SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Everett Golson, once on track to be the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history, is instead joining the long list of Fighting Irish quarterbacks who sought success elsewhere.
Golson announced Thursday he will use his final season of eligibility at another school, ending an up-and-down career for the Irish that included a trip to the national championship game, a season lost to a suspension due to academics and a competition this spring with Malik Zaire for the starter's job.
"After much thought, prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided that it is in my best interest to graduate from Notre Dame and transfer to another school effectively immediately," Golson said in a statement released to Fox Sports.
The 6-foot, 200-pound senior from Myrtle Beach, S.C., thanked Notre Dame fans for their support and asked for privacy during what he called a life-changing moment.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly issued a statement thanking Golson and wishing him well.
"He had many significant achievements, including helping us to an undefeated regular season and berth into the national title game," Kelly said.
There has been speculation about Golson possibly leaving Notre Dame since December, along with rumors about where he could transfer.
There are plenty of teams, especially in the Southeastern Conference, that will head into preseason practice with no clear starter. Among them are LSU, Alabama, Georgia and Golson's home state school of South Carolina. The SEC is no lock to accommodate Golson because of his suspension at Notre Dame: A school would have to apply for a waiver with the conference for Golson to be allowed to play because league rules prohibit accepting graduate transfers who have been disciplined by their previous schools.
The list of other Irish quarterbacks to leave early since 2000 include Gunner Kiel (Cincinnati), Andrew Hendrix (Miami, Ohio), Dayne Crist (Kansas), Demetrius Jones (Cincinnati), Zach Frazer (Connecticut), David Wolke (Western Kentucky), Chris Olsen (Virginia) and Matt LoVecchio (Indiana).
Golson, though, was the most successful of the group.
He led the Irish to a 12-0 regular season in 2012 and a berth in the title game, where Notre Dame lost 42-14 to Alabama. He was then suspended from school in the fall of 2013 for academic impropriety.
The Irish started last season 6-0 and were ranked No. 5 as Golson's record as a starter improved to 16-1, the best winning percentage in school history. But Golson committed 22 turnovers during the season and the Irish lost five of their final six regular-season games. He was benched during the regular-season finale blowout loss to USC and Zaire started for the Irish against LSU in the Music City Bowl.
Golson refused to talk to the media all spring after the Times-Picayune in January quoted a source as saying he had reached out to LSU about transferring there less than a week after the Irish beat the Tigers in the Music Bowl. Golson responded at the time with a tweet: "Don't believe everything you hear."
Kelly had said last month the competition between Golson and Zaire was close and would continue into August. At recently as last month, the coach said he expected Golson to return.
"If I sensed it at all, I'd have pulled the plug on it myself, because we're wasting our time. And I think I got a pretty good sense of people and situations," Kelly said then. "I'm not going to jeopardize our program, our staff, our livelihood, what we do if somebody's not bought in and 100 percent committed."
Kelly said Thursday the Irish had approached preparations for the season with the possibility of Golson leaving in mind.
"The emergence of Malik Zaire, based on his performance in the Music City Bowl win over LSU, and throughout spring practice, has given our staff supreme confidence that he can lead our team to great success in 2015," he said.
Golson was 17-6 as a starter for the Irish, completing 443-of -745 passes for 5,850 yards with 41 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He also ran for 581 yards on 208 carries with 14 TDs.
Zaire, a junior next season with three years of eligibility left, has played in seven games, starting one. He has completed 21-of-35 passes for 266 yards with one touchdown. The 6-foot, 222-pound Zaire, who is better at the read-option than Golson but isn't as good a passer, also has run the ball 33 times for 187 yards with two touchdowns.
III
For all of Everett Golson's maddening turnovers and befuddling inconsistency, he would be an upgrade at quarterback for dozens of FBS teams.
There are plenty of prominent teams, especially in the Southeastern Conference, that are heading toward preseason practice with no clear starter, though the SEC is no lock to accommodate Golson. The league has a rule prohibiting schools from accepting graduate transfers who have been disciplined by their previous schools. Golson was suspended for academics by Notre Dame in 2013. An SEC school could apply for a waiver to have Golson's transfer accepted.
Probably smart to eliminate any team that plays Notre Dame - Texas comes to mind - because Notre Dame would likely block a move like that. And would Golson really want to deal with playing the Fighting Irish?
Another thing to consider when looking at possible destinations is whether a team's quarterback competition was seemingly settled in the spring. A coach might be leery to pull the job from a player to whom he has already made a commitment.
All that said, here are some possible destinations for Golson.
LSU
The rumors about Golson transferring to Baton Rouge, La., started months ago.
The Tigers are facing another season of two quarterbacks, but no good solutions. Neither Anthony Jennings nor Brandon Harris seized the job in spring. Improved quarterback play could be the difference between playoff contention and second-tier of the SEC West for a Tigers' team with plenty of talent elsewhere.
South Carolina
Maybe the most obvious spot for Golson, who went high school in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Coach Steve Spurrier has no answers right now at quarterback after a three-man competition in the spring produced this reaction from the Ball Coach: "We're still trying to see if one guy is better than the rest." The downside for Golson: the Gamecocks are probably not a good quarterback away from competing for an SEC title.
Feel free to throw Florida, Georgia and Mississippi on this list, too. Heck, maybe even Alabama, which is still waiting for Florida State transfer Jake Coker to blossom.
Speaking of Florida State, coach Jimbo Fisher seems to be comfortable with Sean Maguire as his guy going into next season.
Duke
Pro: Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe knows how to develop quarterbacks.
Con: Duke lost some significant contributors on offense, which doesn't necessarily make it the ideal spot for a quarterback looking for one last big season to beef up his NFL resume.
Oregon State
Corvallis is a long way from home, but new coach Gary Andersen could use an experienced quarterback to run his spread-based system.
Washington
No connection here, either, but Chris Petersen has a gaping hole at quarterback after Cyler Miles, last year's starter, took what the school called a voluntary leave of absence and is not expected to play this season.