The Brian Kelly Spectrum
by Mike Coffey
This originally was a post on Rock’s House, but I figured the more info the better.
First, let’s establish where you were on Monday night before all this happened:
(a) I liked Brian Kelly as a hire originally and still like him
(b) I liked Brian Kelly as a hire originally but now have my doubts
(c) I didn’t like Brian Kelly as a hire originally, but feel better about him now
(d) I didn’t like Brian Kelly as a hire originally and still don’t
Now, how has the last week affected you?
(1) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles doesn’t bother me at all. This is a business and he has a right to look out for himself. He’ll probably do it again, and it won’t bother me then either.
(2) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles doesn’t bother me at all. This is a business and he has a right to look out for himself. He’ll probably do it again, and it won’t bother me then either as long as he keeps winning.
(3) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles right now doesn’t bother me at all. This is a business and he has a right to look out for himself. But if he makes a habit out of this, it’s going to bother me.
(4) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles bothers me. I understand this is a business and he has a right to look out for himself, but when you interview for your next job at the first sign of success at your current job, it doesn’t make your current job look very good. I’m willing to look past this one, but if he does it again, it’s going to affect how I feel about him.
(5) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles bothers me. I understand this is a business and he has a right to look out for himself, but when you interview for your next job at the first sign of success at your current job, it doesn’t make your current job look very good. This has affected how I feel about him, and I don’t hold him in as high regard as I did before.
(6) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles bothers me. I don’t care if this is a business, ND coaches are expected to be better than the rest. I’m willing to look past this one, but if he does it again, it’s going to affect how I feel about him.
(7) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles bothers me. I don’t care if this is a business, ND coaches are expected to be better than the rest. This has affected how I feel about him, and I don’t hold him in as high regard as I did before.
(8) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles pisses me off. I don’t care if this is a business, ND coaches are expected to be better than the rest. He may win going forward, but he’s lost me personally.
(9) Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles pisses me off. I don’t care if this is a business, ND coaches are expected to be better than the rest. Jack should have fired him rather than let him string ND along for four days.
Responses in the comment, por favor.
a, 3
8 (b). The ‘get use to it’ attitude, stupid play calling year #1 costing a win against a nobody team, ‘not my guys’ after the USC debacle in ’11, not playing Hughes (more)..this one is it..during national cahmpionship week Kelly is thinking abount interviewing for the NFL ??? Kelly’s time at ND does not end well…we will see more of the same.
Closest description is #5 but the part that bothers me the most is his unavailability for several days after the interview. You would have to be living under a rock to think the story wasn’t going to leak out and it was inexcusable to leave staff, players and recruits in limbo at a critical time in the recruiting cycle especially after the BCS debacle. If he gets new contract extension it had better be one with a big buyout if he leaves before the end of the contract so ND’s opponents in the recruiting war don’t continue to use this against us every year .
C4…a rather explosive point of view…GO IRISH!!!
a,3
a, 2
a, 3
I liked Kelly as a hire,but his actions and comments on and off the field have shown he has no loyalty to his players or Notre Dame.I agree it will not end well for Kelly at ND.
a, 5
Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles was a ploy. We should hear shortly that Kelly will receive a contract extension with a nice raise. He was NEVER going to the Eagles.
My selections on the “spectrum” are (b), 5. But the justification for it is a bit more compliated…I’m not upset that the man wants to explore other possibilities. I’m upset that the timing of the interview makes it seem as though this exploration was already in the works when the team was being asked to focus exclusively on game prep, and most of all, I’m upset because it smacks of hypocrisy – when the same coach has requested that his staff communicate with him about any opportunities they want to explore ahead of time. When you interview and then take off to an ‘undisclosed location out of the country,’ and leave colleagues and players in the lurch – that’s what really dissapoints.
A5
Between a & b. On 3. I am 69 and this does bother me but as long as he keeps on winning – you gotta do what you gotta do.
When is this going to go away so we can start arguing about the recruits?
a) Kelly was clearly the best choice when we got him. He had success on the college level, which is something we couldn’t say since the Holtz days (Willingham didn’t have the success Kelly had). And I still like him, meaning, he’s still the fit for ND. (You could read this as, who the heck else are we gonna hire in mid January and still lock up the current class?)
5) This absolutely has to bother any Irish fan. The day after our team looks pathetic in the TITLE GAME, one we’ve waited 24 years for, the next friggin day, he’s already looking to “better deal” us? After 3 years? With the No. 1 class on the way? With his comments on Saturday before the game when now we know that he and Swarbrick already new about the Eagles’ interest? Further, there’s NO WAY he didn’t have this scheduled when he made those comments.
