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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Former Arizona State and Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne is transferring to Missouri, he told ESPN in a phone interview on Sunday.
Pyne told ESPN he committed on a trip to Columbia this weekend, the only place he’s visited. He will enroll after the spring semester and expects to have three years of eligibility remaining.
Pyne began his career at Notre Dame, where he went 8-2 as a starter and arrived there as an ESPN 300 recruit. He returned to Notre Dame this semester in order to graduate with a Notre Dame degree. He is spending the semester as a regular student wand is working out five days a week with a trainer.
Pyne said the time away from a program gave him the opportunity to look for the “right situation,” which he said he found at Missouri.
“From the beginning, Missouri stood out,” he told ESPN. “The program has great momentum as one of the best in the SEC and to be one of the best in the country. Being on campus and talking to the coaches, I understand why they had such a great season last year.
“I believe strongly that they are going to be a big-time player in college football. I’m hoping to contribute to that however I can.”
The likely scenario for Pyne will be to back up multiyear Missouri starter Brady Cook in 2024, and he called Cook a “good buddy” who he’d met at the Manning Passing Academy. From there, he expects to have two years of eligibility remaining and will contend for the starting quarterback job.
Pyne will enter the 2024 season as one of the SEC’s most productive backup quarterbacks. He’s thrown for 2,530 career yards, including 11 career starts. While at Notre Dame, he went 4-1 against Top 25 teams and in 2022 he threw for 22 touchdowns, six interceptions and completed 64.6-percent of his passes.
Injuries derailed his lone season at Arizona State in 2023, as he played in just two games, including a lone start against USC, and completed just 49 passes. He emerged in camp as the favorite to start, but his season quickly got derailed by injuries and didn’t play against after throwing for two touchdowns against USC on Sept. 23.
After the 2023 season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal and made the unusual academic-forward decision to return back to Notre Dame for a semester as a student to finish his degree in American Studies, with a minor in business economics.
He called the semester back at Notre Dame “a good little re-charge.”
“I’ve been able to find my real motivation, I have a real itch to play again,” Pyne said. “After going and seeing Missouri, I can’t wait to play again and throw on a helmet.”
Missouri went 11-2 last season, including a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State. Along with Cook, one of the SEC’s most established quarterbacks, they have the country’s top wide receiver in Luther Burden III.
Missouri should start the 2024 season ranked in the top 20. But one of the missing pieces was an experienced backup behind Cook, as sophomore quarterback Sam Horn is expected to miss the 2024 football season after Tommy John surgery.
Pyne said he clicked instantly with Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, as he said after meeting them for dinner at Shiloh Bar and Grill on the night of his first visit, he was ready to commit. And that was before even seeing the football facility or getting a full look at campus.
“Being in a room with Coach Moore is going to be incredible,” Pyne said. “His offense all makes sense. I think it’s very similar to the offense that I played in at Notre Dame. I thought it was a perfect fit.
“I’m really excited because the plays are somewhat similar to Notre Dame, and the way Coach Moore teaches it is simple for the quarterback to know what the reads are on every play.”
Pyne said he plans to graduate from Notre Dame this spring and enroll at Missouri in late May.