Notre Dame looking for a way to avoid academic shortcuts

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Notre Dame has had six football players suspended over the last two years after allegedly seeking out academic shortcuts.

Quarterback Everett Golson admitted poor academic judgment led to his suspension for the 2013 season, while DaVaris Daniels, Eilar Hardy, Kendall Moore, KeiVarae Russell and Ishaq Williams were suspended last August as part of the university's investigation into academic dishonesty. Hardy returned to the team in November, while Russell and Williams are back on campus (though Williams doesn't appear to be guaranteed to return to the football program).

In light of those academic suspensions, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly offered up some strong comments on the matter to ND Insider earlier this week.

“I think we recognized that all of my football players are at-risk — all of them — really," Kelly said. "Honestly, I don’t know that any of our players would get into the school by themselves right now with the academic standards the way they are. Maybe one or two of our players that are on scholarship."

[MORE: Everett Golson: Notre Dame's collapse became a 'burden']

This isn't a problem exclusive to Notre Dame in the college football landscape, though the high-profile suspensions of Golson, Daniels and Russell certainly have put the spotlight on South Bend recently. According to Sports Illustrated, Kelly, athletic director Jack Swarbrick and president John Jenkins met — as planned — to discuss how the university can better serve its athletes academically given the strenuous demands of the school and football program. 

"So making sure that with the rigors that we put them in — playing on the road, playing night games, getting home at 4 o’clock in the morning, all of the demands that we place on them relative to the academics and going into an incredibly competitive academic classroom every day — we recognize this is a different group," Kelly said. "And we have to provide all the resources necessary for them to succeed and don’t force them into finding shortcuts.

“I think we’ve clearly identified that we need to do better, and we’re not afraid to look at any shortcomings that we do have and fix them, and provide the resources necessary for our guys. Our university has looked at that, and we’re prepared to make sure that happens for our guys.”

This will be a central issue going forward for Notre Dame, which already has changed plenty since Kelly took over in 2010. There's a training table now, more night games, an ACC agreement, music in the stadium and artificial turf (with ND logos on it), which all have been implemented with the goal of growing Notre Dame's brand and allowing the football team to stay competitive in the college football landscape.

The next challenge will be finding a way to provide athletes with the kind of support necessary to keep them from being lured into taking those costly academic shortcuts.

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