After flirting with the NFL this week, Notre Dame head coach has announced that he is staying at Notre Dame.
Kelly had the following to say in an official announcement released by the University.
“This week, I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach,” said Kelly.
“Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame.
“This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country. “We still have a lot of work to do and my staff and I are excited about the challenges ahead.”
Kelly met with the Philadelphia Eagles on tuesday, a day after Notre Dame’s crushing BCS Championship game loss to Alabama and since then all has been quiet out of both the Notre Dame and Kelly camps. As Kelly was preparing for the Walter Camp dinner in Connecticut tonight to accept his Coach of the Year Award, news broke that Kelly would be staying with Notre Dame prompting a statement from the Eagles as well.
“There is no question we spent a considerable amount of time and effort looking at who we thought were the best collegiate candidates for our head coaching job. We did so knowing that there was a remote chance that these coaches would leave their current posts.
“We understood that going into the process, but we wanted to leave no stone unturned while trying to find the best head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have no regrets about the effort we made in that direction and we will continue to proceed as planned in our search.”
We will have plenty more on Kelly’s decision to return to Notre Dame and what it means for the Fighting Irish moving forward.
Good, he can enjoy 6-6 seasons at Iowa.
WHEN EVERYONE GETS IT BUT KELLY
Cedar Falls offensive lineman Ross Piersbacher is a four-star offensive lineman and has ended his recruitment early by picking the home state Hawkeyes.
The 6-5/270 pound Piersbacher had offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Boise State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and others and had interest from Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, USC and Stanford, according to Rivals.com. Oregon had even sent coaches by his high school to see him in recent months. He visited Alabama for their game against Auburn.
Given the 4-8 season Iowa just completed and some of the negativity surrounding the program in the fanbase, Piersbacher’s commitment is good medicine for Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz has generally been able to pull in solid offensive and this will add to that legacy.
Rob Howe of HawkeyeInsider.com tweeted that Piersbacher’s decision came down to Iowa and Notre Dame and that reports of Brian Kelly’s flirtations with the NFL factored into his decision. Kelly has been linked to mutual interest with the Philadelphia Eagles opening as well as being rumored to be a candidate for the Chicago Bears opening. You can read Howe’s interview with Piersbacher here.
One of the texts Friday came from a Notre Dame colleague of coach Brian Kelly.
“What the (heck) is he thinking? Thought he knew this place better,” it read.
Another message from a longtime athletic administrator with experience hiring and firing BCS-level coaches summed up the sentiments many felt about Kelly’s flirtation with the Eagles three days after calling Notre Dame his dream job and saying that leaving “wasn’t an option.”
“He fumbled this one badly,” the administrator wrote of Kelly. “Being disingenuous at Notre Dame doesn’t work.”
Indeed, disingenuous was a word that came up often the past week describing Kelly and his contradictions. I also heard longtime Notre Dame employees use other words that would draw them 10 Hail Marys in a confessional. Kelly ended the suspense Saturday night by making the smart decision to stay at Notre Dame — but he might return to a very different campus atmosphere.
There is reputation damage to control and trust to repair, and not just on the recruiting trail. More than just fans and media feel confused about why Kelly would consider leaving at all, let alone handle it as clumsily as he did. Kelly alienated much of the fan base he aroused with a 12-1 season. To many good people on and off Kelly’s campus, this felt less like a man trying to get ahead professionally and more like a personal betrayal. Nobody associated with Notre Dame appreciates one of their own wondering if somewhere else might be better, especially when it comes to football.
Say what you will about Notre Dame football but it remains a destination job offering all the power, money and impact any coach could want. No, it isn’t the NFL. It’s safer, and coaches can have more direct impact on the outcome of games and lives. Notre Dame hired Kelly because of his past as a winner but also because school officials believed he valued everything they did, because he considered working there the pinnacle of his profession. Now they know better. Now they know, as Kelly admitted in a statement, “like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL.”
Not exactly like Lou Holtz saying he wants to be buried on campus on a hillside overlooking Our Lady on the Golden Dome.
Ambitious coaches can explore career options without alienating so many people who support them. Ask Oregon’s Chip Kelly how. Just be forthright. Abandon ambiguity. Don’t be hard to find. In situations like Kelly just created, silence is deadly to credibility. The longer Kelly danced with the Eagles the more questions he created about his character.
If Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick was as confident as he sounded in a prepared statement that Kelly was staying all along, why not say so earlier before the image of his coach — and thus his football program — was harmed? The truth is Kelly left many people at Notre Dame and beyond waiting and wondering like the rest of us. He had every right to do so. Just as we now have every right to doubt everything Kelly says from this day forward no matter how sincere he sounds.
“This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country,” Kelly said in a statement.
The good news Notre Dame football fans: The coach who turned your program around well enough to play for a national title for the first time in 24 years will be back on the sidelines in 2013.
The bad news: The Lions might fire their coach after next season and many of those thoughts Kelly acknowledged having about the NFL probably popped into his head when he was coaching in the state of Michigan.
At least everybody should be prepared next time.
dhaugh@tribune.com
Twitter @DavidHaugh
Can’t wait to see who BK recruits with the last few remaining scholorships. We could use some DL depth.
THANK GOD. We over achieved this year and sad to say but it showed big time in the Championship game. Can’t wait to see what we bring to the table in the next few years when we play to our full potential. Good choice B. Kelly the backlash for him leaving would’ve have been pretty bad considering the student who died on the practice field and we STILL somehow didn’t fire him after that incident.
You need to shut up about that, Sal. How the hell is it that you know so much about that incident that you can say that Kelly deserved to get fired over it? If he did something he deserved to get fired for, he did something he deserved to get prosecuted for as well. It’s called negligent homicide. Trust me, there’s no love lost between the State of Indiana and Notre Dame, and they would like nothing better than to charge Kelly or anyone else at ND if they had the opportunity.
If you want to accuse Kelly of negligent homicide, then state your case, and bring your evidence. If not, then as I said, you need to shut up. Badly.
Did a little rooting around. Here’s a quote for you, from Declan Sullivan’s father:
“Not to say this could not have been prevented, but I don’t feel anybody knowingly acted recklessly and caused the accident. Or that anybody in the football program said, ‘We are willing to risk lives for the sake of Notre Dame football.’ I know that. I’m closer to it than anybody. I wish everyone would take my word for it.”
Exactly. All the haters who vomit up statement about Declan Sullivan like to conveniently ignore the results of the independent investigation, the findings of law enforcement, OSHA, the opinions of the Sullivan family etc.
As if they are really concerned with Declan Sullivan and are just SO passionate about student safety. Yeah, I’m sure that’s there motivation!
you guys are all being ridiculous. ND just went 12-0 but got crushed in the national championship and all you are doing is criticizing Kelly as a coach. If ND had gone 9-3 and then won in their bowl game, you would all be saying how good of a coach he is and how he turned the program around. Give him some credit. Anzalone was flopping no matter what and had already done it before.
Do some people on this board understand how much time BK has invested in this thing? The man was on vacation with his family!! That’s probably the most time he will get to spend with them the rest of the year. Jack was informed throughout. The only people who weren’t informed were the fans, reality check BK doesn’t owe us an explanation. Anzalone used this as an excuse to go public with decomitting. Otherwise he would have done what kiel did last year. I came on here and issued the warning that the media was going to report unfounded rumors and make assumptions of “real” interest on BK’s part. If you bought into all the reported BS and got yourself worked up then thats YOUR problem not BK’s. Like I said he handled it just fine as it concerns the people he works for. Remember when Jack said there was no hurry on extension? Doesn’t sound like the talk of a guy thats been kept in the dark about his coach’s looming decision.
GO IRISH
This is the nature of the beast. You guys have never looking into getting a better job ever? Put away the dress and heels. Your making this into a parent magazine woes me column. This is football!
Well, fact of the matter is, both sides had 40 days and 40 nights to settle this. However, Boys will be little boys! For you neophytes, gamesmanship negotiations is a very messy business! Oh, but gee, BK dissed us! No, this is the business enviroment ND has created with it’s track record period. Don’t like the methodology BK used? Swarbrick allowed it to happen! At anytime Swarbrick could have fired BK! Want to blame somebody? Blame Swarbrick “THE BOSS!”
Swarbrick had no problem firing CW in the media! An excellent protocol for setting down in private and discussing performance. Nah..we don’t want to embarrass the family do we? Hahahaha! Sure! Howbeit, I haven’t seen the business center advocating any seminars on this unique approach.
Furthemore, ND has been digging a hole for years on how they treat head football coaches. BK knew full well what he was getting into! It’s about time they get a dose of their own BS draconian approach. I kinda like the circus/drama approach! It might behoove the adminstrators to retake their own advocated business classes. Practice what we preach??? How dare they!
