Tyrann Mathieu could make LSU football return in 2013

Potential 2013 LSU returnee Tyrann Mathieu’s association with a homegrown entertainment association called Era Nation could get him in trouble with the NCAA, Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans and Pete Thamel report. Mathieu has appeared on fliers used to promote parties and allegedly been given access to the VIP area of a Baton Rouge club, which could violate the NCAA’s rule against impermissible benefits.

These aren’t entirely uncommon things for college football players to be associated with -- last December, Clemson’s Sammy Watkins and South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney appeared on party fliers, for example. No major consequences followed for the star players. But the NCAA’s behavior cannot easily be predicted, so we’ll see.

Rosetta went on to tweet his interpretation of what Miles had to say about Mathieu’s possible return.

Mathieu has been enrolled at LSU and seeking drug treatment after being dismissed from the football team back in August after failing a drug test. Mathieu did have the option to transfer and play immediately at an FCS school to prepare for the 2013 NFL Draft, but he opted to stay at LSU.

He spoke with The Daily Reveille, the LSU student newspaper, and said he was just focused on academics and graduating. “I’m just focusing on academics right now and really myself,” Mathieu said. “I’m not worried too much about football.”

This is consistent with reports of him seeking treatment and wanting to remain at LSU, even if he isn’t playing football. More from the Daily Reveille report:

Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu will enroll at LSU on Tuesday, according to his father. Mathieu was dismissed from the Tigers football program on Aug. 10 for failing a drug test. Rather than opting to transfer to a Football Championship Subdivision school where he could play football in 2012, Mathieu has instead opted to focus on getting his life in order. That involves entering drug rehab, according to reports.

Related: LSU 41, North Texas 14: A Viewer’s Guide to the Sunday Replay

Over at our LSU blog And the Valley Shook, it was noted that the LSU administration has been tight lipped about Mathieu possibly rejoining the team next year after sitting the 2012 season out.

And even if Matthieu is unable to rejoin the team, ATVS hopes that he continues to work to get his life back in order.

The reigning Bednarik Award winner, Mathieu was kicked off of the LSU football team last week for violating team policy.

The WVUE report says former NBA star John Lucas is mentoring Mathieu. Lucas, profiled in this 2011 Sports Illustrated piece, struggled with substance abuse during his career.

On Wednesday Miles denied the report, according to LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette.

If Mathieu ends up playing elsewhere, he should be immediately eligible to play for an FCS school. He has already visited McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., and has reportedly expressed interest in Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., Jackson State in Mississippi and Prairie View A&M in Texas.

Mathieu has been attempting to find another school where he can play this season at since he was dismissed from the LSU team because of multiple failed drug tests. LSU, however, has not given other schools such as Jackson State and Southern permission to talk to Mathieu. As of now, Mathieu may not play football at all this season.

According to Travis Downey, Jackson State was denied permission to speak with Mathieu by LSU. In the same vein, the school has also not granted Southern access to Mathieu, per Mike McCall.

The Heisman Trophy finalist reportedly was looking for another opportunity at playing football next year with LSU, but that has been denied, reports ClarionLedger.com.

Per the Shreveport Times, Bo Bahnsen, LSU’s senior associate director for NCAA compliance, declared Mathieu “permanently ineligible” at LSU.

Mathieu was dismissed from LSU’s team on Friday by Les Miles. Though neither Miles nor school officials can reveal the precise reason for Mathieu’s dismissal because of privacy laws, reports have surfaced throughout the last week that Mathieu failed a drug test -- again.

That’s ESPN’s Joe Schad, who seemingly took the fact that head coach Les Miles didn’t specifically say “never-ever-ever-forever” regarding Mathieu’s dismissal as proof positive that there’s a small chance he’d return to the team. Not so, says the annoyed local media:

Stranger things happen every day in the world of NCAA eligibility, but it’s doubtful that in this phase of the process -- Mathieu landing with a new (likely FCS-level) opponent -- that LSU would acknowledge or even leak the possibility of his return in one year, which might severely hurt his chances to sign on with a new school.

Turn off the Internet. The greatest sentence ever has been written.

↵Current athletes in any sport continuing to smoke marijuana or synthetic marijuana or partaking in any other drug use, better light up their brains with some smarts.↵Shreveport’s own Glenn Guilbeau wrote that. He won the game of “writing,” so blame him when we all have to communicate with Uno cards and semaphore flags from now on. This is the picture you get when you search for Glenn Guilbeau. In the new world, the person who made this will be imprisoned for life, because Glenn Guilbeau is the greatest writer ever.

