Myrtle Beach’s Everett Golson leaving Notre Dame

Everett Golson’s future is wide open once again.

The former Myrtle Beach star quarterback announced Thursday he was transferring from Notre Dame and pursuing opportunities to finish out his college playing career at another school. The news, first reported by ESPN, has since by confirmed by Notre Dame, Golson (via the network) and Myrtle Beach High School coach Mickey Wilson, who is still close with his former quarterback.

For Golson, its ends an up-and-down four years in South Bend, Ind., in which he led the program to a national title game as a redshirt freshman, was dismissed for academic impropriety months later, returned to the team as a starter and then lost playing time to a freshman.

Attempts to reach Golson were not immediately successful. However, Wilson said the latest news for his best-known former player will lead to better things.

“I have had the opportunity to speak with Everett Golson about his recent decision to transfer from Notre Dame and his future plans,” Wilson said in a statement. “I and the Myrtle Beach Seahawk football family believe in and support Everett 100 [percent]. Our goal is to help him find a positive learning environment so he can have the possibility to reach his dreams of being an NFL player. I believe Everett is one of the best [quarterbacks] in college football and he will have the opportunity to show that next season. We are also proud of him for recently graduating from the University of Notre Dame.”

Wilson said he would have no further comment at this time.

Following a nationally recognized prep career at Myrtle Beach, Golson enrolled at Notre Dame in January 2011. After redshirting his first season there, he forced his way into the starting lineup and proved it a wise decision for Irish coach Brian Kelly.

Notre Dame went 12-0 during the regular season and landed in the national championship. The Irish lost to Alabama, but Golson was immediately a player to watch for Heisman consideration down the line.

Just months later, though, Golson was dismissed from the school for an academic misstep. He was not enrolled, although he re-applied and was allowed back less than a year later.

He resumed his spot as the team’s starting quarterback for 2014, when he threw for more than 3,400 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Toward the end of the season, with turnovers mounting and the school looking for options, Kelly turned to freshman Malik Zaire. That player started the Music City Bowl, although Golson saw playing time.

Those moves prompted speculation that Golson would transfer, something he made official Thursday.

“I’d like to thank Everett Golson for all he did as a member of our football team,” read a statement from Kelly via Director of Football Media Relations Michael Bertsch. “He had many significant achievements, including helping us to an undefeated regular season and berth into the national title game. But his most important accomplishment is completing his course work toward a degree from the University of Notre Dame. I wish him all the best moving forward.”

The statement went on to say that Notre Dame had been preparing for next “season with this possibility in mind.”

Kelly’s statement mentioned Zaire by name.

Since Golson will be completing his degree in the coming 10 days, he’ll be immediately eligible to play this fall for the team of his choosing. There is plenty of speculation that could be at a school much closer to home.

The one hang-up to that could be the Southeastern Conference.

The nation’s top football conference allows for graduate transfers, but only student-athletes who have not been “subject to official university or athletics department disciplinary action” at their previous school.

An appeals process is available, but exactly how willing a school would be to take those steps prior to August is unclear.

Still, there are past success stories from players leaving one school for another after graduation – one of the most noteworthy one is Russell Wilson. The now Seattle quarterback left North Carolina State for Wisconsin and helped the Badgers to a Rose Bowl championship.

He was later drafted into the NFL, and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl two years ago and made a second one this past season.

As for Golson, there will be significant chatter until his next decision is announced. In addition to his success at Notre Dame, he had plenty at Myrtle Beach.

During his time there, he was 45-5 as a starter and led the Seahawks to the 2008 and 2010 Class AAA state titles and a 2009 state runner-up finish. He threw for 11,717 yards and 151 touchdowns. Had he not missed eight full games as a senior with hand and foot injuries, he would have likely challenged for top-five spots in multiple categories in the national record books.

Golson initially verbally committed to North Carolina before backing off that and ultimately enrolling a semester early at Notre Dame.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach’s Everett Golson leaving Notre Dame."