Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Numerous phone calls to Kiel���s family by Blue & Gold Illustrated went unanswered. As BGI went to press March 12, there was no word on where he would seek to transfer. According to CBS Sports college football writer Bruce Feldman, the wheels had been in motion earlier this winter about Kiel seeking greener pastures for playing time. ���One coach at a powerhouse program told me that Kiel���s representatives contacted him about the possibility of transferring [in February], but the coach told them he wasn���t interested,��� Feldman wrote March 7. ���There have never been doubts about Kiel���s physical tools, but his intangibles have left some college coaches skeptical about the 6-4, 210-pounder. ��� [The news] reminded many of [LSU head coach] Les Miles��� infamous comments that Kiel didn���t have ���the chest and the ability to lead a program.������ The choice to leave Notre Dame was not a surprise by the peripatetic Kiel. A Columbus, Ind., native and nephew of former Notre Dame quarterback Blair Kiel (1980-83), he originally gave a verbal commitment to Indiana University in the summer of 2011. That fall, he re-opened his recruitment and made a visit to Notre Dame, before settling on then-No.�� 1 LSU in December. However, in January 2012 when he was supposed to enroll early at LSU, Kiel did an 11thhour about-face and decided to enroll at Notre Notre Dame Football Tickets 25 years in business buy ��� sell ���Trade Flexible PaymenT Plans available Call 1-800-925-2500 www.noTredameTiCkeTs.Com Dame instead. Kiel participated in Notre Dame���s 2012 spring drills, but was No. 4 on the depth chart behind Golson, Rees and current junior Andrew Hendrix. Like Golson in 2011 and Hendrix in 2010, Kiel was withheld from action as a freshman to preserve a fifth season of eligibility. Although it appeared Kiel would play behind Golson three more seasons from 2013���15, he made the politically correct statements when he met with the media the week of Notre Dame���s BCS National Championship Game with Alabama in January. ���Even if I don���t [beat out Golson], there���s always room for improvement, and I can look up to Everett and try to reach his goals and try to learn from Coach Kelly and do my best to learn more each day,��� Kiel said. Minus Kiel, Notre Dame will have four quarterbacks on scholarship this spring, the aforementioned three plus early enrollee Malik Zaire.