Marcus Freeman describes the feeling of having Tyler Buchner back in quarterback room

Notre Dame‘s quarterback room needed depth and experience entering 2025. Marcus Freeman had a former quarterback in Tyler Buchner on his roster, so making that transition was easy.

Buchner has had an interesting college football career. A one-time starter for the Irish, he spent 2021 and 2022 in South Bend before transferring to Alabama. He returned to the Notre Dame football team last summer as a walk-on after helping the Irish lacrosse team to a national championship.

Upon his return, Buchner transitioned away from QB in an attempt to find more playing time. He settled in at running back where he ran the ball one time in 2024. Now, he’s set to resume his quarterback duties during his fifth season playing at the college level.

“He’s been itching to get back to that unit. If you watch some of the wide receiver individual drills last year, he was throwing the ball,” Freeman said. “When Steve (Angeli) decided to leave, we felt like we wanted a little bit of experience to go into that room. His job is ultimately to make the room better, right? Make the room better and get better yourself. I see him doing that.

“He’s helping Blake (Hebert), being a young freshman, working with Kenny (Minchey) and CJ (Carr), in terms of through his experience, but also becoming a better player himself. I’m glad to have him back in there.”

Buchner is the only upperclassman in the Notre Dame quarterback room this season. Minchey and Anthony Rezac are sophomores this season while both Hebert and Carr are freshmen.

So far during his career, Buchner has just over 1,000 passing yards to his credit to go with six touchdowns and eight interceptions. He showcased his running abilities as well, rushing for seven additional scores during his career.

Despite his experience, Buchner is not expected to be the starting quarterback in South Bend in 2025. Instead, the battle appears to be a two-man race at the moment between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. Entering fall camp, it appears to be either man’s race to win at this point.

Notre Dame kicks off its season in emphatic fashion with a true road game at Miami on Sunday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET live on ABC. By the time kickoff rolls around, Freeman will have made a decision about who will be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback this fall.