Brian Kelly is a douchebag
Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a coach act like such a disgrace as Kelly today. Completely belittled some of his players in front of a national audience. He makes Bo Pellini look like Mother Teresa. I cannot imagine how any 18 year old kid would wanna play for this guy. In case anyone is curious what it looks like to blow an aneurysm in real time, I present:
September 4th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
You might not be a coach, but can't you say as a human being that some guy berating you, screaming at you, swearing at you, probably spitting in your face, on national television, might not be the best way to motivate you?
I don't think players should be coddled, but why is screaming at someone the only other way?
September 4th, 2011 at 4:09 PM ^
not knowing how that player has been in practice, not knowing what's been tried before, judging from a few moments caught on camera doesn't work so well. For some players, yelling and insults will make them play better.
As an example, in a high school game, I once got clipped as I was pursuing the RB down the far sideline. From our sideline it looked like I just gave up on the ballcarrier and fell down. I got pulled for a series and proceeded to get my ass chewed out by 3 different coaches. This made my attitude of "F everybody, i'll show them". I probably played better in that game, and was vindicated by game film the next day.
I mean, the game is football. When you get yelled at, you can either get angry, and channel/transfer the anger onto the other team, or you can shut yourself down and go into a shell. Most players react in the first fashion. There's usually 1-2 "nice" assistants on a staff that counsel the rest.
September 4th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
is after the player walks away, Kelly follows him and continues to get in his face, all caught on TV.
I hope he keeps it up, loses it more and has every bit caught on TV, so a recruit and his parents can ask 'why would you ever play for a guy like that?'.
September 4th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^
September 4th, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
September 4th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
There were coaches in the '70's that would keep players away from water because it made you weak, take dowel rods and smack the offensive lineman's calfs if they weren't in a stance right, or came off too high ect. Just because it happened in the '70's doesn't make it right.
I have been a coach for over ten years (lower levels) and I have often yelled at players, but I have never berated a player or called them derogatory names. A very well placed tantrum can do wonders, but always keep it to performance, and never personal. Not every kid takes well to hard coaching. A coaches job is to find what motivates each athlete and use it. If I an reading lips correctly, the F'ing asshole comment was too far. I don't think the "Are you F'ing kidding me?" is wrong as it's not berating the kid. Kelly needs to find a line that works for his team. Obviously, his line and his players line are different.
BTW - I would be removed if I ever used that language in front of my kids.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
I played in the "old days" and I can tell you from experience, while excessive screaming might yield some short term gains, it's a destructive approach that's not good for the development of the young men. I'm all for toughness and disclipline, but it shouldn't be done in this manner. A brief yell followed by instruction is fine, but a continued rant like Kelly did is just plain wrong and I don't care if Woody or Bo ever did the same thing.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Agreed. Let's not go back there. As a kid I read Meat on the Hoof by a former Texas player (played under Darrell Royal), and the stuff they went through was not anything anyone should have to go through, even in fear of sissification...
September 4th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^
but RichRod seemed to do this a lot. I always got the feeling guys were walking on pins and needles on the sidelines after a bad play. This is football and I think that there are definitely times to get in somebody's face to get them fired up, but nobody is learning anything when you're yelling in their face like that. From how much Brian Kelly was doing that on the sideline last night you can't help but feel there were a ton of coaching opportunities that were missed.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
but how much of Rich Rod's yelling was personal insults, I mean people aren't complaining because Brian Kelly yelled at a player, it's what he yelled at a player... I saw Rodriguez get angry last year and yell, but I never saw him call a player a Fucking anything.
September 4th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
Look at the expressions on his coaching assistants. Cronies scared of their boss, trying to mimic his disgust to win his favor. Products of an ego-driven leader ... tyranny, fear, and intimidation. These do not lead to long-term success. Too bad for ND.
Does he remind anyone else of Baron Harkonnen?
September 4th, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
Didn't see your comment before I left mine. Mostly agreed.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
Brian Kelly needs MOAR BOILS!
September 4th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
"The beast is WITHIN YOU!"
September 4th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
This is typical behavior for arrogant, smarmy aholes who are crumbling under pressure. They never accept responsibility so they take out their frustration on underlings (players) to make themselves feel better. This jerk is not having his grand vision play out like he thought so he has to take it out on the kids. I hope we beat them by 30 next week.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
4 hour delay.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
I am way late to the discussion (that is what happens when you vomit at 3 AM after a day long drinking binge).
Kelly was turning fucking PURPLE getting mad at this kid. PURPLE. Rich Rod never did that, Bo never did that.
