Pitt football star Tyler Boyd faced DUI charges back in June after being arrested. A little over a month later, he is back with the team:
Pitt All-ACC wide receiver Tyler Boyd was suspended from all team activities for a month after his DUI arrest in June, but he rejoined his teammates last week, coach Pat Narduzzi said.
But as Jerry DiPaola says in that Trib article, it doesn't mean he won't face further disciplinary issues. Narduzzi was vague but sounded like he wasn't quite sure what he would be doing just yet.
"I told him there are still choices I have to make as far as what we'll do," Narduzzi said. "It will be a family issue. We will deal with it internally.
"There is no sense making a quick decision. We will just evaluate the situation day by day, and we will go from there."
We'll see how things shape up. But with Boyd reportedly going through the ARD program, it could make for a lighter punishment. It's going to be interesting to see if Boyd misses any game time at all. Narduzzi went on to say that he felt it wouldn't hurt his status as a team leader and his language of dealing with it internally almost gives you the idea that any discipline could be limited to off the field and during practice, etc.
One would think it also will depend somewhat on how Boyd has responded thus far and will respond moving forward. If he is genuinely remorseful for the distraction, that could lead to lesser punishment as well.
I hate to make snap judgments here and that's particularly true since we're not privy to all of the specifics. But I don't think missing game time should be ruled out here. While it's true that Boyd could have committed a worse crime, the fact remains that he used poor judgment and coaches' only real recourse to keeping players out of trouble is with the discipline they give. And as a new head coach, Narduzzi has to make sure players know he means business.
It's his move.
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