Rutgers coach Kyle Flood addressed reporters one day after suspending star wide receiver Leonte Carroo. Watch video
PISCATAWAY -- One day after suspending Leonte Carroo indefinitely for an incident that happened outside his team's football headquarters Saturday night, Rutgers coach Kyle Flood on Monday said it was his decision to discipline his star wide receiver after consulting with athletics director Julie Hermann.
"Any time you make a decision like that you always consult and discuss with the athletic director,'' Flood said, expressing emotions at times during his weekly press conference that was one part to preview this Saturday's game at Penn State and another part to discuss the situation regarding Carroo. "That's part of the chain of command. But it was my decision.''
Shortly after Flood suspended his team's most accomplished playmaker, NJ Advance Media first reported Sunday that authorities were investigating an altercation that happened outside the Rutgers football team's headquarters on Saturday evening involving a female acquaintance of Carroo and another female, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Flood deferred questions about the incident to the authorities Sunday. On Monday, the Rutgers University Police Department referred questions to an athletics spokesman, who then pointed the media back to the R.U.P.D.
With a larger media turnout than usual for his weekly news conference, Flood was asked whether Carroo or anyone else connected with the incident been arrested.
"Nobody has pointed (the investigation) back to me,'' Flood said. "I would send that question probably to Kevin Lorincz in (Rutgers) athletics communications. He would probably be the one who would be responsible to answer that question.''
Flood said he met with Carroo before handing down the suspension, but opted to keep the conversation private.
Six players have been kicked off the team in the past two weeks as the result of arrests. Two players, cornerback Dre Boggs and fullback Lloyd Terry, have been charged in home invasions. The other four players -- cornerback Nadir Barnwell, cornerback Ruhann Peele, safety Delon Stephenson and fullback Razohnn Gross -- face assault charges.
Either the Rutgers athletics department or Flood have either immediately suspended or dismissed the six players previously arrested. But Flood has a history of letting the legal process run its course before disciplining players who were arrested during his first season and last year.
Asked what makes this case different considering it's not yet known whether Carroo has been arrested, Flood said: "I think I'll defer that question until you get a statement from the university or a statement from the athletic department.''
Pressed on whether an athletic-department employee was involved in the incident outside the stadium, Flood said he couldn't comment "on any of the details of the incident that happened.''
Flood was at times emotional when discussing suspending a player who has been one of the faces of his program for the past three years.
RELATED: Leonte Carroo suspension is the latest sign Kyle Flood has lost control at Rutgers | Politi
"I think they all hurt a lot,'' Flood said of the circumstances surrounding each suspension. "When you make a decision that you are going to spend your life -- and I've spent the last 22 years doing this, working with young people, young men, starting out in high school and now in college, you know that there's going to be mistakes. It's no different than raising your own children.
But ... knowing that there are going to be mistakes made doesn't make you feel any better about it. It rips you apart. But as the head coach, it's my job to continue to do what we do. You try to put these people in the lives of your players to do everything you can to help them make great decisions when you can't be with them, because there's a lot in the day and a lot in the year when you can't be with them.''
Flood, who answered questions for approximately five minutes on the incident, was asked how much his players' off-field behavior reflects on him.
"As the head coach, everything ultimately reflects on you and it's part of the job,'' Flood said. "If you shy away from that, you probably shouldn't do the job. But I'm very comfortable that the people that know our program, the people who are invested in our program, and the people that spend time with our program know the quality and the high-quality of the young men that we have down in that locker room right now.''
He disagreed with the notion that his program is "in turmoil,'' saying in response to a TV reporter's question: "The people that know our program, the people that are invested in our program, the people that spend time with our program, they know the high quality of the young men that we have in that locker room.
"Now, I'm not naive, either,'' he added. "I understand that people that aren't as familiar with our program and all they see are the incidents of the last couple weeks, how they could have that perception. But I think the people that know our program, I don't believe they have that perception.''
Asked whether he's disappointed in what the players in his program have been accused of doing, Flood said: "Working with young people for a living, we constantly are reminding them to put themselves in good positions, put themselves in good places, to make great decisions. Just like I do my own son. Just like do I my own daughter. Just like my dad did for me when I was growing up. And when they make mistakes does it hurt? It hurts.
ALSO: Rutgers AD Julie Hermann expresses support of coach Kyle Flood to team after practice
"But it doesn't mean we stop loving them. And it doesn't mean we stop educating the young people that are in that locker room right now. No different than my father didn't stop loving me when I made mistakes growing up. No different than I don't stop loving my children when they make mistakes.''
Flood said he doesn't anticipate any change in Carroo's status for Saturday's 8 p.m. kickoff at Penn State and also addressed questions of his own status as the university investigations a possible violation stemming from a faculty member regarding the eligibility status of a player.
"Since the last time it's been asked, I have not received any contact (from university officials) to that topic whatsoever,'' Flood said. "I don't think it would be fair to anybody in the process right now to answer a hypothetical about it, so I'll just leave it at that.''
Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.