Brian Kelly didn’t do DeShone Kizer any favors by shining the former Notre Dame quarterback in a negative light just weeks before the NFL draft.

In an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio on Monday, the Fighting Irish coach said publicly what some draft analysts had been thinking about Kizer: He should have gone back to school.

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?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Fnotre-dame%2F2017%2F04%2F03%2Fbrian-kelly-thinks-deshone-kizer-should-still-college%2F99989248%2F

Kizer, a redshirt sophomore in 2016, decided to forgo the remaining two years of his eligibility and enter the draft after starting parts of two seasons at quarterback for Notre Dame. Despite some good numbers this past season, the Fighting Irish went 4-8 with Kizer under center.

Kelly has said before that Kizer has the “biggest upside” of all the quarterbacks in the draft, but he clearly didn’t think Kizer should left school early. It will be interesting to see how this affects Kizer’s draft stock, if at all. Right now, it’s possible Kizer hears his name called on Day 1 of the draft.

About Marcelo Villa

Marcelo is an associate editor at The Sports Daily, and has covered the San Diego Chargers for Bleacher Report. He also writes for Sportsdirect Inc.

Email