Like his former head coach, DeShone Kizer didn't understand the fuss over comments Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly made about the quarterback's NFL readiness.

(What's next for the Fighting Irish? Click here to sign up NOW for our free Notre Dame newsletter!)

In an interview on SiriusXM radio last week, Kelly said he told Kizer that it would be best for him to use another one of the two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. Kizer declared for the NFL draft in December.

Kizer responded to Kelly's comments Tuesday during an interview on ESPN Radio Chicago, noting he believes the remarks were sensationalized by the media.

"Quite frankly, the way that the media pushed it, and took it down this completely negative path…I took it as the truth. I took it as reality," Kizer said. "You know, timing is everything on the comment and obviously as my name continues to grow as we get close to the draft, anything and everything that looks negative is going to be portrayed as negative. But for me, it's honestly the truth.

"I (had) two more years available. I'm only 21 years of age. There is a lot of room for me to grow. There's a lot of growth for everyone in this draft. There's a lot of guys out there who have to make big adjustments as they go into the NFL, and I know it. That's why I'm not the No. 1 quarterback guaranteed walking into the draft as we speak. Is there a chance? Absolutely. But that's where the question marks come from, and coach Kelly addressed it. And for me, that's just another opportunity to acknowledge that yes, I do need to grow, and yes, when I am meeting with these coaches on the potential teams that I play on, I need to understand that I need to buy into their coaching to become successful, to fill in those gaps to truly become the pro that I need to become.

"Being 21 years old and playing against guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, who have been pros for as long as I've been playing football, those are the guys I have to compete with. And in order to get to that level where I also maybe feel I should be one day in my career, I also have to acknowledge that I am young like coach said. I have to acknowledge that I could have had an extra couple of years in college like coach said, and I have to grow. And in order to grow and become a good quarterback, you have to realize there is much more potential, much more room for growth for me."

Kizer, who visited the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, said he hasn't spoken to Kelly since the April 3 interview that sparked a firestorm on social media.

"I'm just now getting back to Notre Dame and …if there's a conversation that needs to be had, there will be," Kizer said. "But I also understand that with coach Kelly, if it is something that he truly believes or it's something that could be taken down the wrong path, he would address it with me in the first place. So as soon as all this chaos created around a couple comments and he didn't come reach to me, I quickly understood that it wasn't as big of a deal as it was pushed out to be. If it was something in which he felt strongly about, or it was something he was going to address to the media and make a big deal, he would warn me before…that's how our relationship's always been. There would be dialogue before that.

"So as soon as I knew that those statements were out and he didn't approach me right away, then I knew that it isn't interpreted the way that he wanted it to be. And from what I understand, he's addressed it again and kind of pushed out what he's supposed to say, but again, I truly believe what he said is true. It can be taken a lot farther than it is, but if you look at the exact words, I am young. I could be back for a couple of more years, and I do have a lot of room to grow. And I can't be upset with the truth. And as long as I can acknowledge it and I'll push myself to be a better player because of it, the success that I have in the NFL will be a little bit more than a 4-8 season at Notre Dame."

Kizer described his relationship with Kelly as business-like. During the recruiting process, Kizer said he wanted to attend a school with a coach who would push him similar to the way his father did when he coached his basketball team.

Kelly's coaching style fit the bill.

"Coach Kelly and I had a really productive and working relationship I believe," he said. "When choosing to go to a school like Notre Dame and playing for a guy as successful as coach Kelly, you have to understand the style of coaching that he has. He wants to coach you hard, and that's exactly what I wanted. My dad had been my coach all the way up until I was 15 years old in basketball, and he coached me harder than anyone will ever coach me. So we knew that in order to get the best out of me, I was going to have to have somebody who would coach me similar to the way my dad coached me, and that was hard and aggressive at times.

"With that, coach Kelly did the exact thing we expected him to do. He pushed me harder than anyone else pushed me. He held me to standards just as high as I would hold standards to myself, and that's what got me to play at my best. Off the field with coach Kelly, our relationship was just as expected to be, and that was one, if we saw each other we'd have a couple of conversations here and there, but for the most part we were both about business. We were both so competitive that at times, you see on the sideline, and you see from an outsider's perspective that at times we're going to clash heads. And that just comes from the competitive nature of both of us. He expects a lot out of me, and I expect him to hold me to those same standards, and it is what it is.

"Coach Kelly and I have created a great relationship and it will be a lifelong relationship. He was my college coach. He taught me what I know as football right now and it will forever be my platform on whatever success I have moving forward going into the NFL."