University of Miami QB Kevin Olsen expelled after latest arrest

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Olsen is no longer a student at the University of Miami.

A day after being arrested in South Miami on charges of driving under the influence and possessing a fake or stolen driver's license, Miami confirmed the news prior to head coach Al Golden's Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Olsen, who was booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 4:11 a.m. Monday, was released on $6,000 bail hours later.

"It's not the end," Golden said of Olsen. "It's not going to be the end for Kevin from that standpoint. I've known the Olsen family when I got into coaching around '95. I've known Coach Olsen and started to recruit (older brothers) Christian and Greg in the late 90s when Kevin was 9 years old, 10 years old, so I watched him grow up.

"From that standpoint that was tough for all of us. Right now it's about Kevin and his family. We need to respect that. I have no doubt he will be back. He needs this time to look at himself and obviously move forward. I have no doubt with the support of his family, his brothers, his mom and dad and obviously those of us who know him really well there's no question he's going to have the right ending at the end of this."

A former four-star recruit tom Wayne Hills High School in New Jersey, Olsen was expected to be Miami's starting quarterback this fall when redshirt senior Ryan Williams tore his ACL in early April.

Olsen took first-string snaps during spring practice, but at the start of camp he was listed as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart behind starting true freshman Brad Kaaya, transfer Jake Heaps and true freshman Malik Rosier. He was suspended for the season opener at Louisville for reportedly failing a drug test. 

Even without this incident, it's likely Olsen would've transferred.

"A lot of times guys make mistakes," Golden said. "It's as simple as that. Maybe when they were in their high school or living at home they made certain choices, but given the freedom of college they make another decision. There's poor choices and irrevocable choices. We try to eliminate irrevocable choices as much as possible."

With recent headlines of guys, including Olsen and linebackers JaWand Blue and Alex Figueroa (sexual battery charges), violating rules or leaving the program, Golden said it's something that is always discussed amongst his staff.  

During the recruiting process, the Hurricanes make it a habit to ask counselors and teachers about a player -- not just coaches and family members -- to analyze character.

"The one thing I will tell you is when you say there's nothing that our staff and I can do -- we do," Golden said. "We discuss it all the time. We talk about choices, partnerships and hanging out with the right people. We're consistently and constantly giving them good and poor examples to learn from. From that standpoint it's disappointing because from everybody in our organization -- whether it's academics, (head strength and conditioning coach Andreu) Swasey and the others in the training room, our coaches, athletic administration, everybody. I guess what I'm saying is there's really no excuse. 

"They're consistently being educated about it. It's important to us, to the core values of our university, so from that standpoint it is disappointing. But it is a challenge. I can only speak for myself and our organization, but obviously everybody's going through it right now. It is a challenge. The same issues we face in society in our educational communities we face here. It is an ongoing challenge, and obviously character is something we're always looking to identify."

Athletic director Blake James had addressed media on Monday morning towards the end of practice to state the school was aware of the situation and Olsen was suspended from all team activities pending further review.

Olsen never threw a pass in a Hurricanes uniform as he was redshirted in 2013 and was a member of the practice squad. His older brother, Greg, was a tight end at Miami from 2004-06 and is an eight-year pro currently with the Carolina Panthers.

Golden called the next step for Olsen and his family to move forward and be successful. Asked how teammates reacted to the news, Golden said they have a "focus" about this Saturday's game at Nebraska.

"He won't be back here in Miami," Golden said of Kevin. "He'll be back. He's going to win in the end."

You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.