SOUTH BEND — While suspended Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd continues to try to take steps out of limbo, Irish head football coach Brian Kelly spelled out Tuesday just what that journey needs to look like.
“We’re looking at Mike as an ‘all in or not’ situation,” Kelly told the South Bend Tribune. “ 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.”
Floyd, a 21-year-old senior-to-be from St. Paul, Minn., was arrested on the Notre Dame campus on March 20 for drunk driving. Police say he registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.19. Indiana’s legal driving limit is 0.08.
It was the third alcohol-related run-in with the law for ND’s leading receiver in 2010 and team MVP since he arrived on campus in the summer of 2008.
Kelly, shortly after Floyd’s arrest, suspended Floyd indefinitely from all team-related activities. That meant no spring practice with the team, no lifting with the team, no conditioning with the team. All those conditions are still in play.
He is allowed to have contact with coaches and teammates and can attend training table.
On April 9, Notre Dame’s disciplinary arm — the Office of Residence Life — broke precedent and elected not to suspend Floyd for the 2011 season. Similar cases under old Res Life leadership had resulted in a season-long suspension.
In this case, the new regime of Res Life elected to let Kelly largely design the blueprint for Floyd’s possible redemption.
“He had a number of things he had to take care of, and he’s checking off the boxes,” Kelly said. “But he’s got a number that are still out there.
“One that he did get past this spring was his academics. He had to have a specific GPA, and he did. He’s got some community service stuff he’s still got to do for Res Life. He’s got court coming up on June 7, and he’s got to pass that.”
Floyd’s attorney, William Stanley, said Floyd is expected to plead guilty at his next court date. He is facing an A-level misdemeanor charge for the alleged offense, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in the St. Joseph County Jail and a $5,000 fine.
“There’s no gray area anymore,” Kelly said. “There just can’t be. Too many times it’s been, ‘I’ll change.’ Look, you’re parenting a young man whose close to being a teenager. As much as it hurts to say, ‘He’s done at Notre Dame,’ if he doesn’t change his life, he’s done at Notre Dame. he’s not going to play here.
“Having said this, I’m very optimistic. I’m not going to paint a bleak picture. He’s done some things, that I can’t get into relative to changing his life, in which reports back from professionals are really optimistic. But he’s got to handle all these things before we start thinking about playing in the fall.”
If Floyd does return and stays healthy, he’s expected to put up bigger numbers than he did in 2010 (79 receptions, 1,025 yards and 12 TDs) and affix his name to virtually every Irish career receiving record. If Floyd doesn’t meet Kelly’s criteria, ND’s offense will be more tight end-oriented in 2011 with more multiple-tight end sets.
Floyd had been strongly considering jumping into the NFL Draft Pool a year early, after the 2010 season, but he had an 11th-hour change of heart in January and decided to return for his senior season.
Kelly originally named Floyd and safety Harrison Smith captains for 2011, but Floyd was stripped of his title following the arrest.
The coach has emphasized from the start of the suspension that Floyd’s path out of exile had everything to do with making good decisions. That doesn’t mean, for instance, he can’t go to a bar with his friends and order a Pepsi.
“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.”
