Former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer is expected to hear his name called in the early rounds of this year's NFL draft, but his college coach apparently doesn't think he should be there at all.
Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly addressed the topic of Kizer on Sirius XM NFL Radio on Monday, and the 55-year-old wasn't shy about his opinions of Kizer turning pro, despite complimenting his abilities at the same time, according to Chase Goodbread of NFL.com.
"Well, he still should be in college. The circumstances are such that you have to make business decisions and he felt like it was in his best interest," Kelly said. "I'm going to support him and his decision. But the reality of it is he needs more football, he needs more time to grow in so many areas. Not just on the field, but off the field."
Kelly has come under fire from Notre Dame fans on multiple occasions, and Monday's comments appear to be another brief chapter in the Kelly-Kizer relationship that most believed to be closed.
After battling with then-counterpart Malik Zaire in the offseason, Kizer won the starting job and played to the tune of 2,925 passing yards and 26 touchdowns with a pass completion rate of 58.7 percent. Kelly briefly benched Kizer during an Oct. 15 loss to Stanford last season, prompting former Fighting Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen and fans to blast Kelly for his lack of trust in Kizer.
Related: Ex-Notre Dame QB Clausen, fans put Brian Kelly on blast
Time will tell if Kelly's analysis will ring true, but regardless, Kizer is still expected to be one of the highest quarterbacks taken when teams assemble for the NFL Draft on April 27.
