Kelly says he regrets incident involving pushing assistant

Kelly says he regrets incident involving pushing assistant

Published Nov. 3, 2015 1:52 p.m. ET

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday he regrets his sideline confrontation with assistant strength coach David Grimes during a 24-20 victory at Temple.

''I wish the situation never occurred. I regret that it happened,'' Kelly said. ''David and I have met about the situation. We've moved past it.''

Kelly repeated what he said previously, saying the incident occurred when he was trying to control the Notre Dame sideline.

Grimes appeared to be saying something to an official and strength coach Paul Long stepped between Grimes and the official when Kelly ran at Grimes, grabbed him by the jacket and pushed him away from the official. The incident occurred in the third quarter with the Irish leading 17-10 when center Nick Martin was called for a personal foul for tripping.

ADVERTISEMENT

''Our sideline was not where it needed to be. There were some things going on on the sideline that were unacceptable,'' Kelly said Tuesday. ''It falls on my shoulders.''

Kelly said unspecified changes have been taken to make sure Notre Dame will ''have a better sideline situation.''

Grimes was a Notre Dame wide receiver 2005-08 and has been an assistant strength coach since 2012.

Kelly made the comments after being asked about quarterback DeShone Kizer flapping his arms following a touchdown that appeared to be mocking the Owls. Kelly said Kizer is a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles and the game was being played in their stadium so he was mimicking some of the Eagles.

Kelly described it as ''totally unacceptable.''

''It's not what we're about. It's not who we are,'' he said. ''It won't happen again.''

share