Brian Kelly Continues His Lukewarm Support for DeShone Kizer

The relationship between Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and his former quarterback DeShone Kizer continues to get colder and more puzzling.

Kelly already put tension in that relationship when he unceremoniously benched Kizer during the 2016 season. A move that yielded no improvement and thus he went right back to the 21-year old before the year ended. It was clear then that Kelly didn’t have faith that Kizer could get the job done, though he stated it never wavered. It seems the veteran coach is caught in a problematic position. He’s trying to do right by his player but isn’t the type of man to lie outright.

That’s why his words regarding Kizer and his push for the 2017 NFL draft were some reserved. Not only did the man fail to offer rousing support, he went so far as to state quite candidly that he feels the young man is making a big mistake.

"“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.”"

Is he right?

This falls right in line with the same reservations others have about Kizer. He’s a tremendous physical talent with a great head on his shoulders. The problem is he just looks so raw at times. It’s clear he needs more experience after just two seasons as a starter. Instead he elected to declare for the draft in hopes he could become a 1st round pick. Even that remains in question as analysts see him falling to somewhere in the late 20s to mid 30s range.

Many still believe that in the long run Kizer will end up being the best quarterback to come out of this class. Even so, the fact his own head coach holds reservations about his decision to declare is eye-opening to say the least.