Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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for what the next step is, whether it's reinstatement or what the sanctions may be," Kelly said. "Most of my conversa- tions have been in preparation for that." The next step well may be an appeal of sanctions, opening up another win- dow with no set deadline. Depending on the honor code violation, an appeal at Notre Dame can reach all the way up to university president Fr. John Jenkins. Partly due to that and partly due to fed- eral privacy regulations, Notre Dame has said quite clearly it will not and can- not release the results of the "Compre- hensive Honesty Committee" hearings. "As with other student academic records, the results of the review are confidential, and the university will not disclose them, although affected stu- dents may if they so choose," a state- ment from university vice president of public affairs and communications Paul J. Browne read. Kelly echoed those words throughout the week. "I don't know that there's really any- thing I can be given [to share with the media] because it's a student-athlete, right?" Kelly asked rhetorically Oct. 9. "It's awkward. I'm trying to do the best job I can. I respect the fact that questions are asked, and I don't blame you for it. "I just don't believe it's my place to interfere with the individual student. If they have in fact been told what their fate is and haven't told me, then I'm getting involved and kind of surmising what might have happened because they're not at practice. I don't think it's fair to them." Kelly acknowledged the possibility that perhaps some of the five already know their fate, but have turned to their families first. "Let's assume that somebody or one of the five has been dismissed from school," Kelly said, emphasizing the hypothetical nature of his statement. "They may want to talk to their fami- lies and figure out what their game plan is. "I really think it's in the hands of the student-athlete now to really reach any further comment on what their status is." That silence — both from the uni- versity and from the five in question — leaves Kelly wondering what is im- portant, what is imminent and what is expected. Asked if he expects any of the five to rejoin the team on the field this season, Kelly replied with perhaps the most hazy answer possible, though also perhaps the most revealing. "I'm not certain on all of them right now," Kelly said. "I couldn't comment on all five. I don't have anything spe- cific to tell you one way or another. Some of the things I'm getting are not first-hand information. It's hard for me to really answer the question with 100 percent certainty." ✦ "THE BEST WAY FOR ME TO SAY IT TO YOU TO BE CLEAR — I DON'T HAVE ANY CONCRETE FINALITY ON ANY OF THE FIVE [SUSPENDED PLAYERS]. AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW, I DO NOT HAVE ANY OF THOSE PLAYERS BACK AT PRACTICE." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON OCT. 9