Former Alabama QB Tyler Buchner set to play football with Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame

Tyler Buchner has a pretty unique college sports career that started off at Notre Dame as a quarterback. Now it is coming back to South Bend, a full circle but with a little change of position. The former Alabama Crimson Tide QB has rejoined the Fighting Irish, but this time as a walk-on wide receiver.

Football isn't the only sport in Buchner’s resume at Notre Dame since leaving Tuscaloosa. He was also a part of the Fighting Irish Lacrosse team that won the repeat national title for the school. Now he will be playing football for Marcus Freeman as the head coach plots his way to a potential national title of his own.

Here is the former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tyler Buchner’s announcement about rejoining the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program as a walk-on wide receiver.

There is a little catch about Buchner's walk-on status with the Fighting Irish. Although the former QB will be a walk-on, he will count towards the 85 scholarships on the roster. He still has two years of college football eligibility left to use so he could take his time to settle in and start catching some balls, something he hasn't done ever in his career so far.

Tyler Buchner joined the Crimson Tide back in 2021 and spent two seasons in South Bend before turning his head towards Nick Saban’s Alabama. He did feature for the Crimson Tide but was largely used as a backup for Jalen Milroe. So after Coach Saban retired, he headed back to Notre Dame to join the Lacrosse team. Now the former QB is back at football.

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Pat Kavanagh’s praise for Tyler Buchner the Lacrosse star

Before becoming a wide receiver on Marcus Freeman's football team, Tyler Buchner had rejoined Notre Dame in January to play Lacrosse. His teammate Pat Kavanagh was impressed by his athletic ability and his dedication, coming in for practice just a day after Alabama’s defeat at the Rose Bowl. Talking to Pat McAfee about it, Kavanagh said:

“He's actually starting to get a lot more time now. He's playing defensive midfield. He's a freak athlete. The kid's an insane athlete, he just keeps getting better at lacrosse. And he was actually committed to Michigan in the eighth grade or seventh grade for lacrosse and ultimately chose to play football.”

So after his success as a QB and a Lacrosse player, Buchner will start from scratch again as a wide receiver. Will he be able to integrate into the system and his new position? Only time can tell.