Lastly, for our wack-job exclusive ND prima donna club, yeah, I’m sure Nick Saban would cow-tow to ND and our infamously ungrateful fans! Hahahaha! What a bunch of dreamers.
Here come our beloved Irish!
Hard to prepare for Alabama when you are getting ready for your N.F.L.interview.
After reading the interview with Swarbrick, he knew about this and the players knew prior to the meeting. Itwas handled properly and extension for BK and raises for assistants is a good thing. Losing Anzalone is fine with me he wanted to be in Florida anyway. ND doesn’t need another Lynch to mess up team chemistry
Like he says.
One critique of Kelly as a coach meant more as a commentary on what to expect is this. Kelly has an ego. A pretty large one. That’s not necessarily bad as it drives him to succeed and mostly doesn’t seem to impede him. Once in a while things look a little shakey.
Like some pig headed calls on the field. One of you mentioned the Tulsa game. Or his impatience with the run game and tendency to abandon it. Or his politicing, like the events of this week.
We are going to have to expect Kelly’s approach to be thus: Meticulous game planning and preparation before a game. And in those instances where failure to do so is exposed, expect both Kelly and his assistants to learn for the next time. If he’s in a similar situation next year, I expect a better prepared Irish squad for the bowl game. What I don’t expect is for Kelly to be able to adjust to game time situations that go against his game plan. Unlike the Stanford coach, Holtz, and a few others, Kelly seems to be insulted when the game plan isn’t working and therefore isn’t emotionally ready to open his eyes and adjust. Holtz could see something and draw a play on the fly.
Finally, expect Kelly to stay and build an even better program. But see his personality and be able to deal with it. He will only be himself.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s a core of humility in a guy who stands up at halftime in the BCS championship game on national TV and basically says we’re getting schooled. After all, schooled is what we were getting.
Matt and Jack,
Matt is exactly right. Lou was run out. It was not a retirement. A power happy AD did it to him. Wadsworth told Lou at one of their early meetings that he wanted Lou out. With that move Mr. Wadsworth broke the link to Notre Dame’s glory years and it’s only now that we’ve gotten them back. Kelly is beginning to understand the depths of being Irish and now will know why ND needs to stay on top.
And any Notre Dame fan, player or coach when confronted by these haters should just say, “We know you hate us and we want to knock your block off. In fact we intend to knock your block off.”
But learning from Holtz’s experience, Kelly shouldn’t put blind faith in the AD because who knows who comes in after Swarbrick. Lou’s first AD was great. If Kelly wants to get to the goal for the love of Notre Dame, he needs to understand ND’s unique qualities and special mission. I think he does. But he also needs to protect the program, sometimes from others inside the machine. And so I don’t begrudge him this past week’s negotiating tactic. If it helps him and helps him retain assistants at his whim, then it’s the right thing to do.
As has been pointed out, we’re still paying Weis. ( I hope he’s putting that extra cash to Hannah’s House ).
Let’s think positive and maintain good energy because NDs detractors want us and those of our heritage to be gone. Circle the wagons folks.
Also if you are using the logic that he did this just as a ploy to get more money you are lying to yourself. He could have sat down in Jack’s office and said listen. Instead of going through this media circus let’s get a new contract signed and I’ll close the door for good on the NFL. But no he didn’t because he was thinking about the leaving and you will never convince me that his head and heart being in the NFL fantasy didn’t play a part in Monday nights butt kicking we got.
Reading the comments here maybe BK thought ND was the dream job until he realized how the fans are. Here’s a guy that just finished 12 and 1 and the fans are running him into the ground. Kelly’s a bad play caller,he says dumb things, he plays the wrong guys, etc. etc. The appreciation he gets is this criticism so maybe he thinks screw this place look what I did and they’re still not happy!!!!!
I’m not saying we should not want to win the national title every year, but at least we got a shot at it.
All this complaining is going to be worse for recruiting than BK thinking of going to the NFL. Why would kids go to ND when they know how the fans rip on a team and coach that was one game from the national title.
Maybe Lou and Ara would have stuck around a few more years if the fan base was more supportive. Instead we live through twenty years of underperforming teams. Keep it up ND fans…maybe we can get Bob Davie back to be our head coach.
