Tyler Buchner announces return to Notre Dame football as walk-on WR

Former Notre Dame and Alabama quarterback Tyler Buchner is returning to the Irish football team in a new role. Buchner is joining the program as a walk-on, he announced on Friday.

According to Tyler Horka of On3, Buchner will be playing receiver for the Irish.

Buchner is re-joining the Notre Dame football program after recently helping the lacrosse program to a national championship. The Irish lacrosse team defeated Maryland 15-5 on Monday for their second consecutive national championship.

Buchner appeared in 10 games on the season, recording one assist.

Prior to playing lacrosse at Notre Dame, Tyler Buchner started his college career as a quarterback for the Irish. He signed with Notre Dame as a four-star recruit and the No. 93 overall player in the country in the class of 2021, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

As a freshman, he threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 336 yards and three scores.

In 2022, Buchner missed most of the season with an injury, before transferring to Alabama. He saw a little bit of playing time for the Crimson Tide in 2023, before transferring to Notre Dame and playing lacrosse. Now he is once again rejoining the football team.

Tyler Buchner releases letter announcing return to Notre Dame football team

Tyler Buchner revealed that he is rejoining the Notre Dame football program in a letter to Irish fans. It reads in part:

“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.

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 o 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.”