Tyler Buchner discusses relationship with Marcus Freeman

First-year head coach Marcus Freeman named Tyler Buchner, a first-year starter, the quarterback at Notre Dame. It was a move that most people expected, but Buchner still had to earn the job in a quarterback competition with Drew Pyne.

While sitting down with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, Tyler Buchner spoke about the relationship that he has with Marcus Freeman.

“Yeah, you know, Coach Freeman’s done an incredible job since he was named head coach and I think one of the biggest things that he’s done and put an emphasis on is building relationships with all of us as players,” Tyler Buchner said. “I think he’s done a really good job of that.”

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“You know, with me in particular, I think the relationship we’ve built has been awesome to see, and it’s to the point where he was obviously a defensive guy but he’s done such a great job of learning the offense and becoming like a two-way head coach. Not just a defensive head coach, but someone who can go out there and coach the offense and give the quarterbacks constructive criticism. Things like that,” Tyler Buchner continued.

“So…now he knows the entire offense and has been really helpful in coaching. And, you know, it’s mostly the large situation stuff where it’s like, hey, you gotta throw the ball out of bounds there or we gotta get in a two-minute drill. You know, certain, sort of, operational things.”

Tyler Buchner was a consensus four-star recruit in the Class of 2021. He saw some playing time in 2021, showing off his athletic ability. However, playing Ohio State in the Horseshoe for his first start is going to be a difficult challenge.

Tyler Buchner on being an underdog

Tyler Buchner also spoke about being a 17.5-point underdog to the Buckeyes, something that the Notre Dame team has found disrespectful.

“You know, I think it’s a lot of points,” Tyler Buchner said. “You know, I don’t know.”

“I think I sort of see his [Marcus Freeman] motivation. A lot of guys on the team sort of see it as like a little bit of disrespect, almost. And, you know, I don’t really pay much attention to that stuff, but when he brought it up in the team meeting it sort of came to my mind and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. That’s a lot of points.’ I don’t really, I mean personally, I don’t think it should be that many points.”