Lou was run out of town before he could break Rockne’s records. They couldn’t stand a little man with a lisp being the new face of ND football.
As for BK he is digging his own grave. Any coach who doesn’t get the importance of a game in Dublin for ND is a wack job.
Everyone blindly following Kelly around is too blinded by ONE 12 win season. The man has disrespected the University, the players, and the fans. Anyone who says this is my dream job and I am not leaving to only turn around and take an interviews moments later isn’t someone we need on campus. Now every offseason it will be the same thing…that is IF he keeps winning.
Brian Kelly, by his greed and self centeredness, has taken a magic season and tarnished it for a business move. His contract was going to be torn up and redone but that wasn’t good enough for him. I will never trust him again. If I’m Swarbrick and Notre Dame, I’m lookin’. Brian Kelly’s days and seasons are numbered now. We have no idea who we can get or who would actually come. I hope the recruits don’t discover his crepe paper personality before they sign their LOI. What a garbage filled week!
The season is NOT tarnished. What has happened with the Incredible wins over Mich, Oklahoma, miami and on and on is memorable. We got there. It was not a great week . Kelly had bad timing and I question that. What do you want Swarbrick to do? Fire him , hire somebody just prior to signing day and hope that the puzzle fits? This would be a repeat of the bad cycle spun in motion by Wadworth and his little body Bob Davie and on and on. IT was a bad week. One bad week does NOT take away from a great season! Honestly. GO IRISH!
There are only a handful of college coaches who will have the chance to make it to the nfl. Most coaches won’t have the chance to even be considered. You guys are getting pissed off cause BK thought about getting a chance for a head coach ultimate dream? Since when is a coach bigger than a program? He decided to stay cause his heart was a notre dame. End of story! Let’s move forward stop your whining ladies.
Well, I hoped he liked his out of country vacation. I hope he is now ready to get back to work and pursue all the endeavors regarding his so called “dream job.” It’s hard to lose the cynicism regarding the business end of college football, even at the Dome.
Irish Fans United
Damn storespook,
You did it again! It’s all your fault! Hahahahaha!
Kelly,Soredick,and the whole university are just like the catholic faith: a bunch of hippocrits. They should all be fired. Since running Holtz out the whole ND tradition has gone to hell. Davie, Ham, Weis and now kelly not to mention Oleary. What a cluster fxck and joke this has been. Notre Dame in BCS games is not even like a box of chocolats; you know before the kick off they are going to get fudge packed. That purple faced mick should have been fired on Wed by Soredick. Then he should have ben fired on Thur. Fxck theee Notre Dame. And that is all I have to say about that.
I was going to remain silent onthis until I read your comment on “the whole Catholic faith. Every Church has its rotten eggs and every Church has its sinners who are trying to be saints living a life of conversion. Football is business whether it is at a State School or Catholic School. ( I wasn’t crazy about Kelly’s timing.)
That said, When referring to the Catholic Faith it is with a Capital C. When referring to the Universal Church in all Christians it is a lower case c. Furthermore, “hippocrits” is hypocrites. The other word sounding like hypocrite with an HI at the beginning of the word is in reference to the oath a physician takes. Please don’t blame the ENTIRE Catholic Faith on sports decisions based at Notre Dame –or any other Catholic University. Catholicism has educated the poor and has given more health care to folks of all ages, races and creeds without hesitation. Mother Teresa was a Catholic. Certainly you wouldn’t put her in the realm of hypocrite.Peace to all. PAX ET BONUM!
Why bother? He’s like, well, you know, Borat.
“And that is all I have to say about that.”
Promise?
I hate saying this! Whoo Hoo! Eagles Home Opener?? You might as well run nude through the Eagles stadium if you really want to be noticed. Further, 12-0 is 12-0 and every team who goes undefeated during the regular season is indeed pure luck. So what! The mighty Bama only went 11-1 during the regular season. Saban, Meyer, Stoops and many others have played the NFL card or “ND dream job card” so your dead wrong on testing the waters. So let’s be honest who’s the egotist? How many contracts have you signed old wise one?
I hate saying this but most of this season was luck. Gambling with two QB’s, goal line stands and a missed FG in OT. Listen I enjoyed every part of it but let’s be honest. The team overachieved caught a few breaks and ended up in the national title game. Besides the Oklahoma game he didn’t out coach anyone. BK’s arrogance is worse than Weis without a doubt and this little ego boost flirtation with the NFL shows just that. It cost us on the recruiting trail already and I think it will again on national signing day. I for one will be dressing in all Eagles gear for the home opener. I also hope Swarbrick starts the interview process with other coachs while Kelly has to sit and wait to see if he still has a job with ND. Turn the tables on some of these clowns and this stuff will stop happening.
