Notre Dame dismisses Max Redfield, suspends Devin Butler

ByMATT FORTUNA
August 21, 2016, 4:10 PM

— -- Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly dismissed senior safety Max Redfield from the football team and suspended senior cornerback Devin Butler indefinitely Sunday following a weekend that saw six Fighting Irish players arrested over two separate incidents.

Kelly also said that sophomore linebacker Te'Von Coney, freshman receiver Kevin Stepherson, sophomore cornerback Ashton White and sophomore running back Dexter Williams -- the other four players arrested Friday night -- will be subject to internal disciplinary measures within the team, which they will not be separated from.

Kelly added that the status of the players with the university and the football team can be impacted by the justice system and the university's discipline.

Redfield, Coney, Stepherson, White and Williams were arrested Friday night in Fulton County (Indiana) after police stopped them for speeding. They each were charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Redfield, Stepherson and Williams were also charged with possession of a handgun without a license, also a misdemeanor.

Butler was arrested early Saturday morning in a separate incident at an off-campus bar on preliminary charges of battery to law enforcement and resisting law enforcement.

Kelly did not mince words in a lengthy statement released Sunday afternoon, saying, in part: "At Notre Dame, where we place so much importance on the integration of students who are athletes into the broader university, the primary responsibility for discipline lies, as it should, with the University's Office of Community Standards. But even within that system, there are times when a player's conduct so clearly fails to meet the standards I have set for our football team that it is appropriate to take action independent of any decision that might be made by the Office of Community Standards. This is such an instance.

"The expectations we set for the members of our team are high, but they are especially so for the upperclassmen who are expected to provide leadership and a positive example to the other members of the team. Max and, at least at this stage in the review of his case, Devin, have failed in that regard and so have lost the privilege of continuing to be part of our team."

Redfield had been a highly coveted recruit out of Mission Viejo, California, in 2013, but he never lived up to the high school hype. Though a returning starter at free safety, Redfield was coming off a sour end to the 2015 campaign when he was sent home from the Fiesta Bowl for what he had said was a failure to be punctual. He was the Irish's fourth-leading tackler last season.

Butler was expected to miss at least the first month of the season after suffering a broken left foot in the summer -- the same foot he broke prior to last year's Fiesta Bowl. He appeared in 37 games over his first three college seasons, starting three.

Notre Dame, ranked No. 10 in the preseason Associated Press poll released Sunday, opens its season Sept. 4 at Texas.