Hamilton out again; Kelly believes star safety will return this season
Kyle Hamilton is once again out this week for Notre Dame.
The All-American safety and Irish team captain continues his recovery from an unspecified knee injury suffered in the Oct. 23 win against visiting University of Southern California.
Earlier Monday, Hamilton was scheduled for another platelet-replacement procedure, according to coach Brian Kelly.
But Hamilton definitely is out for the Irish's penultimate home game; they host Navy Saturday (3:30, NBC).
“He'll be evaluated next week as to whether he is in a position to return to the Virginia game,” Kelly said. “He'll be out (against Navy).”
Hamilton's second PRP in as many weeks left Kelly answering the question if Hamilton's decorated career as an Irish star could be over.
“I do. I do,” Kelly said when asked directly if he expected Hamilton to return this season for the Irish. “Look, it's his decision and those aren't easy decisions. He'll lean on his family. We have an outside source that we bring in that evaluates all of our players that he's got a chance to listen to (concerning the NFL Draft) all that information. Kyle will make the right decision, what's right for him.
“We're assuming that everything goes great with his knee, right? Let's make that assumption and if that's the case, he'll have all the information in front of him.
“We're going to support him 100% whatever it is [on returning or not returning this season]. That's the nature of where we are today in college football, a guy's gotta make those kinds of decisions, and we'll support him. He's been a great teammate.”
Hamilton's potential decision centers around the 6-foot-4, 220-pound safety's 2022 NFL Draft prospects. Hamilton is a consensus top-10 projection among a sampling of national NFL projections and former franchise executive Gil Brandt has publicly declared Hamilton as his No. 2 overall prospect in the '22 Draft.
KELLY ON A LEDGE
Kelly on Monday said if he listened to all the outside noise around his Notre Dame football program that he would be left to jump from a building.
Specifically, Kelly was asked about his season-long commitment to graduate-transfer quarterback Jack Coan.
“I know you'll laugh when I say this, but I didn't know that I needed to be vindicated,” Kelly answered. “Jack is the guy. And I don't mean that in any other way. Look: How can you be the head coach at Notre Dame if you listened to all of this stuff every day? I would jump out off my roof. I mean it's crazy.
“I think more than anything else we felt like Jack was our best option for us to win, and we just needed to continue to work with him. Every day we work with him.
“Who knew he was that fast?”
Kelly's tongue-in-cheek comment about Coan's speed centered on the quarterback's 21-yard scoring scramble in last Saturday's 44-34 win against North Carolina.
Kelly shifted focus from the staff's belief in Coan into what Coan has delivered in his only season with the Irish.
“He's a selfless player,” Kelly said. “He gets a chance to run the one time going down to our end zone on the left. Most quarterbacks in that situation try to extend the football. He has the sense that he wants to extend it and he tucks it, he just doesn't want to put the ball in jeopardy. He's just that kind of player. Those nuances may be don't get seen by a lot of people, but I see it. He's just a fun guy to coach.”
SOME POSITIVE INJURY NEWS
Kelly indicated the Irish expect no limitations on star defensive end Isaiah Foskey, would welcome back Zeke Correll to the active roster – as Andrew Kristofic's backup at left guard – on the offensive line and could also get back wideout Braden Lenzy – as long as Lenzy continued to progress through the program's concussion protocols.
“Braden was very optimistic,” Kelly said, “and our doctors when I met with them (Sunday) were optimistic. Today we weight train and that's kind of the next step after you're cleared from the cognitive testing. Then you go into cardiovascular testing.
“He's cleared to do that today, if he comes out of the cardiovascular testing today, he'll practice (Tuesday). We're on track and moving in the right direction with him. He's voiced his absolute want and desire to be on the field. We'll see how that plays out.”
