If Greg Bryant is thinking about leaving Notre Dame after a slow start to his freshman season, it’s certainly news to his father. The true freshman running back, one of Notre Dame’s elite five-star signings of last season, hasn’t seen much of the field this season yet.That’s caused an awful lot of speculation along the interwebs about Bryant’s happiness on campus, especially as a five-man depth chart has been awfully hard to sort out.
But today Irish Illustrated’s Pete Sampson cut to the chase and tracked down Bryant’s father, who all but ended any of the rumors that had Bryant packing his bags and leaving town.
Sampson followed up on that quote to confirm with Bryant Sr. that his son wasn’t leaving and the running back’s father responded, “Absolutely.” That should end the weekly message board and Twitter crisis and return everybody’s attention to the season at hand, and allow Bryant to get back to rehabbing a knee that’s slowed him down thus far.
If you’re worried that a Bryant redshirt season could put him behind the backs ahead of him, including classmate Tarean Folston, it doesn’t take too much digging to find guys that have succeeded after a redshirt. DaVaris Daniels sat out his freshman season and immediately moved in front of veterans like John Goodman and Robby Toma. And of course there’s quarterback Everett Golson, who unseated Tommy Rees after a freshman season.
While we may not see Bryant for the rest of the season, it appears there’s still a future for Bryant in South Bend. Thanks to Sampson and the Irish Illustrated crew for putting this (ND) national crisis to rest.