Chris Tyrees success with Notre Dame football in 2023 has been a long time coming

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Richard and Michelle Tyree settled into their seats by kickoff last weekend, but not everybody in their section of Notre Dame Stadium was so prompt. As Pittsburgh punter Caleb Junko sent the ball skyward midway through the first quarter, fans still were passing in front of Chris Tyree’s parents. They only sort of saw what was happening on the field as the oldest of their three boys caught the ball.

Then the roar. That’s when Richard got a look at the videoboard, on a split-second delay from what was happening on the field right in front of him, behind the people obscuring the view. Tyree broke the first tackle, then ducked under the second. He ran by a third, around a fourth and through a fifth. Then it was by a sixth and away from everyone else.

“Wait a minute, he’s gonna score!” Richard said. “He puts pressure on himself to make plays. And he took advantage.”

Afterward, Tyree called the 82-yard punt return a progression of his season, going from running back to wide receiver, shifting from satellite in Notre Dame’s offense to something with more gravitational pull. Tyree has scored touchdowns on kickoff return, punt return, receiving and rushing during his college career, joining Rocket Ismail, Tim Brown and Julius Jones in an exclusive group.

It has been a long time coming for Tyree. The past four years have been neither an outright success nor anything close to an abject failure for the former top-100 prospect who chose Notre Dame over Oklahoma and Alabama. In the transfer portal era, players of his ability don’t always want to wait. And starting over at a new position only makes that delay tougher.

“I think sometimes when you (change positions) it’s hard in front of your peers because there’s moments of embarrassment. All he did was he was so eager to learn,” offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said. “Wanted to throw himself in it, handled a little bit of failures at times — not too much of it, but failures at times — and then just started stacking days together.

“I think it’s so rewarding to see a guy do that and then when a teammate sees that, it kind of puts in perspective of how you had to stay the course because it’s hard to do in this day and age, or any day.”

Chris Tyree leads Notre Dame’s receivers in catches, yardage and touchdowns. (Matt Cashore / USA Today)

Tyree leads Notre Dame’s receivers in catches, yardage and scores. His 46-yard touchdown against USC three weeks ago helped the stadium remember to breathe. The punt return last weekend triggered an avalanche. And his 65-yard catch at NC State helped keep the Wolfpack at arm’s length. The 76-yard touchdown against Central Michigan was more luxury than essential, but that felt good for a player who has been waiting for this.

It took longer than anyone wanted to get here, perhaps because Notre Dame struggled to get the best from an athlete it rarely lands. Tyree has enough speed that he won the fastest man at The Opening twice. When he was a changeup back early — Tyree had 11 carries for 103 yards in his third college game — it felt like a harbinger. Instead, it was an outlier. Tyree had just six more double-digit carry games. He had just one more 100-yard rushing game, also his freshman year.

Technically, Tyree is also the last Irish wideout with a 100-yard receiving game, even if he did it in the Fiesta Bowl while playing running back.

Since then, the running back group has cleared out. The position coach and offensive coordinator have changed, too. Through it all, Tyree has been low maintenance, staying at Notre Dame because he joined the program in part because he wanted a school where football could vanish and he still would fit. While other players rattled their sabers about the transfer portal, sometimes swinging that blade, Tyree did not. He might not be a captain, but he’s the kind of personality most coaching staffs would fight to keep.

In the same way that Notre Dame’s old staff didn’t have to sweat keeping Tyree committed when Brian Kelly changed offensive coordinators a month before signing day, the current Irish staff hasn’t had to worry about Tyree bolting for another program.

“I want to be able to add life to the team as much as I can,” Tyree said. “Whether that’s catching the ball running it, returning, I’m gonna do it to the best of my ability.”

It’s not that Tyree doesn’t have a blueprint for this; it’s just that it can be hard to read from the bench. Growing up around Richmond, Va., put Tyree in proximity to former Notre Dame running back C.J. Prosise, who enrolled as a safety, moved to slot receiver and then moved to running back, where he developed into a third-round pick. Tyree attended Prosise’s camps in high school. He went to learn from a Notre Dame player who made it while also learning from a Notre Dame player whose path was hardly straight.

Now Tyree is that example, for former five-star linebacker Jaylen Sneed learning a defense in the background or receiver Tobias Merriweather needing a reminder that freshman success doesn’t guarantee repeating it. Tyree has come out the other side of college football, proof that if a player puts his head down to work, he eventually can see daylight.

“It’s a great example of being anti-fragile,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “He’s a guy who can move positions, have setbacks and get better because of it. I think he’s still getting better. He’s a guy I hope he comes back for another year. He’s just starting to scratch the surface of how good he can be as a wide receiver for our program and a punt returner.”

It’s not clear where Tyree’s path will take him beyond this season. It hardly has been the scenic route, yet the senior is enjoying the view as Notre Dame heads to Clemson, a dream school of the running back as a kid growing up in Virginia. There’s a chance he might return for a fifth year. He could do a grad transfer after the semester, with Tyree on track to graduate from Notre Dame next month. He could take a shot at the NFL.

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Wherever football takes Tyree next, he’ll be appreciative of what it gave him at Notre Dame, even if he didn’t get everything he wanted, when he wanted it. And that part of the journey may have more staying power than any stat line.

“I think he’s happy with where is, mentally, physically,” Richard said. “He’s intuitive. He gives more thought to everything than most. I think that’s just how he’s wired. He can feel how the situation should go.”

It’s not clear how Tyree feels about what’s coming after this season. If he knows, he’s not spilling it to his family. There will be time to get that all figured out, anyway. For now, Tyree has three more games in his senior season with a bowl to follow. And he’ll approach them the same way he handled that punt return last weekend.

“Don’t think,” Tyree said. “Just run.”

On Saturday afternoon at Clemson, that’s just what Notre Dame needs.

(Top photo: Joseph Weiser / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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