Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has never been one to shy away from sharing his honest opinion, even when his opinions may be taken as a tad harsh and grating. During a radio interview on Monday, Kelly shared his professional opinion on his now former starting quarterback DeShone Kizer heading to the NFL, and it wasn’t exactly the ringing endorsement we have come to expect from college coaches discussing their NFL-bound players.
“I think he has all the tools but needs more time,” Kelly said during his interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio. “DeShone Kizer should still be in college,” according to Kelly.
Notre Dame HC @CoachBrianKelly: DeShone Kizer has a strong arm and is physically gifted. I think he has all the tools but needs time.
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) April 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNFL/status/848954762301190149
The reaction to Kelly’s comments were to be expected. They did not exactly go over well with the masses.
College coaches sure are dishonest about other things like, you know, their contracts. Suddenly truthful when it comes to their own players?
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) April 3, 2017
Hate when these coaches do this publicly pre-draft with guys who left their program early pic.twitter.com/yUrh2AL8fb
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 3, 2017
Instead of pumping up the Notre Dame quarterback looking to make a name for himself in the NFL Draft, Kelly chose to point out he doesn’t think Kizer is ready for the next level. For some reason, that rubbed some people the wrong way.
Kelly isn’t here fighting for or against player’s rights or paying players or anything like that in this particular instance. For this conversation, Kelly is simply sharing his opinion on whether or not Kizer is ready to move up a level. Kelly is not all in on that idea, but what is the reasoning behind those comments? Kizer (and Malik Zaire) is leaving Notre Dame bare at the quarterback position, and if we are being truthful, that may be in the equation. But the larger picture may be a bit more reasonable. Kelly is protecting himself.
What Kelly is really doing is distancing himself from any possible disappointment that could come from Kizer’s NFL future. If Kelly is right and Kizer struggles at the next level, he will be vindicated and be proven right in suggesting Kizer was leaving too early for the NFL. And if Kelly is ever going to be a head coach in the NFL, which seems to be rumored every other year or so, that can be a track record that can come back to haunt him if he has a negative history of producing talent.
In a certain aspect, it makes sense to pump up a player’s draft stock as much as possible. This is especially true in a profession where coaches are always looking out for themselves first, second and third. Having a player go in the first round is a big deal for recruiting purposes. But what may be an even bigger sales pitch is having NFL-ready players compete at a high level as early as possible at the next level. In Kelly’s estimation, Kizer was not ready to make that leap, so by pointing that out now he gets ahead of the curve in the event Kizer doesn’t land on his feet right away in the NFL. And in doing so, Kelly reinforces the idea that sticking around in South Bend for another year is actually more beneficial for a possible NFL prospect.
If you think this is going to hurt Kelly’s recruiting efforts in South Bend, we’ll see. This isn’t the first time Kelly has spoken his mind honestly about a player, nor will it be the last. And perhaps there is something to be gained by being honest with assessing a player’s potential and prospects as opposed to selling a bill of goods just to land a recruitment.
Was Kelly wrong to suggest Kizer was not ready to leave college? Not at all.
Is Kelly only serving himself? Absolutely.
Is that wrong? Not necessarily.
