SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly wasn’t mad that cornerback KeiVarae Russell took to Instagram to vent his feelings about the state of the academic fraud investigation involving five members of the football team.
Instead, Kelly professed he empathized with Russell and his four teammates as they navigate the prolonged process, which includes honor code hearings for the five. Kelly was hopeful Notre Dame would get Russell back on the field soon.
“I feel for (Russell),” Kelly said. “Again I think that my role in this whole thing is to try and keep our guys together, the guys that are on the field. I can certainly understand how he could be frustrated but hopefully we’re nearing an end here. We’re hoping that we get him back soon. Again, I think for all those guys, I’m sure it’s pretty close for them to be able to say hey, this is going to be behind us here real soon.”
In a series of posts on Instagram, Russell said: “This school is becoming ridiculous,” one post said. “I killed my meeting; I was so prepared and ready and was able to refute damn near every suspicious they had. Described details of assignments thoroughly so they couldn’t say I didn’t do it, AND THEY STILL SAID MY DECISION WONT COME UNTIL ALL 5 OF US (and some other minor hearings) ARE DONE. Decision MIGHT come next week, not even 100% it’s tough to understand these people.” (sic)
The hearings are slated to complete Friday for the five but there is no timetable for the honesty committees, which heard the players cases, to issue their rulings. Kelly said there could be a resolution next week.
“For me, I feel for my players. I feel bad for them,” Kelly said. “I guess that’s the feeling I have. They’re missing a significant amount of playing time. It’s hard to give up playing time. I know when I was in college, you miss a game when you’re 18-, 19-, 20-year olds, that’s catastrophic. I understand what they’re going through. I know it must be difficult. I feel for them. I wouldn’t characterize my feelings as frustration.”
