Ex-LSU player Tyrann Mathieu expected to announce plans Wednesday

Tyrann Mathieu is expected to announce Wednesday exactly what he plans to do during the upcoming season after being dismissed by the LSU football team Friday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting.

Citing an unnamed source close to Mathieu, the newspaper says that the 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist known as “the Honey Badger” plans to transfer to a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) school, where he would be immediately eligible to play.

If he transfers to a Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) school, Mathieu would have to sit out a year before playing football. The 20-year-old defensive back is a junior this year and will be eligible for the NFL draft in April.

According to the Times-Picayune, Mathieu had visited only McNeese State as of Monday.

Mathieu was cut from the Tigers for breaking an athletic department rule. The Times-Picayune’s source said multiple failed drug tests were the reason for the dismissal. Mathieu was suspended for a game last season after testing positive for synthetic marijuana.

ESPN had reported Monday that Mathieu was considering sitting out a year while taking classes at LSU in hopes of rejoining the team in 2013. But LSU senior associate athletic director for NCAA compliance Bo Bahnsen told the Shreveport Times on Monday that Mathieu is permanently ineligible to play football at LSU.”

Mathieu was the national defensive player of the year last season, scoring four touchdowns (two on punt returns, two on fumble returns), intercepting two passes, causing six fumbles and recovering four.

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