How can you not feel sick as ND fan after watching our team look so poorly on the biggest stage the day before? And when Swarbrick already had put other there the extension talks for Kelly and his staff, and that those conversations began in December? There was no need for leverage, no ploy for a bigger contract: this was all about interest in the NFL. To do so, at this time, is incredibly poor form.
A-4. Good summary.
Jury’s still out on BK – plenty of good mixed w/ some bad, on the field & off. Bottom line to me is that intent behind an action is hard to judge, especially w/out time & history to fully put things in perspective. If he stays another decade/till retirement, winning the right way & not taking another interview that whole time… then it’s easy enough to look back at the Philly interview and shrug it off. If he signs a new deal w/ ND, then bolts for the NFL after next year, then it’s easy to look back & call him a d-bag.
If I had to predict now, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt & say his intentions likely weren’t too bad, but his handling of it all was poor. He’s still learning. What’d Holtz say about things never being as good or as bad as they seem?
a,3
Over the years I have had several calls from “competitors” asking me to join them, and as a courtesy–and learning experience–I have agreed, in some cases (not all) to have a meeting to discuss. It doesn’t mean I was yearning to move on up to the East side. Without access to the brain of Kelly, I don’t know what his total motivation was. He seems to portray it as, a pro organization said, come and take a look because we like you, and he took a look. Now, maybe the truth was, he wanted the Eagles job so bad it hurt, but we have no way of knowing. His explanation has to be taken at face value, because it’s very plausible.
My answer: a modest “a,” and then 2/3 (I think 2 and 3 are not mutually exclusive).
a, 7
b, 7,8 If he wants the NFL, leave now. The timing of the interview was horrendous. He’s two-faced and I no longer trust him. Saturday leaving was not an option, Monday during the game he knew where he would be the next day. I feel for the players, recuits, asst. coached….now each year it will be speculation that he leaves.
a,4.
I do give him the benefit of the doubt because he made so many references to wanting to have records like Stoops or Saban, re longevity. But there is no doubt that the optics of this were bad.
B, 5
I have never doubted Kelly’s coaching ability, but I have doubted his character. College ball is a game of the heart more than NFL ball is. It bothers me that his interests were divided in the week leading up to the Alabama game. All that his players were focused on (ostensibly, and certainly according to Kelly’s design) was the game–but Kelly was juggling the game and his questions/talking points for a January 8 NFL interview. The chemistry of Jan 7 HAD to have been affected by what he (but not his players) knew was going down within 24 hours of kickoff in Miami.
Bad form. Hard for me to conclude anything but that it did affect his focus and therefore coaching performance. I don’t know about “ND coaches are supposed to be better,” but I do know ANY coach shouldn’t handle the weeks framing a NC game this way.
GraceHallChapel86, you nailed it. B, 5 for me too
A Notre Dame Man is someone who cares about things that need caring about… who refuses to accept things that are wrong, even though accepting them would be easier. BK may be a great coach, but he is not a true Notre Dame Man.
Do you make fun of Michigan fans when they talk that way about their alma mater?
Our previous hire was a Notre Dame Man, how’d that work out?
College football head coach is too important of a position to limit your criteria to “Notre Dame Man” or “Michigan Man” or “(insert school name) Man”. Is Saban an “Alabama man”? Was Meyer a “Florida Man”? Of course they aren’t. Those schools had the good sense to simply go for the best coach available.
We have a coach who has had 2 undefeated regular seasons in the last 4 years, at 2 different schools. That is the kind of rare success that only guys like Saban, Meyer, and Carroll have exceeded (among current coaches), and now people are shocked to find out that he is a mercenary just like they are.
a, 3
As a 40+ year fan, I lean toward option 5. JT in Indy
a,8. He showed his true stripes. He can talk all he wants about ND being a dream position, as soon as a “better” offer comes around, he’s gone. Jack should maintain a strong pipeline of candidates since BK made it clear he’ll bolt for the next shiny object.
I will join the (initial) plurality of responses at (a) (3).
C – as in Charlie Strong
C, 3(ish). I’m not bothered that he interviewed as much as by the typically ham-fisted way he managed the public perception of it. It annoys me that he is as bad at it as he is, considering the high-profile position he occupies.
a. 4. I believe he took the interview as a courtesy to his agent who set it up – maybe as a favor to someone in the Eagles’ Org.? He kept it under wraps so as not to affect incoming and potential recruits. As long as he stays with his “program” of player recruiting and development he should equal that Alabama coach.
