Brian Kelly says he'll 'absolutely' be back at Notre Dame. But will he?
LOS ANGELES — Brian Kelly sat at the podium with a poised demeanor and his arms folded.
Notre Dame had just lost its eighth game of the season, this time 45-27 to No. 12 Southern Cal. The Fighting Irish finished with a 4-8 record, marking the 14th losing season in program history.
After discussing a timetable to conduct player and coach exit interviews this week, plus potential staff changes, Kelly was asked a pointed question.
“Do you want to be back as the Notre Dame coach in 2017?” a reporter called out.
“Absolutely,” he said assuredly. “I’ll be back.”
But will he?
For the majority of the season, fans have been clamoring for a new coach. They tweet about his sideline demeanor and play calling, and campaigned on social media for Notre Dame to hire Les Miles after he was fired by LSU.
Notre Dame's Kelly: 'Absolutely. I'll be back'
Gossip in the college football world has mirrored what the fans want: Is Kelly getting fired? Four wins coupled with NCAA sanctions would be difficult for anyone to withstand. But then again, Kelly has kept his job despite the death of videographer Declan Sullivan, who fell when the scissor lift on which he was standing at football practice collapsed due to high winds in 2010. Kelly was retained despite the 2010 suicide of Lizzy Seeberg, a student at St. Mary’s College who had said she was allegedly sexually assaulted by a then-Notre Dame starting defensive player. Kelly also survived five of his players being arrested after police discovered marijuana and a handgun in their car right before this season began.
Kelly has gotten past these very public and highly-criticized moments. He's certainly had success on the field: The Irish played for a national championship in 2012, his third season in South Bend, and they were one win away from potentially playing in the College Football Playoff in 2015.
But now Kelly isn’t winning. Last Tuesday, the NCAA released findings that a former student trainer violated rules when she helped eight football players commit academic fraud. As punishment, the NCAA is vacating 21 wins from Notre Dame’s 2012 and ’13 seasons. The university is appealing the decision.
When asked what culpability the coach has in this situation, Kelly had this to say:
“Zero,” he said. “None. Absolutely none.”
After the loss to Stanford in October, which put Notre Dame at 2-5, athletic director Jack Swarbrick gave Kelly a vote of confidence in an interview with ESPN. He said that Kelly “will lead this team out of the tunnel on opening day next year.”
Saturday night after Notre Dame’s season officially ended, Kelly told reporters in front of Swarbrick — who walked into the room with his arm around his coach — that he wanted to come back next season.
About an hour later, Yahoo reported Kelly had reached out through representatives to “explore coaching options outside Notre Dame.”
In response to that, Kelly released the following statement early Sunday morning:
"I felt that I was clear with the media following yesterday's game at USC when I was asked about my desire to be back as the head football coach at Notre Dame, but in light of media reports that surfaced afterward, let me restate my position. I have not been, am not, and will not be interested in options outside of Notre Dame. I'm fully committed to leading this program in the future."
Let's take a step back and look at the options for Swarbrick and Kelly.
If Kelly wants to leave, where would he go? Options right now are limited in college football. As far as top jobs, Texas fired Charlie Strong on Saturday morning and immediately hired Houston's Tom Herman. LSU hired interim head coach Ed Orgeron. Current openings include Purdue, Houston and Baylor, none of which would seem to be likely landing spots for someone who spent seven seasons at Notre Dame. However, there’s speculation that Oregon, Texas A&M and UCLA could be available in the near future. Would Kelly be interested in any of those? Or perhaps an NFL opportunity will arise.
If Swarbrick wanted Kelly gone, who would he hire? The biggest unemployed names on the market right now are Strong and Miles. Swarbrick would probably need to lure a coach away from another school if Kelly quit — perhaps James Franklin, Dan Mullen, Chris Petersen or Dana Holgorsen would make the list.
According to Notre Dame’s most recently available federal tax return, Kelly was making $1.6 million during the 2014 calendar year. Back in January, he agreed to six-year contract extension that runs through the 2021 season.
In seven seasons at Notre Dame, Kelly is 59-31 (pre-vacation of wins), but is 15-15 in his last 30 games. The Irish will not play in a bowl game for the first time since 2009, Charlie Weis’ final year in which the team went 6-6.
Kelly has painted the perception that he wants to come back to Notre Dame, while the school has expressed similar feelings But do the two really want to be together?