Former Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner to rejoin the program as a walk-on wide receiver
Former Notre Dame starting quarterback Tyler Buchner is set to rejoin the football program. On Friday, Buchner announced on social media he would return to the Fighting Irish and contribute as a walk-on wide receiver for the 2024 season. He has two more seasons of college football eligibility remaining.
“Notre Dame has always been a place of faith and redemption, but I never imagined the extent of its generosity until the day Coach (Marcus) Freeman allowed me to rejoin the football team as a walk-on,” Buchner said in a statement. “Being able to play the game I have loved since I can remember and playing for Notre Dame had been my dream.”
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Buchner spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons in South Bend before plunging into the transfer portal to follow former Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to Alabama for the 2023 campaign. However, current Tide starting quarterback Jaden Milroe beat out Buchner to win the starting quarterback competition.
Buchner played in two games with one start for the Crimson Tide. He went 3-for-5 for 27 yards in relief against Middle Tennessee State with one rushing attempt for 9 yards and a touchdown. In his lone start against South Florida, he was 5-of-14 through the air for 34 yards. He ran twice for 11 yards.
After one year in Tuscaloosa, Buchner re-entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, this time as a lacrosse player, at the end of the regular season. On Dec. 20, he announced he was returning to Notre Dame to play for Kevin Corrigan’s program.
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In his one season with the Irish lacrosse program, Buchner appeared in 11 games and had 1 assist and 3 ground balls. Notre Dame defeated Maryland in the national championship game on Monday.
Buchner is following in the footsteps of wide receiver Jordan Faison, in a round-about way. Faison starred for the Irish lacrosse team as a freshman this year with 22 goals and 8 assists. First, though, he caught 19 passes for 322 yards and 4 touchdowns for the Irish last fall.
It’s unclear at the moment if Buchner will count toward the football team’s scholarship limit as soon as he plays a down in a game like Faison.
Buchner recorded plenty of grid-iron statistics for Notre Dame before his Alabama football and Notre Dame lacrosse journey. He was 67-of-118 for 949 yards with 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in two seasons in South Bend. He started three games, including a Gator Bowl victory over South Carolina at the end of the 2022 season. He was the game’s MVP. He rushed 82 times for 459 yards and 7 touchdowns, too.
