Five Notre Dame football players who have served suspensions for their ties to an ongoing investigation into academic conduct will soon have their hearings. Head coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday the hearings for wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, defensive backs KeiVarae Russell and Eilar Hardy, defensive end Ishaq Williams and linebacker Kendall Moore will be held by the end of next week.
Daniels, Moore, Russell and Williams were initially suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation by the university on August 15. Hardy was added to the suspension list for the season opener later in the month. A committee will now be formed by Notre Dame to determine if any of the players in question were guilty of violating the school’s academic misconduct policy. Because the hearings will not be held until next week, all players will be expected to miss this week’s game against Syracuse in MetLife Stadium, their fourth of the season.
“It’s a very complicated situation, obviously,” Kelly said, according to a report from ESPN.com. “There are a lot of pieces here. There are NCAA implications, certainly. We’re probably going down a path that [we’ve] never gone before, so there are things there.”
Kelly has suggested he is in touch with Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick to make sure everyone is on the same page with regards to the situation, and the process is moving as swiftly and thoroughly as possible. It may hurt Notre Dame’s depth in the short run, but getting to the bottom of the situation is more important.