SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The first transfer of the Brian Kelly era turned out to be one of the shortest stays in Notre Dame football history, and one of the more amicable parting of the ways as well.

One semester into his Irish football career, early-enrolling freshman cornerback Spencer Boyd has decided to become an early departure as well. Several telephone messages left for Boyd seeking comment have not been returned.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder who played for Cape Coral High School has cited family reasons for wanting to transfer to a school closer to home. Boyd has a 2-year-old son, Jayden, who still lives in Southwest Florida.

First, Boyd must take care of some unfinished business at Notre Dame. He can’t transfer until he is in good academic standing. So he will return to South Bend for the early summer session June 7-21 to play catch-up. Once Boyd rights himself academically, Notre Dame will grant his release to pursue a transfer. Notre Dame is picking up the tab for Boyd’s summer school.

“He’s been a good kid,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said Thursday. “He’s done the right things. He’s worked hard. He fell behind academically and had a lot of personal things going on in his life. Unfortunately, all of the things tipped the scale enough to make it difficult for him to stay in South Bend.”

The University of South Florida appears to be one of Boyd’s more likely options. At USF, two hours from home in Tampa, he’d play for former Irish wide receiver Skip Holtz.

Boyd, recruited by former Irish coach Charlie Weis, was one of five early enrollees in this year’s freshman class. He participated in spring practice with the other early arrivals, but never rose above third team on the depth chart.

Eric Hansen writes for the South Bend Tribune. He can be contacted at ehansen@sbtinfo.com. Breeze sports editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.