According to reports from all over, dismissed LSU star Tyrann Mathieu is looking at transferring to McNeese State. The Cowboys’ own coach confirmed a weekend meeting, even risking a minor NCAA violation to make the news public. But he hasn’t made the move yet, and this could be the reason why:

That might be farfetched (Scott Rabalais reports the “matter is far from settled”), as it appears he was booted after again failing a drug test, which resulted in automatic dismissal. But Schad reports Mathieu is interested in paying his own way through school for a year and then returning to the team in 2013.

Tyrann Mathieu’s dismissal from the LSU football program for a failed drug test was a shock to the college football community. The Tigers had just been given a No.1 ranking in the release of the initial Coaches Poll, and suddenly they were down a Heisman finalist and inarguably their highest-profile player. His former teammates aren’t dwelling on his absence, however. Quarterback Zach Mettenberger told SI.com that the team’s expectations remain exactly the same.

For more on Tigers football, visit LSU blog And The Valley Shook, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills.

Tyrann Mathieu’s alleged visit to McNeese State on Friday, just hours after his dismissal from LSU, now has significant substantiation in the form of McNeese State coach Matt Viator telling the Associated Press as much in a statement.

“I received a call from Tyrann after practice on Friday that he wanted to come and meet with us,” said Viator. “We contacted LSU to get permission to talk to him and he arrived on campus later that night. We visited for an hour-and-a-half and then he went back home to New Orleans.“McNeese State doesn’t exactly have a golden ticket to the NFL in its pocket, but it’s an FCS school where Mathieu would be eligible to play in 2012, and Mathieu is better off playing somewhere than languishing at home for the fall.

Former fellow LSU special teamer Josh Jasper announced later Friday that Mathieu is already gone to McNeese State, with Bruce Feldman reporting the deal could be done soon. Multiple other outlets reported the same thing.

And now, via Reddit, here’s an image allegedly showing Mathieu already at the Cowboys’ fieldhouse:

In a move that would make a whole lot of sense, Tyrann Mathieu is reportedly looking into transferring to McNeese State. Earlier on Friday, Mathieu was dismissed from the LSU football team, reportedly following a failed drug test. It’s widely thought that Mathieu will transfer down a level, which would allow him to play right away.

The report comes from Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports.

Though there have been rumors of a failed drug test -- or multiple failed drug tests -- leading up to Tyrann Mathieu’s dismissal from the LSU football team, we still weren’t exactly sure why Les Miles sent him packing on Friday. Now though, the Times-Picayne is confirming those rumors, reporting that Mathieu was indeed dismissed due to a failed drug test.

The report cites a source close to Mathieu.

I think so, but confidence in LSU’s national title chances has plummeted due to the loss of his experienced ball-hawking and terrifying special teams skills. The Tigers are still stacked, but, as Dan Rubenstein breaks down, the championship picture and LSU’s depth chart both just got a lot more cloudy (cough, cough, cloudy):

This is still a team that’s believed to have improved itself at quarterback, that returns a monstrous defensive line and two very good defensive backs and an excellent kicking game, and that’s recruited at an elite level for most of the past four years. Their coach is also both usually insane in a good way and often very lucky.

The worst loss for Tyrann Mathieu in violating team policy and exhausting his chances with the LSU coaching staff? Losing the year of development and reps he will now have to forfeit on his roundabout way to the NFL or another school. Mathieu remains a collection of walking superlatives in terms of talent, but where he needs improvement is in the technical aspects of his game, particularly in coverage.

A year of additional reps and work with the LSU defensive coaching staff may have added some serious technical polish to his game, and thus given him a nicer signing bonus when/if he eventually makes it to the league. That is a loss, and one he should regret.

Mathieu will have to continue his quest to play in the NFL (he’d already indicated he wanted 2012 to be his last college season) elsewhere, and he won’t get to do it at the FBS level. Unless given special clearance by the NCAA, transferring players have to sit out a year if they’re making a lateral move.

Ordinarily, this would be the signal for a move to Valdosta State, North Alabama, or any of the other Division II programs that have made their names by providing homes for wayward college football players kicked out by top programs. However, that’s assuming a typical case:

LSU is ranked No. 1 in the preseason Coaches Poll and expected to show up in the top three of all other polls as well.

Mathieu’s loss for three games (as had also been rumored) wouldn’t have significantly damaged their national title hopes, as only one of their first three games (against North Texas, Washington, and Idaho, all at home) was at risk anyway. But that doesn’t really matter now.

When LSU coach Les Miles’ regularly scheduled Friday afternoon press conference was moved to noon CT, speculation ran wild as to just what the news could be. Wild was how the speculation ran. Here was much of it:

For more on Tigers football, visit LSU blog And The Valley Shook, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills.