Chris Tyree Makes Family Proud With His Decision

It was a long process and Irish fans are happy with the way it played out, so is Chris Tyree‍ and his father.

The elite 2020 running back from Virginia just announced his commitment to Notre Dame, giving the Irish their highest-rated pledge in the class and most promising running back pull in years.

“I think he’s handled this process pretty well,” Rich Tyree says of his son. “It really started for him a little earlier than most kids, so I think that’s why he was ready to make a decision now, earlier than some kids.

“To me, it’s just a good time and he can move forward.”

Tyree was identified as an elite player with elite speed early. By the end of his sophomore year at Thomas Dale High School, it was obvious he would pretty much have his choice of schools. Tyree and his family used that head start to take several unofficial visits before narrowing things down to Notre Dame, Alabama and Oklahoma in recent months.

“He handled it well,” Mr. Tyree continues. “He stayed humble the entire time.

“He’s certainly been lucky and blessed to even have an opportunity. One offer is great, but he’s been blessed enough to have a lot of great programs and institutions offer him. He’s gone through process and was pretty good about how he came to the decision.”

None of the offers or extreme attention led the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder to slacking off or taking things for granted, so his father knows the commitment to the Irish won’t either.

“He’s still eager and hungry to work out and do better whenever he has the opportunity to,” Mr. Tyree says.  “He’ll continue to build and want to do better for his teammates.”

Tyree relied on his parents and his coach, Kevin Tucker, for support throughout his recruitment.

“I think his coach gave him guidance along with players who have been through this process before,” his father says. “His mom and myself have been to college, so we just gave him input from our point.”

But in the end, Tyree is the one who will have to be in South Bend, so he’s the one whose opinion mattered the most.

“A lot of the decision was his and I think he used some of his own decisiveness as far as the things he wants in a school, the type of campus he wants,” Mr. Tyree says. “He had a criterion that he went through. I was proud of him that he took that type of initiative on his own. It’s been a long process.”

As a family, the Tyrees will be able to enjoy a much less hectic travel schedule, although they will still take an official visit to Notre Dame, which is currently scheduled for the June 21st weekend. But, Mr. Tyree says the days of taking visits to analyze everything and every coach with an eye on a decision are over.

“We made a lot of great relationships with a lot of coaches, but this kind of brings those to a close as far as the recruitment process,” Mr. Tyree says.

“He’s pretty strong as far as the decision.”

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