre Dame.

As I returned to campus and joined lacrosse, I quickly realized my journey was not merely a return to a game I had not played since 9th grade but a renewal of my spirit and love for competition. It was an opportunity to play for the defending National Champions and to reset my goals and priorities. As one would expect from a Notre Dame team, they embraced me and pulled me into their culture despite my time away from lacrosse (and lackluster stick skills). It was easy for me to see why this team is special, as my teammates are relentless in how they live their lives. They embody the spirit of Notre Dame with their unwavering commitment to each other, to the game they love to play, and to their studies. It is no wonder a back-to-back national championship was in store. With teammates headed to medical school and earning PhDs in aeronautical engineering, my team challenged me in ways I never expected. I recommitted myself to excelling in the classroom and set out to make the Dean’s List. I took 21 credit hours (9 classes) this past spring so I could reach my goal of graduating in 3.5 years. My days were a balancing act of practice, classes, and studying. Each moment was fueled by a purpose to make the most out of my experience and by a belief in something bigger than myself.

Notre Dame has always been a place of faith and redemption, but I never imagined the extent of its generosity until the day Coach Freeman allowed me to rejoin the football team as a walk-on. Being able to play the game I have loved since I can remember and playing for Notre Dame had been my dream. I risked it all and believed I had lost it all, as I did not think even returning to football at Notre Dame would be in the cards. As I was leaving Alabama, I had scholarship opportunities to play quarterback elsewhere. Even though I knew I was potentially giving up on my football dreams, I turned them down and told my parents that I would pay my way through school because I only wanted to be at Notre Dame. It would have been easy for the football coaching staff to see me just as a player who had left, but instead, I am grateful they were able to see me as a young man eager to return and contribute in any way I could for the greater good of the team.

Now, as I stand on the threshold of another season, my heart swells with a fervent desire to help Notre Dame achieve the glory we all dream of — a National Championship in football. I am driven by the determination to give my all, to push beyond my limits, and to be a part of something greater than myself. The journey back to Notre Dame has been one of reflection and redemption. It has taught me that home is not just a place, but a feeling of belonging, of being part of a family that stands by you, no matter where the road leads.