Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, participating Monday in a series on interviews at ESPN, told reporter Joe Schad that Cardinals players are open to Michael Dyer joining their team.
The former Auburn running back visited campus last week after checking out South Florida.
An official with Louisville's registrar office confirmed that the university added Dyer to its system on Thursday, which is often an indication a prospective student plans to apply for enrollment. Dyer has until Aug. 26 to register for the fall semester if he intends to enroll at Louisville, the official said.
A Louisville athletics spokesperson said the football program can't comment on the situation. Due to NCAA rules, coaches typically don't talk about prospective students until a player is officially enrolled.
Bridgewater told Schad he met Dyer on the visit and added that Louisville players would "take him in and welcome him."
Dyer, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher at Auburn, was dismissed from that team and then later Arkansas State because of off-the-field issues. He is eligible to play this fall after sitting out a year.
The 2011 national championship game's MVP hasn't played football in more than a year, having left Auburn after his sophomore season. He went with his former offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, to Arkansas State and planned to continue his career there until an officer pulled him over for speeding in March 2012 and found a gun in his car. After police released video of that stop to the media in July 2012, Arkansas State dismissed Dyer.
Dyer wasn't actually charged with a crime at either Auburn or Arkansas State, something his mentor, Arkansas Baptist College President Fitz Hill, pointed out in a recent interview with The Courier-Journal.
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Hill said he expects Dyer to choose a school this week but added that decision hasn't yet been made.
Louisville coach Charlie Strong was asked at last week's Governor's Cup luncheon his policy for accepting players with checkered pasts, although he didn't speak specifically about Dyer.
"A lot of times you say to people you're giving a second chance," Strong said. "As a coach, the only thing you want to do is just make sure you have an impact on a young person's life. You want to make sure that if you bring anyone into your program, he's going to become part of your program and you're not going to become him. That's what I always say.
"Any time we're looking to bring anyone into this program, it's all about us wanting to change that young man's future and give him a future where he has a chance to go be a productive citizen of society."
Louisville returns junior Dominique Brown and senior Senorise Perry at the running back spot this season. Both are coming off knee injuries
Jonathan Lintner also writes for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, a Gannett property.
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