Kelly says to expect Irish to remain young

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -

A common theme for the Notre Dame Football Team this year has centered around the amount of youth displayed on the football field, but Head Coach Brian Kelly says to expect that trend to continue.

"We're going to be a young team, we're not going to be Alabama, we're not going to have a bunch of older players playing for us," Kelly said. "We're not going to be some of the teams that are allowing them to mature at that level, we're going to have to play some younger players and that's going to be the case here moving forward."

Last year, the Irish sent ten players to the NFL, but a lot of players are graduating in three and half years, and when a job on Wall Street is calling, it's tough to ignore.

"There are a number of kids that know the door is open for them to do what they're passionate about," Kelly said.

So Kelly is faced with a catch-22 scenario where he can communicate to recruits they can make an impact right away but he understands a player's time at Notre Dame is unknown.

"I have no problem with that, kids are coming here to get their degree and play championship football and they have great confidence they can do that at an early age," Kelly said.

There are still plenty of players who use their full four years of eligibility like Isaac Rochelle, Cole Luke, and James Onwualu, but Kelly expects this youth movement to be a mainstay at Notre Dame.

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