Alabama quarterback Tyler Buchner is heading back to Notre Dame, but this time, he’ll be on the lacrosse team.
Buchner, who played football with the Fighting Irish for two seasons, announced his decision on social media Wednesday and said he will graduate from Notre Dame in May.
“I’ll be continuing my initial commitment to Alabama Football through the playoff and finishing what I started,” Buchner said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued support.”
I am excited to return to ND to play lacrosse and graduate in May. Prior to that, I’ll be continuing my initial commitment to Alabama Football through the playoff and finishing what I started. I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued support.
— Tyler Buchner (@tylerbuchner) December 20, 2023
Buchner played 13 games at Notre Dame. He was named the starter at the beginning of the 2022 season but suffered a shoulder injury in Week 2 against Marshall that kept him out for the rest of the regular season. He returned for the Irish’s win over South Carolina in the Gator Bowl to finish the season.
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Buchner transferred to Alabama after this year’s spring practice and was reunited with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who held the same role with Notre Dame. Buchner started against South Florida in Week 3 and finished this season completing 8 of 19 passes for 61 yards and added one rushing touchdown in two games.
He will be with the Tide when they face Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Buchner used his one-time transfer in football to move from Notre Dame to Alabama. Since he’s entering the portal for a different sport, he’ll be eligible to play lacrosse immediately at his next school. Notre Dame won its first men’s lacrosse championship in May.
If Buchner chooses to play football, he would have to sit for a year because he hasn’t graduated.
Buchner the lacrosse star
From the lacrosse lens, there’s a reason to believe he will draw interest. Before fully committing to football, Buchner was a lacrosse phenom. He committed to play at Michigan in 2017 as a middle schooler, and in the seventh grade, he was clocked shooting a lacrosse ball at 100 mph. According to Inside Lacrosse, an ESPN affiliate site that covers the sport, Buchner held a 94/100 grade, which made him one of the highest-rated players in his class nationally. He played lacrosse in high school for The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, Calif.
Buchner’s transfer won’t affect Alabama’s quarterback scholarship count, at least right now. Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Dylan Lonergan and Eli Holstein are all on the roster and five-star prospect Julian Sayin is an early enrollee and is already practicing with the team ahead of the Rose Bowl against Michigan. — Kennington Smith III, Alabama staff writer
Evaluating his first Notre Dame stint
Buchner’s time with the football program in South Bend never approached the expectations attached to him in recruiting as Brian Kelly’s staff saw the dual threat as the kind of prospect that could help elevate the program from making the College Football Playoff to competing to win in it. Instead, Buchner’s accuracy came under question, he played a bit part as a freshman in run-first packages and then he ultimately won the job as a sophomore. When returned from injury for the Gator Bowl, Marcus Freeman was already chasing down Sam Hartman.
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Still, Buchner’s departure felt like a minor surprise even with Hartman in the program. When he entered the transfer portal last April, he did so with the understanding he could return if he didn’t find a landing spot. And family connections had a draw to Notre Dame, too, with his younger sister Paige Buchner completing her freshman season on the women’s soccer team this fall.
While Buchner won’t return to Notre Dame football and it remains to be seen how he fits into the national champion lacrosse program, the fit in South Bend always felt more natural than the one in Tuscaloosa. Buchner’s return, even if it’s not for football, bears that out. — Pete Sampson, Notre Dame staff writer
Required reading
(Photo: John David Mercer / USA Today)
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