Pretty tough to fire a new guy with that record.

If his entire record was Kelly's peak three years, then he would be more meritorious of time to see if he can make the next jump up. Like, say, Dabo or--to some extent--Mack Brown. But his job wouldn't be secure. He would know that if that jump isn't made, he won't keep his job. And if I were the AD, I would expect that it is unlikely the jump will be made, and I'd be evaluating other possible candidates accordingly.

But he wouldn't have been the coach who went 4-8; who lost twice to Navy; who lost to Tulsa, Northwestern, Duke, and South Florida. He'd have started with a blank slate, and not this BS reboot that was supposed to erase our memories of everything but the feeling in the locker room after the USC game in 2012.

Also have exhibited the same Kelly-trademarked assholery, mind-numbingly baffling decisions (like passing 45 times in torrential downpours), and other similar head-scratchers that Kelly has produced over his tenure?

Yes, I'd want him replaced the same as BK for being incapable of beating elite teams.

One problem with your hypothetical is that we have more than 3 years of Kelly history, which should not be ignored simply to fall back on the "last 3 years" of results. Nobody should be thrilled/satisfied with those results.

So the pertinent question, you regularly ignore, is what evidence exists that Kelly (or any other coach) can get the team over the hump agaisnt elite competition?

What's Kelly's evidence?

Mike Brey has had similar ups and downs. Now it's a different scale and a different climate to compare on court/field success between football and basketball at Notre Dame, however there is a difference in attitude and culture. In a sense Brey gets Notre Dame in ways that Kelly never will. The fans/players are much more inclined to give Mike a pass for a lower expectation season/recruiting class that Brian and it's not just because of the perceived value of the MBB vs FB.

Brian has some of the same bad character traits as the previous failed coaches: hubris, quick to deflect blame, and often as quick to take the credit, inability to ID and retain a complete staff along with an unwillingness to accept challenges/change of thinking from said staff. All of these rub fans, assistants, and players the wrong way. Combined with an inability to properly sell ND to top recruits

We’d know he’s not the one to deliver a national championship.