Notre Dame Football: Tyler Luatua To Transfer

The rumors about Notre Dame tight end Tyler Luatua proved to be true.

Notre Dame tight end Tyler Luatua won’t make it past his sophomore year in South Bend. The California native is seeking a transfer away from Notre Dame with BYU the most likely landing spot.

Last week, the rumors of a possible transfer for Tyler Luatua started to pick up a great deal of steam on Twitter after a BYU had tweeted about the imminent possibility. This same source had posted, basically the same thing, in the beginning of the month.

While there has been no word from either side to “officially” provide a statement, the news of the Tyler Luatua transfer comes as no surprise to Notre Dame insiders. The background is that Tyler Luatua had become unhappy on more than a few occasions- but had always been talked back into the fold by Brian Kelly. Now, it seems, that the distance from home had become too great an obstacle for Luatua.

The way that Tyler Luatua had been used may have become a large factor as well. Despite decent playing time (when healthy) over the tight end’s first two years, he had zer receptions and zero carries. His role had been reduced to that of a “blocking fullback.” That may have been a bitter pill for a player that was considered to be one of the best coming out of high school.

The school most likely to land Tyler Luatua is BYU. He has some ties to BYU and it’s likely that the first rumors about his transfer were derived from his desire and reaching out towards the private Mormon school in Utah.

With National Signing Day just a little over a week away, this effectively opens another scholarship up for Notre Dame- although the Irish weren’t expected to have to turn any recruits away if they wanted to commit (the numbers were okay). This may keep Chase Hounshell in South Bend for a sixth year. The injury plagued Hounshell was expected to transfer for his final year of eligibility.