Of course they overachieved; BK and Swarbrick were expecting title contention in 2013-14, not this season.
Schools lose recruits all the time, and not all recruits have the same mindset. Florida ended up getting Anzalone much like ND ended up with Kiel last year. Don’t get too spoiled. When all’s said and done, ND will likely end up with a top-five recruiting class that will provide even more talent for the defense, especially at linebacker and secondary.
The Irish will be BCS/playoff contenders for years to come.
“Turn the tables on some of these clowns and this stuff will stop happening.” Not much of a student of history, are you? 🙂 Think back, say, as far as Attila the Hun, and see if you really think that’s true. Oh, let me explain further: there’s always a wingnut out there that thinks that if the world were run his way it would be a better place, and runs around improving his position in one way or another just to help the world get with his program. Most of the world’s atrocities stem from this illusion.
Well, as I said, a deal was indeed in the works. I have full faith in BK to move us forward period. CW’s ego makes Kelly look like a choir boy. I was definately one of BK’s biggest detractors until 10 wins. Kelly certainly made major improvements this YEAR! Besides, this is NOT a personal talent contest! Just ask Ara and Lou. You either win or your gone! No different than anywhere else. Kelly has won so he deserves all that he can get for himself and his staff. Results talk, we were damn well in the conversation and damn well in the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!
This is a new dawn and a new day with BK in charge! Alabama did not break our souls or BK would have left. The march to a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP INDEED BEGINS TODAY! And I don’t want to hear from the wimpy-bleeding-heart-NICOMPOOPERY-CROWD! Weeeeee can’ttttt go undefeated again! WAH-WAH-WAH! Yeah, you damn well bet I expect A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP every year because WE ARE ND! For the uninitiated that’s always been the bar here!
Furthermore, I suspect based on the Bama game, Kelly and Co., will go out and acquire TWO KING KONG 6’5″ HYBRID-RUNNING-BACKS to BANG BACK ON BAMA! I am thrilled with our recruiting process and you got to be blind, dumb and stupid not to see where we are headed again! That Crystal Football Ball is coming to ND! Mark my words. Time to support our Head Coach!
Here come our beloved Irish!
Amen
Better find some lineman, defensive backs and defenders who don’t arm tackle. And I don’t see Golston leading your team to the promised land. OK and Stanford will be ready this fall.
So tell me beau,
Are you the step child nobody wants?
Hey is there anyone who can forward beau’s comments to the Coaching Office? They need to know of this salient advice.
“This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community . . . ”
—
Good. No need for a raise then, right?
I hope Swarbrick watches the NC game at least 5 more times before he decides to both, give Kelly a raise or extend his contract.
He will. Right after he watches all 12 wins during the regular season and then watches the previous 13 seasons of pure mediocrity and irrelevance.
Haha. Exactly right GoldenDomer. The shortsighted, myopic, truly absurd comments about Kelly on this site are astounding.
Loyalty and civility are things of the past. I personally don’t like Kelly’s timing of the Eagles interview, but I won’t castigate him because “it’s business”.
I wonder how many times the players at Notre Dame bailed Brian Kelly out this year.
Kelly is another blowhard, whos past successes went all the way to his head when he became the head football coach at Notre Dame. He reminds me of Charlie Weis.
I’m sure you wouldn’t be saying that had ND beat Alabama.
I have felt that way since the Tulsa game.
wake up and i’m pissed at kelly but don’t think for one second that weis did anything remotely as important as kelly in bringing back the program. he couldn’t beat one top 10 team. we did that a few times this year. not close
Reminds you of Weis other than the whole undefeated regular season, elite defensive recruiting, and beating USC 2 out of 3 years right? Considering Weis never did any of those things.
Doesn’t remind me of Weis. After all, he has a better record. Everyone talks smack about what a jerk Saban is, too, and he doesn’t remind me of Weis either. Weis reminds me of Wayne Fontes, if anyone still remembers who he is.
