Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 15, 2022 7 BY PATRICK ENGEL A n aerial view of the football field was not the vantage point from which quarterback Tyler Buchner wanted to watch any part of Notre Dame's 2022 season. He wasn't thinking about any sight line except one where he's behind five blockers with 11 defenders facing him. The football equivalent of paradise for a quarterback. The view he has now, though, is akin to having a giant power plant outside your hotel window. Buchner has spent games in the Notre Dame coaches' box since the severe shoulder sprain he suffered vs. Marshall Sept. 10. He's high up in the stadium, away from all his teammates, with his left arm in a sling. A headset has replaced his gold helmet. A clipboard and chart have replaced a football in his hands. TV cameras have captured him standing be- hind offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, charting plays and talking on the headset. Basically, he's Coach Buchner. It's not the role he wanted, but it's the one he must accept for the balance of the season. Head coach Marcus Free- man has pushed him to make it as pro- ductive as possible for him and for the team. Be an extra set of eyes in games and practices. Add another perspective in meetings. Help be another positive voice in quarterback Drew Pyne's ear. "How do you make yourself better even though you're not playing?" Free- man said. "That can be watching the play go on, charting things for your- self to write and learn, but also being a teacher and being able to communi- cate after a game or after a practice with some of those quar- terbacks to say, 'Here's what I saw, what did you see?' That has been a challenge I've presented to Tyler." Freeman and Notre Dame's staff put Buchner in the booth for the game vs. California Sept. 17 in part to protect him from any potential sideline chaos. At that time, he was just days removed from surgery to repair the injury that occurred when Marshall linebacker Eli Neal tackled him and landed on top of him on a fourth-quarter scramble. A wild punt or an errant pass striking his shoulder or a player running out bounds and into him was too big a risk. "We wanted to get him away from any- where he could pos- sibly get in harm's way," Freeman said. He might return to the sideline later in the season, perhaps when the sling is off and he has begun rehab. For now, he will be tied to Rees' hip upstairs and helping in whatever way he can. "If that's more beneficial for our of- fense, let's do it," Freeman said. "At some point, he will come down and be a voice for Drew." That voice probably won't be coming over the booth-to- sideline phone. If it does, it cer- tainly won't contain the color- ful language in a stern tone that Rees used on Pyne early in the Cal game to try to kick Pyne into gear. Buchner will leave those conversations and any tough love moments to his coach. In practice, though, Freeman has often heard Buchner inter- acting with Pyne to present his point of view on a play. He has listened to Buchner voice his ideas for how to attack a de- fense or improve the offense in position meetings. "They've been really good," Freeman said. "I sit in a lot of the quarterbacks' meetings, and those two guys really in- teract well and bounce ideas off each other and Coach Rees. It's a really, re- ally healthy relationship that I think is elevating the play of Drew Pyne." To Freeman, it looks natural and unforced. It's the product of a strong relationship between Pyne and Buch- ner that predates their competition for the job this offseason. They're friends, above all else. A second voice and a peer voice re-enforcing coaching points should make them even more impactful. "Sometimes player-to-player feed- back — I used this same example with [junior tight end] Michael Mayer — can be much more beneficial than coach to player," Freeman said. "You can hear the same message, but maybe in a different tone or different way." And ideally, in helping Pyne, he helps himself in the process. ✦ UNDER THE DOME COACH BUCHNER Marcus Freeman challenges injured quarterback Tyler Buchner to help the team even when he can't play Buchner has watched games from Notre Dame coaches' box since the severe shoulder sprain he suffered against Marshall Sept. 10. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER "How do you make yourself better even though you're not playing?" FREEMAN ON THE REST OF BUCHNER'S SEASON