(b) 5
I had no problems with Kelly being hired. I think he has made some mistakes over his tenure, but who doesn’t make mistakes. He had some extraordinary bad luck in his first two years and a reversal of fortune in his third. I think the decision to interview with the Eagles was self-serving because I don’t think he has any intention of coaching in the NFL. So what was it really about? In any case, while I have no problem with him continuing as head coach. I do have some doubts after the mauling his players took from Alabama. That first series on offense was bewildering to me. Over six weeks to prepare for that first series and that’s what he comes up with – especially after watching the Alabama offense run right through the teeth of his vaunted defense like a hot knife through butter.
A3
There were not enough choices at the top. I was underwhelmed by the hire initially. His boneheadedness the first two seasons did nothing to help this impression. After this year, I was starting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Any goodwill he built up with me was lost with his actions this week. I’ve always suspected he was a smarmy politician and now I’m convinced.
A, 4.
A, 5. The timing and nature of this whole episode was incredibly disappointing. I will have a hard time trusting him in the future.
I was initially upset that we might lose such a great coach, and very relieved when he decided to stay. However, since then I read an interview with Swarbrick who explained the situation very well. He wasn’t worried that Kelly would leave. And he doesn’t mind people finding out what else is out there because he believes ND has such a great draw to a coach that a coach will tend to stick with ND. He also said he was not leveraged into a bigger contract since he talked to Kelly about reworking his contract before the Eagles called. After reading that interview, I was OK with Kelly interviewing. Losing Anzalone may not have been related to Kelly interviewing – Kelly has done such a great job recruiting in the past and there are always a few switches (both to and from ND) in the last minute.
It’s already been reported on several Irish recruiting sites that Anzalone switching due to Kelly’s possible departure was just a convenient cover story. AA had decided before the NC game to switch to the Gators…just benefited from the Kelly/Eagles episode as a way to save face.
a, 4.
Very disappointing
b, 6 & 8.
Yes, ND (at least many fans I know) places itself above the rest (e.g. not compromising its educational standards, Ara being hired only to be fired if he ever cheated, etc.) … and so should all of its employees.
Yet, even without that, Kelly publicly states he is staying and wants to stay here before the BCS championship game only to then jump sufficiently quickly to get figurative windburn at the Eagles interview immediately thereafter.
He hasn’t won anything.
Get back to work Mr. Kelly and off your high horse. The good Lord gave us twice as many ears than tongues so we would speak only 1/2 the amount of time we would listen.
(3) (a) – I’m okay with him testing the waters in the NFL. Honestly, the Eagles are a good fit for his type of offense and he would make more $$$, so yeah, I don’t mind. However, I hope he doesn’t make a habit out of this. I would rather have a good coach that is committed to his program (Les Miles / LSU – him squashing rumors of a move to scUM still resonates with me) instead of a good coach that is wishy washy at best when it comes to his program (Chip Kelly / Oregon – how many NFL vacancies has the guy interviewed for?!).
A,2 and A,3. As someone else mentioned, they’re not mutually exclusive. I don’t think it’ll be an annual thing, nor do I think he’s committed for life. Of course I don’t WANT him to interview with NFL teams so it bothers me to some degree just like any other bad news bothers me but I accept that this is a byproduct of success in bigtime college football. I do think that ND is a better job than anything in the NFL because if he’s successful at ND he’ll have public speaking gigs for the rest of his life.
I don’t subscribe to the romantic notion that an ND coach must be a “loyal son”. Sounds a bit like those guys we make fun of who say “He’s not a Michigan man.” By the time Weis had failed, I had frankly had enough of the cliche central casting criteria that was discussed whenever there was a coaching search (Is he Irish, is he Catholic, is he named after a Pope, is he an alum, does his alarm clock play the Victory March?). Screw all that. When Kelly was first hired, after watching him do the bullshit dance with his comments to the media during the last weeks of Cincy’s undefeated season until he was hired, I remember telling a coworker “Kelly seems like an asshole, and I think that’s exactly what they need.” Seems like all the best coaches are mercenary a-holes who don’t exhibit a fraction of the loyalty they demand of their players – Saban, Meyer, Carroll, Petrino, etc. Kelly is cut from the same cloth.
