Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly thinks highly of his former quarterback DeShone Kizer. He just wishes he’d had more time to coach him.
Kelly said today on PFT Live that Kizer is a good quarterback and a good person, but he hasn’t fully developed yet. Kelly, who received some criticism when he said Kizer should have stayed in school, said he was just giving his assessment as a coach who thinks his player still has room to improve.
“My comments were really specific about just maturing as a person,” Kelly said. “We want our guys to come to Notre Dame and develop holistically in all areas. So being at Notre Dame for a couple years does not give you that chance. When we turn over our young men to the NFL we want to say they’re finished products and DeShone’s not there yet. He needed more time. We clearly understood his decision to go to the NFL and we supported him, but I was merely saying that, again, he’s a young man that could use more time at Notre Dame. He’s a wonderful kid, he’s got great character. . . . Whoever gets the chance to draft DeShone is going to get somebody with great character and somebody that’s just scratching the surface as it relates to his football ability.”
Kelly chuckled at Kizer comparing himself to Tom Brady and Cam Newton, saying NFL teams don’t have to worry that Kizer is the type to say things that would embarrass the team.
“He’ll learn what to say and how to say it,” Kelly said.
And he’ll learn how to play, even if he’s not there yet.