For coaches, it's easier to tell a player to slow down rather than speed up.

Jack Kelly is easy to coach.

"I love coaching him," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said on the “Giants Huddle” podcast about his former linebacker and a sixth-round pick by the organization. "I'm sad that he's not here anymore, but I'm really excited. I was kind of worried about where he would end up, and after the Giants got him, I was really, really excited that he's going to be a G-Man."

Sitake called Kelly a "ferocious" and "vicious" player, and his only concern was him being too ferocious and too vicious. But not really.

"The battle was trying to make sure he doesn't get a targeting penalty and get kicked out of the game," Sitake deadpanned. "So that was always a worry for me. It's just like, 'Hey, just hit him lightly,' but what do you do when you're trying to tell a guy to slow down? It's hard."

Sitake had already gone on the record about his sky-is-the-limit praise for the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Kelly, who picked up first-team All-Big 12 honors in his final collegiate season. But you won't hear it from the player himself.

"I think he probably didn't want me talking about him too much," Sitake said. "If he knew I was talking like this, he'd probably be like, 'Coach, that's enough.' Because the truth is, I think he just wants to prove it. To respect him, I've said a lot and I probably put a lot of expectations on him but no more than he's put on himself. I think he's not a talk-first guy. He's going to walk the walk and you guys will see for yourself."

Getting drafted to any of the 32 teams is a point of pride for players and coaches alike. But why was the college head coach relieved to see his former captain head to the Giants in their first year with John Harbaugh?

"Well, I know the personnel there," Sitake said. "I know the coaches and I know the brand and I know what the expectations are. I know the fans and what they want, and they're going to get it from him. Maybe they don't know enough about him, but if you go watch the film and you go see his personality and you see what he's all about, he's a perfect fit for New York. It's going to be a great partnership. And then I think more than anything, he's going to give everything he has and that's what you and the fans want there and the high expectations of tradition. He'll come in here and then he'll make a splash, but he's not a high-maintenance kid, man. He'll work hard and you're going to get your return on investment, definitely for sure."

Kelly was the third of three picks for the Giants in the sixth round, which rounded out their seven-man class. Two nights earlier, they opened their draft with the selection of All-American Arvell Reese, who also stirred conversations about edge vs. off-ball linebacker.

Kelly has experience with both.

He started with the former in his three seasons at Weber State and played more of the latter after transferring 80 miles south for his final two years at BYU. It added up to 43.5 tackles for loss, 31.5 sacks, and nine forced fumbles in 53 games.

"He can pass rush – that's one thing that he's really good at – but I think it overshadows a lot of the stuff that he does well in his zone drops and in his man-to-man coverage, how he plays the run," Sitake said. "He runs sideline to sideline. He can play any position. He's capable enough. He has a great football IQ and he can play any of the linebacker positions where it's outside or inside."

Sitake added, "The guy was ready to do anything. He can play running back if you need him to. I mean he's a world-class BMX rider, you know, so those guys are crazy. You just put it right on him and you say, 'Hey, we need you to do this, you can do it.' He's a great athlete. He could have played running back if we wanted him to. He could have played tight end. He does things like block for punt return. And he goes hard all the time."

His motor is the reason he led the team in sacks despite not blitzing "that much."

"If you look at the ratio of his blitz to sack, it's really high," Sitake said. "But if you look at the ratio of him being able to make an impact on the drops in the zones and even man-to-man coverage, he does a great job on at all of that. The kid's a great young man, and I'm really fired up. The sky's the limit for him."

It doesn't get much higher than a previous linebacker who played for Sitake at BYU.

"I coached Fred Warner and Fred Warner didn't play a lot of inside backer," Sitake recalled about the perennial All-Pro who was a third-round pick (No. 70 overall) by the 49ers in 2018. "He played mostly off the ball. We put him even in nickel, we put him in a rover position a lot like we did with Jack, and then he goes to the NFL and plays middle linebacker. It's nice to be right about that one too. I feel just as confident about Jack."

He also knows that Kelly will have no problem adjusting to life on the East Coast, just like another Utah native he has known since his high school recruiting days.

"You don't have to worry about him," Sitake said. "He'll be fine. I think Jaxson [Dart] would take him around and show him some of the sights, but this guy, the only thing he wants to see is the facility, the football field, and the film room. And that's probably what you're going to see him doing mostly."