Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 NOV. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER E very high school coach thinks their players are the next best thing, but they rarely are. Danny Mitchell, who is the of- fensive coordinator at The Bishop's School in La Jolla, Calif., may have a good argument, though. In leading Bishop's to a 10-0 regu- lar-season record, class of 2021 quar- terback Tyler Buchner accounted for 4,507 yards of total offense and 61 touchdowns. He completed 196 of 286 throws (68.5 percent) for 3,358 yards with 41 touchdowns and five interceptions. Additionally, the 6-2, 210-pounder has rushed for 1,149 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 93 carries. To the delight of Fighting Irish fans, Buchner is committed to Notre Dame and has been since March. He picked the Irish over Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington State and others. Mitchell feels strongly about the impact Buchner will have in South Bend. "Notre Dame is getting a special person," Mitchell stated. "I think he can change a cam- pus based on who he is. I think the kid is phenomenal." Rivals rates Bu- chner as the No. 8 pro-style quarterback and No. 65 over- all prospect nationally in the junior class. Being rated as a top-100 prospect in the country is impressive, but an argument can certainly be made for Buchner being a five-star recruit. The San Diego native has all of the tools to be a star at the next level, and there's no limit to what he can accom- plish. "Tyler doesn't have a ceiling," Mitch- ell said. "I know that sounds crazy, but I really do think that. He has the ability to make throws that only guys who play on Sundays can make. "A lot of quarterbacks don't like con- tact, but Tyler always asks for me to run the ball early on because he wants to be hit. "It would be really dumb of me to say what his ceiling is because that would be me saying what his cap is, and he doesn't have one. He has the ability to be as great as he wants to be." Buchner has a seemingly endless amount of highlight plays to choose from during his junior season, whether he's dropping a dime 50 yards down the field or juking out and running past multiple defenders for a long touchdown run. One of many impressive aspects about Buchner is his attention to detail. In a 58-12 victory against University City Aug. 30, a game in which Buchner accounted for 383 yards and six touch- downs, the Notre Dame commit threw a wide receiver screen pass that picked up five yards. It's easy to just look past that play because it wasn't a SportsCenter Top 10 moment, but Buchner had a free rushing defensive end who was either going to sack him or bat his pass down. He avoided both outcomes by throw- ing a side-armed pass around the de- fender from an awkward stance. "That's something we actually practice every day," Mitchell said. "When we play catch before practice, we work on all of those things." Buchner's ability to make throws from the move or in less-than-ideal situations is comparable to the Green Bay Packers' current quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer, although on a different scale. "He loves watching Aaron Rod- gers, and he'll try to mimic him," Mitchell said. "I think kids try to be cookie cutter as a quarterback, but that's not how the game works. "Tyler can throw from all angles and make plays that aren't planned. Every coach draws up a play to score, but when you're wrong, Tyler has the ability to fix it." SHINING AS A FRESHMAN The Bishop's School has around 800 students, ranging from grades 6-12. Buchner started attending the independent, coeducational college- preparatory day school that is associ- ated with the Epis- copal Church as a sixth grader. "When he was coming up, we knew we were go- ing to have a pretty special athlete in t h e p r o g r a m , " Mitchell said. When Buchner started playing varsity football as a freshman for Bishop's, which typically has a total of 25-30 players, he began at receiver and safety. At the time, Bishop's starting quar- terback was Jeffrey Jackson, who would go on to rank No. 2 all time in San Diego in passing touchdowns and passing yards. Buchner had 565 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns as a rusher and receiver that season. Defensively, he re- corded 17 tackles and an interception. "After you watch five or six plays of his freshman highlights, you'll say, 'That kid might be the best player on that football team,'" Mitchell noted. "And he was just 14 years old." Even with Jackson as the experi- enced, senior leader of the football team, the Bishop's coaching staff knew they needed to get Buchner in at quarterback, too. Buchner threw for Buchner accounted for 4,507 yards of total offense and 61 touchdowns while leading La Jolla (Calif.) The Bishop's School to a 10-0 regular-season record. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Prolific Passer Notre Dame quarterback commit Tyler Buchner has racked up huge numbers as a junior