Following a fresh round of Monday criticism for his physical sideline confrontation with assistant strength and conditioning coach David Grimes, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he regrets the incident occurred.
Kelly was seen during the second half of Notre Dame's 24-20 win over Temple last weekend charging toward and grabbing Grimes, a former Notre Dame captain and wide receiver, by his shirt after it appeared Grimes had said something to a nearby game official. Kelly said Saturday he was warned if he didn't control the Notre Dame's sideline, his team would be assessed a 15-yard penalty.
"I'm responsible for the sideline," Kelly said Tuesday. "Our sideline was not where it needed to be. There were some things going on on the sideline that were unacceptable. It falls on my shoulders. If we were to get a penalty in that time of the game, it would have fell on me as being somebody that can't control the sideline."
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Kelly said he and his coaching staff have made some changes to make sure Notre Dame isn't threatened with a 15-yard penalty for having those on its sideline express displeasure toward officials. But with that being said, Kelly added he regrets the incident, which ESPN's Michael Wilbon called "atrocious," and has been widely panned by others in the national media.
"I wish the situation never occurred," Kelly said. "I regret that it happened. David and I have met. We have met about the situation. We've moved past it.
"David is a valuable employee. He is a guy that does a great job here. He'll be with us a long time."