Notre Dame hires Brian Kelly to be next head coach, Cincinnati players upset
According to ESPN.com, Notre Dame signed Brian Kelly to a five-year deal to become the school’s next head coach. Kelly will not coach Cincinnati when the program takes on Florida in the Sugar Bowl early next month.
The news didn’t play well with Kelly’s current team. Bearcat players were led into a meeting room, where Kelly told them he was leaving and thanked them for making his opportunity possible. One minute into the meeting, the door opened and receiver Mardy Gilyard walked out angry and alone, save his MVP trophy.
“He went for the money,” Gilyard told The Associated Press. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation, that they let it last this long.”
Players weren’t told of Kelly’s decision until the banquet ended, nearly three hours after the news first broke. A few blinked back tears as they left.
“We already knew what he was going to say. We weren’t giving him a round of applause or anything,” tight end Ben Guidugli said. “It’s like somebody turned their back on us. We brought this whole thing this far. We’ve come this far. To have someone walk out now is disappointing.”
Kelly did the exact same thing to his former players at Central Michigan before their bowl game in 2006 after the Chippewas won the MAC Championship. And just like in 2006 when he coached CMU in its bowl game, offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn will fill in for Kelly at the Sugar Bowl.
None of this should surprise anyone seeing as how Kelly and Notre Dame spoke last week. Kelly has won everywhere he’s been and that’s exactly what the Irish seek right now: A winner. He turned Grand Valley State into a D-II powerhouse, brought a MAC championship to Mt. Pleasant and made Cincinnati a national title contender. He has become the hottest name in college football and if his track record is any indication of how he’ll do in South Bend, he’ll be very successful turning the Notre Dame program around.
That said, it’s disappointing that yet another college coach turned his back on his players to advance his career. But that’s reality. Players come and go every four years (or less) and coaches have to job hop in order to further their careers. It’s not an ideal format, but I get it.
Kelly will have his work cut out for him. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate (ND’s best players) have decided to enter April’s NFL draft and the Irish are void of talent on the defensive side of the ball. But again, if there’s one man that can turn around Notre Dame’s misfortunes, it might just be Kelly.
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Posted in: College Football
Tags: 2010 Sugar Bowl, Brian Kelly, Brian Kelly backstabs Cincinnati, Brian Kelly ditches Cincinnati, Brian Kelly hired by Notre Dame, Brian Kelly Notre Dame, Brian Kelly sucks, Cincinnati Bearcats, Florida vs. Cincinnati, Headlines, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Notre Dame hires Brian Kelly, Notre Dame next head coach
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this is unbelievable that the great school of ND would hire a coach that would leave his playrs in the dust for his own well being. shame on him and shame on ND for hiring him. Curse to ND remember the bosox when they traded BR.
I hope ND goes 0-fer next season. This is pathetic.
Anthony, don’t make me pull up the dossier on that defense which is void of talent …
Kelly is going to be working with more talent at Notre Dame than he’s ever seen.
(You had to know I was going to chime in on this)
Ha – glad you did, The Costanzo!
I was speaking in terms of an overall lack of talent on that side of the ball, although “void” of talent might have been a little harsh. Void of “overall team speed” and “lacking the fundamentals” may have been more appropriate. (I’m sorry, but fundamentals didn’t seem to rank high on Charlie’s to-do list when he was there.)
I agree on the fundamentals, and you know I was just busting your balls.
There’s some talent on the D-Line, but no difference maker, which is a problem. Although Ethan Johnson was a highly touted DE coming out of high school, too bad they have him playing as an undersized DT. And incoming freshman Louis Nix should be studly at some point. The linebackers are actually good and athletic, but ask Ray Lewis how much fun it is to play LB without a D-Line.
The secondary has some good pieces: Gary Gray can be studly with some good coaching, Darrin Walls was before his year off, now he’s horrible. Robert Blanton will be good with some coaching. The young guys, Jamoris Slaughter (S), Dan McCarthy (S), E.J. Banks (S) have potential. With the right coach, they could be an average defense, which is all that this year’s team needed to go from 6-6 to 10-2/11-1/12-0 (seriously).
And mark my words, Dayne Crist is going to be the man at quarterback, especially under Kelly. He’s Tony Pike with twice the talent.
I’m not calling for a national title or anything next year for ND, but Kelly should be able to come in right away and compete for a win in every game against the schedule the Irish have (somehow, it’s easier than this year).
I know you were!
I thought Notre Dame’s defensive scheme was more aggressive than people gave it credit for. They blitzed a fair amount, but like you said, they lacked that game-changing difference maker.
I think Kelly gets Notre Dame on track within 1-2 years depending on how his recruiting pans out. The job he did keeping Cincinnati afloat this year without Pike playing the entire season was remarkable.
That said, nothing is a sure thing – especially at ND, as you know. Perhaps the good thing is that Kelly won’t be looking for the next big thing and jet after three years. You never know, but I can’t see him bolting for the SEC or the NFL anytime soon. I think if he turns Notre Dame into a winner, he’ll be set.
He just cashed in on his “Payday!” His career, however, will now be in limbo for 3-4 years. (The lifetime of an ND coach.) They recruit Scholars at ND, not Athletes, and until that changes ND is just a driveby for coaches looking for the prestige of being there, and a huge 401k.
This was a great hire for Notre Dame. They picked a winner.
Great choice. Look forward to watching ND get back in the BCS race again.
great job ND! my buddy is a ND and a Cubs fan, he just sets himself up for dissapointment with both
“They recruit Scholars at ND, not Athletes, and until that changes”
So should teams like ND, Duke, and Stanford lower their standards or should the NCAA raise theirs? Go watch the “Outside the Lines” piece from this morning on Florida State, then tell me what you think.
Yeah, Kelly is a real quality guy. As the players he recruited wait to play in a bowl game, he bolted on them. ND would be demanding an NCAA investigation if another team did the same to them.
Anthony, I understand the job hopping as well. What I don’t get is the timing. You coach these kids all season long, preach “team” and “loyalty”, then before the biggest game of the season, you leave a giant turd in the locker room on your way out the door. It’s one thing if your season is over. It’s quite another when you leave a job you haven’t finished yet. The fact that he did this before just makes him a hypocritical dirtbag.
The system sucks. Coaches have no loyalty, yet players have to stick around after the join a program and the coach leaves.
Programs should not be permitted to approach coaches until the bowl game is over. If that screws up recruiting, then too bad.
The only thing I disagree with is Grand Valley State is NCAA Division II not III as stated in the article. Kelly DID do the same thing to his players at CMU, so no one should be really surprised. The bottom line is Kelly is a winning coach but when push comes to shove, he puts his own interests above the team and in my opinion, that is the epitome of a LOSER!
I’m Irish & have loved ND football for years however i hope they never win another game. First of all what a classless act in hiring a coach away from a 12-0 team- yes Kelly is a sellout, he feed his team a line of crap a mile long then quit & snuck out the back door from the football banquet.He bold faced lied to the team, what kind of person do this- how much money does Kelly need? he lived in Terras Park in Cincinnati when the fans could only take out their anger by throwing 400 dozen eggs at his home (I think the sponcers of Cincinati football donated the eggs) now his house smells just like Bryan-rotten to the core. ND your teams voted not to play in a bowl game because your program has sucked for so many years you dont know what class is anymore. So enjoy Kelly the mini Charlie Weiss- at least Charlie spoke the truth to the so called media- <aybe someone should teach Kelly how to pronounce the schools name– PS. Collensworth I hope your kids gets what he deserves at ND- just like Kelly your kids a sellout!
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