What I did not appreciate at the time and still don’t was the choice Coach Kelly made to leave Cincinnati right after it had finished undefeated and was BCS bowl-bound. He left the TEAM for the glitter of ND. (JS may have made the offer on condition that he leave immediately) I contend that BK should have stayed and finished with his guys. They had worked hard, had bonded in a special way and deserved to have their coach with them, even if was to be his farewell. They were going up against a formidable opponent in Florida, coached by UM. Coach Kelly would undoubtedly have endeared himself if he went into that game and battled down to the last second. (Holtz style) Perhaps he would have learned something about preparation against an elete opponent that would have been useful later ( this year). This past week’s drama over an NFL job interview and protracted silence hurt others unnecessarily. The seeds of mistrust have been planted. BK will need to work hard to heal that wound. Going forward, ND has to learn to make smart adjustments in tough games and keep battling. Our goal is to return to the BIg dance and win. BK can get us there.
I’ve seen a lot of comments by people saying they are upset by the timing being so soon after the national championship game. I actually think the opposite is true. With the obvious caveat that the best possible scenario is one in which he doesn’t interview at all, and the acknowledgement that January is generally the only time of the year that NFL interviews happen, I am glad he started this interview process as fast as freaking possible after the NC game. Because the later he starts it, the closer he gets to signing day.
One could make the argument that if he waited he could have saved Anzalone’s recruitment (we don’t know if this is true or not), but how ethical would that look if he interviews with an NFL team the day after the early entries sign their LOI’s? I think that timing would have been much much worse, does anyone disagree?
A. 5
4. above. This is VERY strange in that here’s a coach who spent 12 years at Grand Valley State earning a very “meager” coaching salary, then starts climbing the coaching ladder until he gets the Notre Dame job….So now Kelly’s interested in coaching the Eagles, where by the way, there are a lot of coaches that are more efficient and further developed than he is…Maybe he realizes N.D. has a long way to go to get to an Alabama level, maybe he’s reaching out while the iron is “hot”, or maybe Kelly’s “ultimate” coaching position is an NFL job (highly doubtful based on his prior history). The obvious answer seems to be economics….If someone wants to double your already large salary, you listen…As someone stated earlier, Jack Swarbrick should keep a list of potential new coaching candidates on speed dial….The gut feeling is that Kelly leaves in a couple of years, and this hurts recruiting in the long run A LOT….
What bothers me is that he threatened his coachs that if they interviewed for another job, they will not be coming back to South Bend. So then he does it!
A,2 It is what it is. It happens in every line of business.
Pls stop the sanctimonous ND man stuff. Love ND as much as anybody, but cant blame BK for looking at the NFL. Get us to another BCS game next and don’t lay an egg similar to NC game and all will be forgiven.
C5
a 3 – great hire but don’t make a habit of interviewing for other jobs. Just to point out, BC made a terrible mistake firing their coach for interviewing with the JETS and they have not recovered yet.
(D) (9)
Totally unacceptable to keep quiet for 5days. Then Saturday you come out and say how much you love notre dame. Please stop the b.s. Brian Kelly is a complete phony. Hope swarbrick keeps a short list handy , however this is his “boy he hired” . Expect a long leash. Hope the Irish win even with judas at the helm.
a, 9
As a friend of mine reminded me, even Coach K went off and looked at the Celtics and the Knicks. Timing seemed poor, hopefully recruiting stays strong. Give him the benefit of the doubt this time.
I do not understand how anyone; coach, CEO, administrator, can speak in public and make a strong, seemingly rock solid statement of commitment to his place of employment and his colleagues/players, then in hours go interview for another position. Then….act as though its just a normal, expected course of action. This is whats wrong with leadership everywhere. There is no integrity and worse yet, nobody seems to care. Its all fine…everything is fine…all normal. Well, the truth is; Kelly will leave in a heart beat. He’s dishonest. The joke may be on him, because it won’t be easy to keep winning. Diaco will leave shortly.
Stop the presses! A dishonest college football coach… I am shocked! Color me a cynic, but these days an honest football coach is about as effective as an honest lawyer. With rare exceptions (which we often discover to be facades anyway), all the great ones are wired like this. To be successful in this business you have to be a persuasive manipulative sonofabitch. I think we got ourselves one of them.
A, 4.5
His timing sucked, as it has a few times with comments he has made or plays he has called. And yes, he does owe this school more than the junk he just pulled, especially after ND’s patience with him.
And whether Anzalone was a right fit or not, this debacle cost us a a good linebacker recruit, again because of Kelly’s stubbornness and bad timing. You can’t easily sell the ND man/RKG image that Kelly has trumpeted when you yourself aren’t playing by the same rules personally. So when we say this was not what a ND man or ND coach would do, we have some justification.
He once again needs to fix his image with the ND community because, intentionally or not, his personality has put holes in his credibility.
He didn’t need a ploy to improve his contract. Swarbrick was already going to pay him.