Roughly a nanosecond after the stunning news dropped Saturday night that Everett Golson was no longer enrolled at Notre Dame, speculation commenced that former Irish quarterback Gunner Kiel could be on his way back to South Bend.
In fact, the esteemed John Infante went so far as to pen a post on how Kiel could, with little problem or effort, transfer back to Notre Dame from Cincinnati and play for the Irish this season. Infante later backed off that stance a bit when reports surfaced that an academic issue led to Golson being out. “[H]e can’t get a scholarship anywhere next year,” Infante wrote on Twitter.
That, though, didn’t stop some in the media from running with the possibility Kiel would head back from whence he came, which prompted the player himself as well as his new head coach to at least attempt to throw water on whatever speculative embers remained.
In a text message to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Kiel stated flatly and succinctly, “I’m a Bearcat.”
First-year head coach Tommy Tuberville was also contacted by the paper, saying that the speculation is unfounded and he doesn’t see his new quarterback attempting to double back to South Bend.
“He’s really enjoying it here,” Tuberville told the Enquirer. “Gunner is enrolled with us, and we’re excited about having him. ... I don’t know what’s happening at Notre Dame, but I know Gunner is happy with us.”
Kiel officially transferred to the Bearcats April 19, exactly one month after it was confirmed he was no longer a member of the Irish football program. The former five-star recruit will be forced to sit out the 2013 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, and will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2014.