Report: Tyler Luatua Transferring
Notre Dame sophomore tight end Tyler Luatua is transferring to the Brigham Young University Cougars, as reported by the Cougar Access’ Terrell Williams.
Last week, Williams had tweeted that Luatua had sought a transfer to BYU. No comment has come yet from Notre Dame’s end or from the Luatua camp, but Williams today noted in his Twitter account that, “One of the main reasons for Tyler Luatua’s transfer is to be closer to friends, family, and home. He has both friends, family in Provo.”
Signed in February 2014, Luatua earned monograms each of his first two seasons with the Fighting Irish but did not catch a pass after snaring 76 his last two seasons at La Mirada (Calif.) High School, where he was a four-star prospect.
As a freshman in 2014, Luauta alternated with then-sophomore Durham Smythe behind senior starter Ben Koyack. He played in 10 of the 13 contests, but was sidelined in midseason against North Carolina, Florida State and Navy because of a concussion. He started with Koyack in a double-tight-end formation in the Music City Bowl win versus LSU and had a strong game while helping the Irish amass 263 rushing yards in the 31-28 victory.
Despite an injury to Smythe in game two this past season, Luatua’s snap count (196) fell behind both sophomore Nic Weishar (286) and freshman Alizé Jones (203) at the end of the regular season. Both Jones and Weishar have three years of eligibility remaining, while Smythe has two.
According to Blue & Gold Illustrated associate editor Andrew Owens’ count, Luatua totaled only 18 snaps over the final three games, eight versus Boston College, six at Stanford and four versus Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Luatua had a strong blocking game against Georgia Tech in week three (36 snaps) — when he replaced the injured Smythe — but a concussion, which has been a recurring problem in his career, sidelined him the next two games versus UMass and Clemson. He never was quite the same thereafter.
Jones finished the year with 13 catches for 190 yards, while Weishar had three grabs for 19 yards. Smythe, who caught a touchdown off a fake field goal at Virginia, returned for the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State and finished the year with three catches for 18 yards and the score. If needed, Chase Hounshell is eligible for a sixth season. Hounshell had 167 snaps during the regular season while also serving mainly in a blocking capacity.
Luatua is the fourth Irish tight end out of the last five from California to transfer. The others were Konrad Reuland (Stanford), Will Yeatman (Maryland) and Joseph Fauria (UCLA), all of who are or have been in the NFL. The fifth, Troy Niklas, turned pro after his junior year.