Drew Pyne Again Transfers and A Look Back at Notre Dame's 2022 Season

News came Monday that former Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne, who most recently played at Missouri, was entering the transfer portal. Pyne has had stops at both Arizona State and Missouri since leaving Notre Dame, and is looking for another new football home now.

Mentioning Drew Pyne immediately makes most Notre Dame football fans think of the 2022 season. From afar it wasn't anything overly impressive. It was Marcus Freeman's first season as head coach and the Fighting Irish failed to win 10 games in it for the first time in six seasons that year.

A second look with added context now makes it look more impressive.

Notre Dame Overcame Average-At-Best Starting Quarterbacks

Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner against Ohio State in 202 — Sep 3, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Tyler Buchner (12) drops back to pass during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. | Adam Cairns-Imagn Images

Notre Dame went into the 2022 season with high expectations for new starting quarterback Tyler Buchner, who had shown flashes of success the year previous. After struggling at Ohio State to open the year, Buchner struggled against Marshall a week later before being lost for the remainder of the regular season in the second half of the contest.

Enter Drew Pyne, who then started the final 10 games of the regular season, leading Notre Dame to an 8-2 mark in those contests. An 8-4 regular season is Notre Dame's low-water mark since 2016's 3-9 campaign, but considering it was Pyne and Buchner calling signals, perhaps it wasn't that bad of a year after all.

Losses to Marshall and a poor Stanford outfit remain inexcusable but the rest of it looks pretty darn good. Heck, even the loss at USC to close the regular season doesn't look as bad when you consider Notre Dame needed to outduel Caleb Williams with Pyne.

Tommy Rees Giveth, Tommy Rees Taketh

Norte Dame OC Tommy Rees is clearly up in the booth giving QB Drew Pyne HELL 🤣😅

(via @RealBigDev216)pic.twitter.com/UQ6EcdBkHz
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 17, 2022

Going 9-4 overall with Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne as starting quarterbacks feels rather impressive when you look back a few years later. Buchner transferred to Alabama for a year before returning to Notre Dame as a walk-on wide receiver this past season. Pyne has struggled to find consistent playing time at both Arizona State and Missouri since leaving.

The fact then-Notre Dame playcaller Tommy Rees was able to get enough out of this combination to win nine games looks a lot more impressive now. However, it was also Rees who had the most say in both of those quarterbacks being Notre Dame's starting candidates in 2022.

Tommy Giveth, Tommy Taketh.

Notre Dame's Recent Uptick at Quarterback

CJ Carr practices for Notre Dame football during the 2025 spring seaso — Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, left, during a Notre Dame football spring practice at Irish Athletic Center on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The biggest thing Notre Dame is dealing with this spring is a quarterback competition split between three candidates. Steve Angeli is the veteran, CJ Carr is the most-highly touted, and Kenny Minchey is the least discussed of the three.

Rees played a significant role in getting both Carr and Minchey to Notre Dame before he left to call Alabama's offense for Nick Saban. Obviously, we haven't seen either of those two really play in a game yet, so nothing is guaranteed but the feeling is that Notre Dame's quarterback room is in a much better spot than just a few short years ago.

Notre Dame's quarterback play feels like it has come a long way since that 2022 season, but with the uncertainties instead of transfers entering 2025, feels like it still has a long way to go before its seen as a consistent strength in the program.