Notre Dame RB Chris Tyree Ready For Larger Role

Notre Dame running back Chris Tyree arrived in South Bend with high expectations from Fighting Irish fans as it's been rare for the program to land the fastest player in the country. 

The Virginia native back ran for 496 yards and scored four touchdowns as a true freshman. More importantly, Tyree showed his game translated to the college level. 

"Coach (Tommy) Rees wants me to build on what I did last year," stated Tyree. "I think we all understand that good things happen when the ball is in my hands. Just being able to expand that and getting more opportunities to give me the ball is the goal for right now." 

Tyree has never lacked confidence and now he knows he can play at a high level against the best in the country, so the goal for 2021 is simple. 

"One for me is to expand my role," explained Tyree. "I think I'm really confident in what I can do on the field. It's up to me to be able to show that to more people. I want to be more confident in my role and making sure I show the playmaking ability that I'm capable of." 

The Notre Dame speedster isn't a one-trick pony. Tyree proved his doubters wrong from game one as he ran between the tackles with success and it's an area he hopes to improve even more this season. 

"I feel even growing up back at home, I really made an emphasis to make sure I wasn't just some fast guy carrying the ball," said Tyree. "I wanted to make sure people knew I could run between the tackles in addition to the tosses, screens and swings. I know how to use my speed to my advantage. I feel like I've shown I have pretty good vision.

"I'm building on becoming a complete back." 

Notre Dame also returns its leading rusher from a year ago in Kyren Williams. There is nothing but love between the two backs and Tyree wants to see both on the field at the same time this fall. 

"We both make plays," Tyree said. "I think it's really important we build off of each other. I think we're both really versatile when it comes to playing in the backfield and playing at receiver. We both in high school played receiver, so it makes sense for us to be very versatile. 

"At the end of the day, we both make plays and that's how we can build off of each other." 

2020 was anything but ordinary as there weren't fans in the stands and the Irish didn't get an entire fall camp. Yet, Tyree shined and gained more confidence as the year went on. 

"The biggest lesson I got from this past season was being confident in myself," Tyree explained. "I feel as you watch the film throughout the season, I think you can tell the more games I played, the more snaps I played, the more confident I was."

Notre Dame will have a new offensive line in 2021, but expect Tyree and Williams to be ready to carry the load. 

"I would say the biggest thing for us is building on what we did last year," said Tyree. "I feel we showed we were really competitive and we all have the ability to make plays. Building on that and being more consistent in that playmaking ability is what we're going to be working on this spring."