Former Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner enters transfer portal for lacrosse, could return to Irish
Tyler Buchner might finish his college career at Notre Dame after all. Just not in the way you might think.
The former Fighting Irish quarterback entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on Monday, like a lot of college football players around the country. But that’s not the only sport for which the transfer portal officially opened on Dec. 4. Student-athletes from all kinds of disciplines are looking for their next homes.
Buchner’s next home could be a very familiar one.
Per multiple sources close to the situation, Buchner could make his way back to South Bend as a member of the reigning national champion Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team barring re-enrollment issues. Buchner was a highly-ranked lacrosse player in high school in California who was once committed to play the sport at Michigan. He chose to play football at Notre Dame instead.
In two seasons with the Irish football program, Buchner started three times and endured a shoulder injury that cost him 10 games of his sophomore season. The last image anyone ever got of Buchner in an actual Notre Dame football game was of him hoisting the Gator Bowl MVP trophy after he accounted for 5 total touchdowns in a 45-38 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks last winter.
Buchner stayed at Notre Dame through spring ball, even after graduate student Sam Hartman came to South Bend from Wake Forest. Hartman severely outshined Buchner in the Blue-Gold Game in April, and Buchner left for Alabama via the transfer portal not long thereafter.
At Notre Dame in 2021-22, Buchner completed 67-of-118 pass attempts for 651 yards with 3 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions. He also ran 82 times for 459 yards and 7 touchdowns. He lost starts at Ohio State and at home vs. Marshall last fall before going down with the shoulder injury.
Buchner appeared in two games for the Crimson Tide in 2023. He started against South Florida in Week 3 but only went 5-of-14 for 34 yards with 2 rushing attempts for 11 yards. He was benched and never saw the field the rest of the season.
Buchner dropped down to No. 4 on Alabama’s depth chart in a season in which the Tide won the SEC Championship, snapping Georgia’s 29-game winning streak in the process, and sneaked into the College Football Playoff.
If he chooses to, Buchner can stay on with Alabama through the Rose Bowl and beyond with former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who calls the shots for the tide’s offense, to face No. 1 Michigan. He was not pictured with Rees or other Alabama quarterbacks in a postgame photo after the SEC title game, though.
Either way, Buchner seems to have a career in a different sport ahead of him soon. Blue & Gold is told if everything works out to get Buchner re-enrolled at Notre Dame, there is a very good chance he will be playing for the Fighting Irish on the lacrosse field in the spring.
