Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree to enter transfer portal
On Monday, Notre Dame senior wideout Chris Tyree, the team’s leading receiver in 2023, announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
“Notre Dame will forever hold a special place in my heart,” Tyree wrote in a post on Instagram. “After many conversations and prayer, I’ve come to the heartfelt decision to enter my name into the transfer portal as a graduate.
Tyree moved from running back to wide receiver in the spring and caught more than 20,000 passes over the summer to prepare for his new role.
His hard work paid off. He snagged 26 catches for a team-leading 484 yards and three touchdowns.
In four seasons, he totaled 82 catches for 945 yards and seven touchdowns, to go along with 232 carries for 1,161 yards and eight additional scores.
“I would like to start by saying Thank You to the entire Notre Dame football community for giving me the experience of a lifetime as a student-athlete,” he wrote. “I am especially grateful to my coaches, professors, friends and most importantly my teammates for making this journey unforgettable.”
The senior also served as the team’s primary punt returner this fall. He returned 11 punts for 119 yards and a touchdown against Pitt. Tyree also returned a kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown in Notre Dame’s 2021 win over Wisconsin.
He’s the first Fighting Irish offensive player — and second overall following NaNa Osafo-Mensah's announcement — to declare their intent to transfer since the team’s 56-23 victory over Stanford in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
“My love for this university will never waiver, and I will always be proud to say that I earned a degree from Notre Dame,” Tyree wrote. “The relationships that I built over the last four years will be cherished for the rest of my life.”
Tyree’s announcement comes just a few weeks after coach Marcus Freeman publicly lobbied for his return.
“He’s a guy who can move positions, have setbacks, and get better because of it,” Freeman said prior to Notre Dame’s first bye week. “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.”
The team’s next leading wide receiver was freshman Rico Flores Jr., who snagged 27 catches for 394 yards and a touchdown this season. Against Wake Forest, he became the first wideout to produce a 100-yard receiving game since 2021.
The most likely replacements for Tyree in the slot will be freshmen Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison. Greathouse struggled through a nagging hamstring injury this fall but still posted 16 catches for 252 yards and a team-high five touchdowns.
Faison, a former walk-on, earned a football scholarship by playing in the Louisville game and proceeded to haul in 14 passes for 207 yards and three scores over Notre Dame’s final six contests.
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