drinking then the "Honor Code" is moot. The beard thing, the curfew thing, they truly are "more like guidelines" anyway. Annoying at best (if you have to shave prior to a test), but generally not a big deal. The stuff that you get punished for is Drinking, Sex, and Cheating.
If you plan on "living your life" (ie: drinking, sex, and/or cheating) you are going to get punished by the HC and have to sit.
If you aren't going to do those things then you will NEVER see the inside of an Honor Code Office.
No matter how you want to spin it, he is basically saying "I had a problem with the Honor Code, I want to live my life and leave the door open to Sex, Drinking, and/or Cheating, and I want to be punished for my own actions but not kicked off the football team".
It really is that simple.
Dumb thing to say, and he'd have been better off saying, "Utah gave me an offer, their a top 5 team and I couldn't pass it up."