Drew Payne pens heartfelt message to Notre Dame community in transfer announcement

Notre Dame’s starting quarterback for the 2022 season, Drew Pyne, surprised many when news broke that he would be entering the transfer portal to look for a new home this offseason — since was the Fighting Irish’s starting quarterback for the 2022 season, amassing 2,021 yards along with 22 touchdowns vs. six interceptions.

Shortly after the initial reports of his departure leaked, Pyne took to Twitter to post his own message, confirming that he would be leaving the program and entering the portal. Here was that post:

pic.twitter.com/vGSsI8o2Q0

— Drew Pyne (@dpyne10) December 2, 2022

So Pyne is in the market for a new home while the Fighting Irish now have a gaping hole to fill at quarterback. Almost certain that they’ll look to the portal as well.

The marriage between Pyne and Notre Dame was never perfect, as the team finished well below expectations in his lone season as the starter, with losses to Marshall and Stanford sticking out as the real disappointments.

Pyne also was thrust into the lineup under circumstances he may not have expected. He originally committed to Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame and expected to captain a team led by him. Instead, Kelly bolted for the Bayou, while Notre Dame promoted DC Marcus Freeman, a youngster with zero head coaching experience. The Irish did wind up having a decent season, but the offense overall was underwhelming. Now, the engineer of that offense is bailing.

Drew Pyne played high school football at New Canaan (CT), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 238 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.