Former Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer is widely projected to be a first-round draft pick. It is practically unheard of for a potential first-round pick to come back to college, but Brian Kelly does not agree Kizer’s decision to forego his remaining eligibility.

Kelly told Sirius XM NFL Radio that Kizer is not quite ready for the pros and should have stayed in school.

NFL teams interested in drafting Kizer will speak to the quarterback himself and have the means to draw their own conclusions about his readiness on and off the field, but the comments certainly do not help. If a team is on the border of drafting Kizer or another quarterback, Kelly’s comments may come to mind.

Kelly has also given coaches everywhere some negative recruiting material when it comes to pursuing elite prospects who might one day be entering the NFL Draft prior to earning their degree. It’s difficult to imagine any SEC coach publicly criticizing one of his players for choosing to go the pros early.

As for Kizer’s performance on the field, he completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 2,925 yards and 26 touchdowns with nine interceptions, adding eight rushing touchdown. At the NFL Scouting Combine and Notre Dame Pro Day, Kizer reportedly the attention of multiple teams with high picks, including San Francisco and Chicago.

At least Kelly didn’t make his comments next to Kizer at a press conference. Right, Pete Carroll?