On New Year’s Eve, a fledgling hope fluttered through the air with the snowflakes. Michael Floyd stood on a dais and accepted the Sun Bowl MVP trophy and the remaining fans serenaded him with the obligatory one-more-year chant.
After a couple of beats, his Notre Dame teammates joined in. But there was a sly comedy to the moment, like the Irish knew that this was all a light-hearted charade. Floyd, for sure, had played his final game for Notre Dame.
It took until Wednesday to confirm that he hadn’t. The star receiver announced he will be back for his senior season in a decision reflective of Notre Dame and coach Brian Kelly creating circumstances under which Floyd could even consider the possibility.
“This was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make,” Floyd said in comments the school released. “My dream has always been to play in the NFL but I didn’t think that this was the best time to make that jump.”
Michael Floyd wanted to go. As he woke up Wednesday with his gut telling him to stay, surely a substantial part of him still believed he belonged in the pros. To think otherwise is more than a bit naive.
And it’s generous to think Kelly’s pitch in a Tuesday meeting totally flipped Floyd. If Floyd heard he would be highlighted even more in the offense, it couldn’t have been news to him, not after 2,539 yards and a school-record 28 touchdown catches.
No, this was a last-minute choice five months in the making.
Since last summer, the Kelly-Floyd dynamic has advanced from frosty to lukewarm-and-climbing. Kelly recognizes the diligent talent he has in Floyd. Floyd didn’t let eyeballing the NFL distract him from producing for Notre Dame.
Their relationship, if not cuddly, is viable. If it wasn’t, Floyd’s affection for college life and his desire for a degree wouldn’t have sufficed. He would be gone, no matter where he was projected to fall in the upcoming NFL draft.
So this was Floyd considering the startling third-round grade he got from the NFL Advisory Committee, thinking twice, and then feeling comfortable enough to spend another year with Kelly while striving to become a first-round pick. That’s Kelly’s biggest victory thus far.
“I think I showed coach Kelly I’m a playmaker and he likes to feed the ball to the playmakers,” Floyd said. “Coach and I are definitely on the same page.”
Said Kelly: “As I have said many times, I have never had a player work as hard as Michael. That work ethic and passion proved to be contagious in our locker room.”
Significant voices highlighted for Floyd the benefits of leaving – including, somewhat peculiarly, Notre Dame alum and former head coach Charlie Weis. But he was convinced he should stay to avoid a cluttered draft class of wideouts, even if stars like Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon and South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery also are returning.
“This can vault him up as one of the truly elite receivers,” said Rob Rang, a draft analyst for CBSSports.com. “Whereas now he would be fighting for a spot in the first round, next season he probably will be among the top two or three receivers.”
In his Wednesday comments, Floyd said the four-game winning streak to end 2010 “showed to others and me that we’re moving in the right direction.” He said he wants “to show everyone in the country that I’m the best wide receiver in college football.”
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Then Floyd posted this to his Twitter account: “Notre dame where it’s at for 1 more year.”
Not long ago, one more year was an inside joke. It became a galvanizing reality overnight.