Notre Dame has not been at the top of college football for years and with their newest coach, Brian Kelly, Notre Dame may languish in relative obscurity for another five years. Brian Kelly has amassed a winning record coaching teams such as Division II Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and his last stop Cincinnati. His record since beginning his coaching career is a healthy 171-57-2. Now he enters into competition with the upper echelon of college coaches.
Kelly Capitalized on Central Michigan's Winning Ways to Land the Cincinnati Bearcat Job
Kelly had the best of both worlds when he arrived in Cincinnati. He arrived as a winning coach out of Central Michigan and the Cincinnati Bearcat team he assumed control of had some outstanding players already on their roster. Kelly led the Cincinnati Bearcats to a 9-3 record and was voted Coach of the Year in the Big East.
Over the course of the next two seasons, Brian Kelly led his Cincinnati team to two consecutive Big East titles over Pittsburgh and West Virgina. Kelly's final season as coach was an undefeated regular season that ended with a crushing defeat by a much more athletic Florida team, featuring Tim Tebow. Kelly was not present for the defeat, he had already signed on to coach the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Brian Kelly's Recruiting Will Need to Improve While at Notre Dame
Kelly's two recruiting classes for Cincinnati were not rated highly even in his own conference. The Pro Football Scouts website rated Kelly's recruits the fifth and eight best recruiting classes in the Big East. With Kelly coming into Notre Dame, the school name alone should increase his success.
Kelly will now be competing with powers such as Florida, Ohio State and Texas when it comes to recruiting. The academic standards of a school like Notre Dame will present enough problems for Kelly but competing with ruthless recruiters for the same players is something Kelly may not be prepared for.
Brian Kelly as the Decision Maker
Biran Kelly's decision making skills were called into question several times during his undefeated regular season. Kelly is a bit hot headed and it does cloud his judgment. In a critical game late in the year, Kelly benched his starting quarterback Tony Pike after an interception and then reinstated him in the same game.
The decision of Kelly benching Pike is not the problem. Reversing himself sent the wrong message to his team at that moment. Pike went on to win the game but the inconsistency was something his players would not forget.
Kelly and the Notre Dame Alumni May Not See Eye to Eye
One of the reasons Charlie Weis was so despised at Notre Dame was his attitude towards the alumni. It remains to be seen if Kelly will learn from Weis' mistakes but the two are similar in their football first attitude.
Kelly has several tasks to perform as the Notre Dame head coach. He will have to improve his recruiting skills while meeting the strict Notre Dame guidelines. He will also have to balance his social engagements with alumni and his interaction with the local media. Last of all, Kelly will have to show improvement on the football field and get Notre Dame to it's first meaningful bowl game in years. Not too much to ask from the first year coach, is it?
Todd Jacobs - Todd Jacobs is a freelance writer with publishing credits including USA Today, Orange County Register and Speed TV.
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