Marcus Freeman discusses importance of naming starting quarterback early
Marcus Freeman believes it was important for Notre Dame to name their starting quarterback with more than enough time before Week 1, and Tyler Buchner was tabbed to lead the Fighting Irish into battle.
Evidently, Freeman is already seeing a difference in his squad, as he detailed in a press conference on Thursday.
“There’s that consistently among who’s the voice in that huddle, and who’s the voice in the field with the ones,” stated Freeman, when asked if there were any differences now that Notre Dame has named Buchner their starting quarterback. “I think that’s important. That cohesiveness. That consistency in terms of who’s making the calls, who’s making the checks, and knowing who’s at quarterback.
“So we thought it was really important to do it, and I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen. I mean, it’s been two or three practices since we’ve named the starter, named him the starter. Been really pleased with what I’ve seen.”
After beating out Drew Pyne to secure the starting job, Tyler Buchner gets the honor of beginning the Marcus Freeman era as the team’s starting quarterback. Time will tell how it works out in South Bend, but it’s evident morale is high with the Fighting Irish.
Marcus Freeman, Tommy Rees reveal what they saw from Tyler Buchner to win starting job
Continuing, Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees worked in tandem throughout the quarterback battle and both ultimately came to the decision that Tyler Buchner has done enough at this point in fall camp to be named the starter and give the Irish an identity heading into Week 1.
“When I meet with the quarterbacks and I met with Coach Rees – this wasn’t recent, it was when I first became a head coach – are three things,” Freeman said. “Number one, are they making the correct decisions? Number two, you’ve got to take care of the football. We can’t turn the ball over. We’ve got to take care of the football. And number three – who’s making plays?
“There’s a huge criteria I’m sure that Coach Rees has in terms of how we evaluate those guys, but those are the three things that I really, really look for, and we’ve been in constant dialogue about who was going to be the starter.”
Buchner saw action in 10 games as a true freshman in 2021. He threw 35 passes, completing 21 of them for 298 yards and throwing three interceptions. Buchner had three touchdowns through the air and three on the ground. His rushing abilities also played a role in the coaching staff’s decision.
“It was a very hard decision. You have two kids that are working very hard to accomplish a goal,” Rees added. “You know, Drew has been the best Drew Pyne he’s been since he’s been at Notre Dame, which is a huge credit to him.
“You know, we felt like Tyler gives us the best chance. To point to one moment we had a practice a couple days ago, where, you know, we probably felt like, ‘okay, this is what it’s gonna look like and this is where we can operate at our best,’ and we made the decision as a staff and as a group and we’re full steam ahead.”