Two months after Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd‘s indefinite suspension following a March DUI arrest (his third alcohol-related run-in with the law), coach Brian Kelly has now come on the record to clarify if/how Floyd will participate with the team this fall.
Kelly told South Bend Tribune today that Floyd will be either “all in or not” for the Irish by the time they open up the season against South Florida and added that he would not be suspending Floyd on a game-by-game basis.
“We’re looking at Mike as an ‘all in or not’ situation,” Kelly said. “ In other words, he’s changing his life or he’s not. If he changes the way he’s lived his life, he’ll play every game for us. If he doesn’t, he won’t play one down here at Notre Dame.
“He is at that level. This is not, ‘I’m going to slap you on the hand and sit you for two games’ — because I don’t want to read about him in a year, where it says, ‘Ex-Notre Dame player arrested for X-Y-Z.’ That will be a failing on my part if that happens.”
Kelly mentioned that Floyd is currently going through a “check list” of items to get himself back on the team that includes, but is not limited to, maintaining his grades and participating in community service for the campus’ Res Life. In April, Notre Dame’s Office of Residence Life chose not to suspend Floyd following his arrest.
So far, Kelly seems to have been pretty diligent about making sure Floyd gets himself back on track; the soon-to-be senior has not been allowed to participate in any spring drills with the team.
“It’s like anything else,” Kelly said. “If you pull yourself out of your social environment and it isolates you, you have a better chance of not being able to stick to that change. He’ll be living on campus, though, in the fall, in a dorm.
“I’m not trying to be an AA counselor here, but he has got to be around the right people too if he’s going to change his life for good.”
You can also check out what our good friend Keith Arnold over at Inside the Irish has to say about Kelly’s comments as well.