I have incredible respect for Notre Dame. We’re going to work it out one way or the other. If (the Fighting Irish) come to play here, that would be great. If they don’t, we’ll come to a settlement and part as friends. – Tom Holmoe

PROVO — BYU is disciplining the players involved in the brawl that occurred after the Miami Beach Bowl in December, but the school is handling the matter internally and won’t discuss it publicly or announce suspensions until it feels necessary to do so, athletic director Tom Holmoe said Tuesday afternoon.

"There is a lot going on behind the scenes,” Holmoe said during a question-and-answer session with reporters, “and we'd like to keep it that way."

In the aftermath of the Cougars’ 55-48 overtime loss to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl, players from both sides were involved in a fight on the field.

Last month, Memphis announced it will punish 12 players for their role in the brawl.

Holmoe, who has been at the helm of the BYU athletic department for 10 years, said that some discipline has already taken place “that’s no one has seen that’s been good, in our opinion, for these kids to help them grow from the experience. It sounds kind of crazy that after the game, no one was really too concerned about them growing from the experience. But it is important to us that they do because a lot of these guys are going to come back and play for us and be a big part of our program and be leaders of our team in the future. When the emotion of it settled, it was important for us to do what we felt what right and not explain everything that we’re doing.”

Holmoe wouldn’t comment on the status of running back Charles West, who signed a letter of intent with BYU in February, and was arrested days later. Holmoe said the school is waiting for the legal process to play out.

“He is our recruit, but it is a legal issue,” Holmoe said. “He’s not a student with us yet. We’re advised from our legal position not to say anything.”

Holmoe added that the school wasn’t aware of West’s legal problems until after Signing Day.

West, a speedster from Coppell High in Dallas, was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, and possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor, stemming from an incident that occurred in late January.

Holmoe addressed a variety of other topics, including:

• The status of the BYU-Utah football series, which is in the middle of a two-year hiatus, and set to resume in 2016 through 2018.

Holmoe has expressed a desire for the two schools to meet in November, like they have traditionally done, rather than in September.

“For me, I just want to make sure that we have the series,” Holmoe said. “At BYU, we’re willing to just work it out. It’s not that we’re going to stand on our head, but it’s harder sometimes for us to schedule an early game now than it is to schedule a later game. But for them, it’s easier to schedule an earlier game. We’re going to have to figure out a way to work it out.”

Holmoe confirmed that talks are ongoing with Utah athletic director Chris Hill for games in 2019 and 2020.

• BYU's status as an independent football program.

Holmoe said while the school has looked at and examined other possibilities — such as joining a conference for football only or going into a scheduling agreement with a conference — for now, BYU is still firmly entrenched as an independent.

"We’re an independent team playing an independent schedule,” Holmoe said. “That’s what we’ve got and that’s where we are. We’re not really looking back, we’re looking forward because there are possibilities, and I have to do my due diligence on that.”

Meanwhile, Holmoe also said he foresees another shift in conference alignment coming, and "it’s our intention that we would be playing in what they commonly call a 'Power 5' conference sometime in the near future."

“I try not to get too high or too low and react to everything,” Holmoe continued. “We’re trying to put together games that help us be successful that would give us a position to better ourselves, and play in the biggest games that we can, meaning that would be conference championships and, the New Year’s Day games and (the College Football Playoff).”

Holmoe acknowledged the concerns in regard to BYU's fiscal disparity in comparison to the Power 5 conferences.

"It’s real,” he said. “I don’t think we can (lag behind) indefinitely.”

• How the 10-member Big 12 reacted to being snubbed from the college football playoff last season. BYU is viewed as a possible candidate to join the Big 12 should the league decide to expand.

“They have reacted to that,” Holmoe said. “Their reaction was, ‘we’re going to hold our ground and try to play a playoff game without expansion.' The question is, will that be the solution to what they want to do? Will that be their final move? That remains to be seen.”

• The pending football series with Notre Dame. When BYU announced it was going independent in 2010, it also announced a six-game series with the Fighting Irish, including two games in Provo. But since that time, Notre Dame has entered into a scheduling agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Cougars have played twice in South Bend, but there are no trips for Notre Dame to Provo on the docket.

"It’s hard for me to take a real hard stand on that because somewhere in the future, we may have to do the same thing,” Holmoe said. “I have incredible respect for Notre Dame. We’re going to work it out one way or the other. If (the Fighting Irish) come to play here, that would be great. If they don’t, we’ll come to a settlement and part as friends."

• The status of BYU’s relationship with the Pac-12. The Cougars are scheduled to play nine of the 12 Pac-12 teams over the next decade.

"I think it’s a really solid relationship. We have a peer relationship with them,” Holmoe said. “I see no reason why it would change. … The Pac-12 has been great to us. We have a lot of games with (the Pac-12) because it works for them. It’s a natural fit. We’re in a great spot to play Pac-12 teams in all sports.”

• BYU’s possible bowl game tie-in for 2015 has not been announced.

“At this point in time, this next year’s game, for reasons of contract and the people that are involved, it’s not being made public at this time,” Holmoe said. “I feel good about where we’re at.”

• BYU’s relationship with ESPN.

“We have a really solid relationship with ESPN. I feel great about it and they do, too,” Holmoe said. “We talk all the time. It’s a really good thing for them to have us — they say that to me — and it’s a really good thing for us to have them. It’s a symbiotic relationship. We give them a lot and they give us a lot.”

• BYU’s neutral site game against Arizona in Las Vegas in 2021.

“We really don’t have a neutral stadium. The closest would be Denver,” Holmoe said. “I don’t think Denver is a great neutral (site). Vegas is good. It’s a great city for our fans, proven by the Las Vegas Bowl. With the demographics of where our people are … that’s kind of a cool neutral field. It’s a great place for us.”