:: Notre Dame Football ::
Notre Dame hires Brian Kelly as new head football coach
Leprechaun Express: Notre Dame Football Intel Update, Dec. 10, 2009
The University of Notre Dame has announced that it is hiring Brian Kelly, former head coach at Cincinnati, as Notre Dame's 29th head football coach. Kelly led Cincinnati to a 12-0 record and #3 ranking in 2009, but will not be coaching the Bearcats in their Sugar Bowl appearance.
Notre Dame will be holding a formal press conference to introduce Kelly as their new coach at 1:30 PM ET on Dec. 11, 2009. [click here for link to live press conference video, when available; requires free und.com registration and MS Silverlight free download]
Thanks to outgoing coach Charlie Weis and his staff, Notre Dame has one of the most talent-laden programs in college football, also well-schooled in technique, and well-conditioned. The same rising expectations that, prematurely in the eyes of many, led to Weis's departure, could place Kelly under even more pressure than usual.
Expectations will be high for Kelly's first year, and one former Irish legend commented in a telephone interview on television that we will know next year whether or not Kelly will work out. The implication of that sentiment would be that Kelly would be judged definitively by one year.
Several key challenges facing Kelly in the immediate future will be:
:: establishing his coaching staff
:: hanging onto committed recruits for national signing day in a few months, and trying to add more
:: hanging onto existing players
:: addressing how to strengthen the defense
:: addressing how to replace key starters on offense, especially at quarterback
Then, when fall rolls around, Kelly will be facing challenges not known to any other coach. In addition to playing one of the nation's toughest schedules, Notre Dame plays what might be the only truly national schedule. Every opponent is good or excellent, every game is on television (or pseudo-television, like ESPN, where only roughly half the households in America even get cable), and every opponent gets up for Notre Dame like it's a bowl game.
Notre Dame's first six opponents are all good enough to beat Notre Dame. Their next six are about half and half. Half are good enough to beat Notre Dame, and the other half might be good enough to upset Notre Dame if they play the games of their lives.
Kelly, has been a head coach for most of his coaching career, preceded by roles as a defensive assistant, all at the college level. Some sources suggest that as a head coach he has become an offensive innovator, but his previous background was on defense.
After playing and coaching for Assumption College in his home state of Massachusetts, most of Kelly's coaching career was at Div. II Grand Valley State in Michigan, before spending three years at Central Michigan of the MAC and three years at Cincinnati of the Big East.
Kelly was a linebacker at Assumption, then spent four years as a defensive assistant coach and softball coach at Assumption. At Grand Vallye State, a Div. II program in Michigan, Kelly served 17 years, four as a defensive graduate assistant and assistant coach, and 13 as head coach, including two Div. II national championships.
In three years at Central Michigan, Kelly went 4-7, 6-5 and 9-4, in his last year winning the MAC and earning a bid to a minor bowl that he did not coach in because he was bolting for Cincinnati.
At Cincinnati, a program built up for a decade by former Notre Dame defensive coach Rick Minter, and then for another five years by current Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio, Kelly went 10-3, 11-3, and 12-0.
2-1 in bowls, 0-1 in BCS bowls, has left teams right before bowl game twice in four years
Kelly also won two minor bowl games, one of which he inherited right after being hired to replace Dantonio when Dantonio left for a higher profile position at Michigan State. In 2008 Kelly lost in the Orange Bowl to Virginia Tech in a somewhat noncompetive performance. In 2009, Kelly once again will not be coaching in his team's bowl because, once again, he is bolting after three years.
Next on Kelly's agenda: coaching staff, recruiting, public speaking
Kelly's first order of business will be to establish his coaching staff. While various reports refer to Kelly as an offensive innovator, in reality his previous background, as seen above, was with defense. Nevertheless, Cincinatti's defensive numbers in 2008 were not really noticeably better than Notre Dame's, despite playing an easier schedule.
Notre Dame already loses one of the best offensive coaches in football with the departure of Charlie Weis, who coordinated the Irish top-10 offense including what was probably the best passing offense in college football. Weis also served as de facto quarterbacks coach.
Rob Ianello, with Weis, developed some of the best wide receivers in college football, such as Jeff Samardzija, Maurice Stovall, Golden Tate, and Michael Floyd. He is leaving to become the new head coach at Akron.
Meanwhile, Bernie Parmalee, with Weis, developed some of the best tight ends in college football, such as Anthony Fasano, John Carlson, and Kyle Rudolph. Do not be surprised if Kelly tries to retain Parmalee.
Kelly's offensive staff at Cincinnati was a bit of a hodge-podge. One coach might be a long-time Kelly affiliate, while another might be someone who spent the previous season as the basketball strength coach.
More problematic will be how to handle defensive coaching. The defenses of both Notre Dame and Cincinnati gave up a lot of yards in 2009.
In back-to-back games against Connecticut, the Cincinnati defense gave up 38 points to the Huskies, and Notre Dame gave up 13 points in regulation. In both games, Connecticut scored a special teams touchdown, so that Cincinnati gave up 45 points, while Notre Dame gave up 20 points in regulation (in a game that went into double-overtime).
Also looming large for Kelly will be recruiting, an area in which his performance has not been even close to the consistent top-10 performance of Weis, with help from Ianello (in last year's incoming class, while some services rated Notre Dame lower, man-by-man they were indeed part of a top-10 cluster). Since Weis left Notre Dame, one top recruit decommited but another commited. Kelly will have to hang onto the 18 he has, and show whether he can bring in additional top talent.
Another challenge for Kelly will be the media spotlight. Already in recent days, Kelly has had a few gaffes that would not play well as a Notre Dame coach. For example, in an interview with ESPN, he used the Name of God as an exclamatory phrase to lead into an answer. That kind of slang, disrespectful of the Almighty, would raise eyebrows coming from a Notre Dame student, or a Notre Dame player, let alone a Notre Dame official or coach.
Kelly undoubtedly will feel the media spotlight like never before as coach of the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame Football resource links
:: Brian Kelly Named 29th Head Football Coach At Notre Dame: New Fighting Irish coach will be introduced Friday at 1:30 p.m. (EST) in press conference at Guglielmino Athletics Complex., Notre Dame Football release with resource links
Keywords: Notre Dame Football, Brian Kelly, Coaching Change, Coaching Hire and Fire, Swarbrick
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