Brian Kelly lost a lot of trust with his following over the past week. He has a little more than 3 weeks to get the fire hot again and finish the recruiting strong. Get at least one of the big fish left on the board and make up for Anzalone. I am very excited for the future and cant wait til the 2013 season kicks off. GO IRISH!!!
Now that this episode is over, I just have one thought because I don’t remember anyone else bringing it up.
I really think Brian Kelly thought of ND as his dream job and didn’t come here as a stepping stone. The reason that this was his dream job is because I don’t think he was ever contacted by the NFL before. He might have thought about it, but until now, it wasn’t an option.
If all of the sudden you get a chance to coach at the highest level, why wouldn’t you at least take a look and see. Thankfully, he saw what he has at ND and decided to stay.
I really don’t look at this as a bone head move, but rather an opportunity that was created by success. Again, he decided to finish what he started and it’s time to move on.
…..but Notre Dame IS the highest level. Kelly was probably thinking that he could make a bunch of money and if he had even modest success in the NFL he could end up sitting next to Pork Face Satan on Fox NFL Sunday far into his twilight years.
IS the highest level….not in football. 0-4 in BCS games.
Notre Dame couldn’t beat even a below average professional team. So the statement that ND is the highest level (BCS game record or not) doesn’t have to do with their ability to play football.
Because, as we all know, ND fans don’t really care about football.
you’re playing both sides with this argument. is ND or is ND not his dream job? you can’t play levels of a dream job to justify it. we really don’t know what happened? was he offered a job? did he not get enough money? was it a leverage move? in no case does it look like ND was a dream job. If it was, he wouldn’t jeopardize it being told he would get another extension and raise by swarbrick before the dalliance
Totally AGREE. Just like his game plans and play calling. Sometimes, we get a masterpiece like at Oklahoma and sometimes we get a dud like last Monday night. Also, when is Kelly going to fix the special teams. Hate to say this but unless Kelly drastically improves as a play caller, game planner and utilizies his offensive talent to the max Notre Dame will be good not great.
I agree with you both, SLS and pete.
He just went 12-0 and took ND to its first National Championship game in over 20 years. Kelly inherited a hunk of junk and kept that car humming all season. It needs a few tune ups yet, but this team has already drastically improved.
Brian Kelly has done a lot of great things and has made tremendous progress at Notre Dame, but every once in a while, he’ll pull a rock head move. It was either last year or the year before when ND wasn’t playing well that he said some disparaging comments regarding his Charlie Weis-recruited players, thus alienating those players and causing division within the locker room. This past year, he built this team to a 12-0 record, corralled a number one recruiting class, and earned a spot in the national championship game. Then ND was clobbered in the national championship game, which has surely left the state of the football program in some doubt for recruits. Kelly’s interview cast more doubt on the football program. I’m sure that the poor showing in the national championship paired with Kelly’s interview played some part in the loss of Anzalone, and it may cause those 4-star, currently uncommitted recruits to not choose ND, as well. Kelly just befuddles me sometimes.
A very perceptive comment, SLS. Don’t forget about the pass into the end zone in the Tulsa game, or benching Dane Crist permanently in favor of Tommy Rees after the first half of the first game of the season.
plus 1 on this. handled horribly but it’s the best we have
Win 12 games and you are the hero. Get your tail kicked for 4 quarters by Alabama and you become a goat.
I wonder how sales of the ND undefeated season are going?
While some may see Kelly’s remarks from the previous year (calling out players publicly) as disparaging and alienating, I saw them as pushing the right buttons to get players to step up, pull together, and display some heart and leadership.
While some see the Kelly / NFL inteview as one that cast doubt in the minds of recruits, word of him staying and now getting a contract extension for himself and his assistants displays long tearm stability for him, his staff, and the program.
That should ease the concerns of any recruit.
Perhaps a show of confedence in allowing Tommy Rees to go for the TD three years ago agianst Tulsa, helped him and the team, to go undefeated in the regular season THIS year.
Maybe it’s better to root out a weak link now, than to waste an important scholarship on a player who was always wishy-washy and would have probably transfered anyway.
Isn’t nice to know that the majority of recruits stood behind the school dispite the rumors of it’s head coach?
Perhaps some are befuddled for no other reason than bias, hate, ignorance, and short sightedness.
I used to think Brian Kelly was sincere when he said that Notre Dame was unique. But in the past week he treated Notre Dame like just another stepping-stone to the NFL.
He is a talented coach. We are fortunate to have his services until a better offer comes along.