Michael Dyer expected to enroll at Arkansas Baptist College, skip season

He won't be playing football in 2012, but Michael Dyer appears to have at least found a college home, as he's expected to enroll at Little Rock's Arkansas Baptist College.

It's been (ahem) quite the year for Michael Dyer. But at least it seems to be settling down, with the former five-star running back and BCS championship game MVP having reportedly made his choice of college for this year--even if it's come too late for him to see a football field in 2012.

Dr. Fitzgerald Hill, president of Little Rock's Arkansas Baptist College, told a local radio station that Dyer would be enrolling at the small historically-black college for the 2012-2013 academic year, per local TV station Fox 16. Other outlets have reported the same.

Hill said that Dyer would be working towards an associate's degree but will not suit up for the college's JUCO-level football team. If Dyer can earn the degree and remain out of off-field hot water, he could conceivably be eligible to return to NCAA football in the fall of 2013 with two years of eligiblity remaining--though of course he may prefer to test the NFL Draft waters instead.

If Dyer does follow through with his plan to take classes at ABC, it would be a quiet, under-the-radar end to a personal year for which "tumultuous" is a giant understatement. 2012 began with his transfer from Auburn to Arkansas State in Gene Chizik's less-than-good-graces. He admitted that the gun used in the notorious 2011 armed robbery involving four Auburn players was his. His petition to be immediately eligible for the Red Wolves was denied by the NCAA. In July, Dyer was suddenly dimissed by old Auburn coordinator-turned-ASU head coach Gus Malzahn for a violation of team rules. Not long after, it was determined that violation was tied to a March traffic stop in which Dyer was in possession of a gun and marijuana. Dyer appeared to be heading towards a landing at FCS Prairie View A&M, but that didn't work out either. 

Which leaves us where we are today, with Dyer off to a school few outside of Little Rock have ever heard of to not play football at all. If this doesn't seem shocking after the past several months (and it doesn't), it's worth remembering who Dyer was at this time last year: the reigning BCS championship game MVP, new owner of the Auburn freshman rushing record, dark horse Heisman candidate, future first-team All-SEC tailback, and a no-brainer pro prospect.

This year? He's just a student at Arkansas Baptist, and until his life seems fully turned around, even that seems goal enough.