Notre Dame University is one of the most sought-after college football jobs in the country. It’s right up there with Alabama, Michigan, USC, Ohio State, and Florida. However, Brian Kelly, who’s been there for over a decade, decided to go to LSU this week. Kelly’s leaving a school that’s near the top four in the country every year. Their only loss this year was to a top-four team. Now, his task is beating better competition every Saturday just to get to the playoff. Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher, and Lane Kiffin are all in the SEC. Steve Sarkisian and Texas will be in the SEC soon. Oklahoma is also coming.
At Notre Dame, Kelly was in the top 10 in the country before resigning. He didn’t have to go through Saban or Smart to get there. He got to go through Wisconsin, Florida State, North Carolina, and Stanford. People will respect him for going to a tougher conference instead of taking the easier route as Lincoln Riley did. However, the easier route would’ve increased his chances of winning a championship, which he hasn’t done. With this said, it’s still fine he went to LSU. He’s getting 95 million dollars. Good for him. The act of Kelly going to LSU isn’t the problem.
It’s the Way He Left
When someone spends twelve years at a legendary football school, they’re like God. They could run for mayor and probably win. High schoolers are dreaming of playing there. So you’d think if the coach ever decided to leave, they’d have some class as they were leaving. That’s not how Kelly was thinking. He saw the money and ghosted his school. He couldn’t care less about them actually. So much so that Kelly was at a recruit’s house right before the news broke. Imagine how that kid felt when he saw the news. ‘Come to my program that I’m about to leave in five minutes is what Kelly had to have been thinking when he was talking to that kid. How about his coaches? One was inside a kid’s home recruiting for Kelly when the news broke:
This is usually how these things go, but Brian Kelly has ghosted everyone at Notre Dame. Just spoke to one assistant who saw reports on his phone tonight as he was exiting a recruit's home: "The news broke when I walked out of the house, so I look like a f—– a–hole."
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 30, 2021
Oh, and he left before the season even ended! Notre Dame is number six in the playoff standings right now. Alabama, Cincinnati, and Michigan could all lose and Notre Dame would be in a position to be in the playoff with one loss. Not anymore when they don’t have a head coach. Kelly didn’t care. He cared about getting ahead in recruiting instead of finishing out the season with the team he’d led for the last year.
Two Minutes? That’s It?
To make matters worse, Kelly didn’t let his players know he was leaving them before the news got out. His players got to read on Twitter that their coach was leaving them for a competitor. When Kelly arrived at Notre Dame to speak to his players (at 7:00 a.m. by the way), it couldn’t have gone worse. You’d think he would’ve sat there all day and explained why he was leaving. After all, those were the kids that went to Notre Dame to play for him. But he couldn’t. Why? Because he’s classless. Kelly spoke for a grand total of two minutes before walking out. Two minutes! Two! And he didn’t allow the players to ask questions.
Multiple sources indicated that Brian Kelly’s address to the team on Tuesday morning lasted less than two minutes, then he turned around and walked out. He did not take questions from the players.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 30, 2021
Who does that? The players are why he is one of the best coaches in the country. They’re the ones who’re scoring points and putting their bodies at risk. They’re the ones who went to play for him over Saban or Smart. And to not let them ask why you’re leaving them? TMZ said it perfectly on Tuesday. “Imagine finding out you’re getting broken up with from social media, getting confirmation of the split via text … and then having to wake up at 7 AM to get officially dumped with in person,” the site read.
That’s the ultimate example of a classless, selfish coach. To clarify, he’s not classless because he took the 95 million dollars. He’s classless because he lied to a recruit’s face the day he went to LSU. He’s classless because he spent 120 seconds talking to the very people he was turning his back on and leaving in the dust while they literally have a chance at still making the playoff. I hope when Kelly’s in the houses of recruits in the future, those families think about who they’re sending their child to. The coach who clearly didn’t care about his players at Notre Dame.
Imagine if Kelly Was in the Students’ Families Shoes
Imagine if Kelly’s son was a four-star recruit and the head coach of his son’s dream school came into their home and told Kelly he’d take good care of his kid. Then months later, that coach switches schools before the season ends and then doesn’t let Kelly’s son ask him any questions about his choice to leave that school’s program. How would Kelly feel? Pretty betrayed, huh? Backstabbed? I bet. Perhaps if Kelly was a parent of a four-star recruit, he would’ve acted differently. This situation should have been handled better. Kelly should be ashamed of himself.
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One Response
The only thing I would have done differently is stay to coach the bowl game. He did the same thing with Cincinatti. And I said then, that he’ll never win a national championship because of that one little thing. However, as far as going to LSU, I see no fault. Notre Dame was paying him far less than other top coaches, but also, less than many coaches with teams who will never come close to the playoffs. He’s older, more experienced, and going to LSU might also include a national championship, because they’re paying the staff competitively. That’s where college football has gone.