Something to be said for "don't throw stones in glass houses" but Kelly absolutely went off on this poor kid. Too far, IMO. Fuck ND.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:15 AM ^
Those assistant coaches look embarassed. The white one also looks terrified.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
While we can probably draw some parallels between Kelly's tirade and coaches of the 60s-70s, this is a different generation. Kids playing in the 60s and 70s were on the whole mentally tougher and were used to this treatment (although maybe Kelly even overstepped past precedent) after being raised by the generation that survived the Great Depression and fought in WW2. My generation (the current player generation) of college athlete, especially in big time football, has been coddled from the time they hit puberty, and it became evident that they were going to be area high school superstars. Recruiting websites, blogs, and even ESPN have taken these kids from the age of 16 and made them soft from all of the attention. Think about it, aside from a few 1970s NFL select superstars, top high school football players today receive more attention today with social media than the average NFL player did 40 years ago. Therefore, they receive no criticism and are treated like NFL primadonnas before they ever actually achieve anything of substance.
My point is that Kelly is an idiot and is going to lose his team. Players in the last generation could probably handle it, but these 18-21 year olds (in general), are going to shut him out, form their little dissenting circles, and this reign could end with a greater thud than their last few coaching failures.
On a side note, do you think the alumni brass liked seeing their coach dropping F-bombs at 19 year olds on national television? Way to represent that fine / proud university.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
at officials, at his staff and at his players. By today's standards and advancements in human psychology, his verbal tirades back then probably would be considered way "over the line".
Most of us were simply not around to see it. He was definitely no saint as far as verbal abuse goes. But in the end it toughened up his players, and increased the focus of those around him. And he knew it.
Here he is saying something other than "great job" to the guys in the booth.The phonetic sound forming appears to be a "ffffffffffffff". SE Curt Stephenson in the background trying to keep his distance, head tilted a bit like "aww man!". Then again, maybe Bo's just ordering up a "35 belly flat pass"? Probably not.
I think coach-to-player verbal abuse is the rule, not the exception in modern college football. Have to remember that some of these kids show up with major H.S. accolades and think they can just go through the motions or do whatever they hell they want on Saturday. Those days are over. At this level players have to follow the game plan, play like a team, minimize mistakes and pull their heads out fast.
I'm just surprised that people think life is any different?
What? There are no abusive bosses out there? Everyone spouts off rainbows of sonnets and pallets of human dignity and respect.
The answer is no.
I like this line from Glenngary Glen Ross from Blake, the successful and wealthy agent on a so-called "mission of mercy" to an underperforming downtown affiliate branch:
BLAKE: That watch costs more than you car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see pal, that's who I am, and you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids. You wanna work here - close! You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can't take this, how can you take the abuse you get on a sit? You don't like it, leave.
Not pleasant to hear, but there's truth in it.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:03 AM ^
...that kind of out-of-control tirade in front of clients or other third parties is very rare and is usually career threatening. Coaching is just about the only profession left where you can get away with it.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Do you have any actual experience with that kind of abuse in the work place? Do you realize that Alec Baldwin speech was for dramatic effect? If you consistently abuse people like that, they shut down and stop doing good work and then they leave and go work for someone who's not a prick.
This is especially true for public berating. If you want to yell at someone, do it in private. If you embarass them in front of their peers, there's a good chance they're out. If you embarass them on national television, there's an even better chance.
Frankly even if the kid has his head turned around he still got the ball absolutely pegged at him from 7 yards away right at his ear. It could very well have flown up even if he were looking for it and it would have been a good catch to snare it. If you're going to throw the ball that hard from that close it better be on target and that wasn't on target.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
You do realize that you are referencing a movie scene that is well known because it IS over the top.
Does Kelly berating his kicker who went 18 of 19 last year for missing a FG help?
Kelly has a track record:
-Played Crist with concussion symptoms even though Crist has a history of concussions.
-Despite high winds in the news for days he had a kid up a forklift that died.
-The player accused of rape never was suspended for a game even after the girl committed suicide.
-At CMU he handled the murder investigation of his player poorly to say the least, some accused him of cover up and then his comments about black culture having violence and not liking snitches wasn't so swell.
-At GVSU I know of a girl who was a student there when Kelly was coached that claims that he had a system set up to blatantly allow his players to cheat in the classroom.
As far as I am concerned we dodged a bullet by avoiding Kelly.
September 4th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
If Kelly beats UM a few times I can see posts like this being the norm.
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<br>Combine a few facts with some hearsay and message board rumors enough times any it eventual all becomes fact.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
Jeez now that you put it in perspective like that im shocked that this guy is still coaching at ND, I had no idea about some of that stuff. These kinds of situations can really tarnish the respecability of a program in ways that go beyond transgressions like improper benefits or lack of institutional control. I mean murder? Rape? Suicides? Not good stuff.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^
the reason he is still coaching at nd is because that isn't really what happened:
1. for better or worse, notre dame's training staff did not diagnose crist with a concussion and cleared him to return. neither crist nor his savvy family have any issue with what happened.
2. after an detailed investigation by the university, kelly was not found to have any responsibility for the death of declan sullivan. essentially, the conclusion is that the head football coach of the team is responsible for many things, but not for every football related event on earth.
3. the accusation was not rape, but rather "touching a girl's breasts" at a party. the allegation was investigated and thought to be unture. the chicago tribune ran with the story, because, well it was a saucy story, but there was very little substance to the allegatation.
4. don't know much about what happened about cmu
5. obviously know nothing about this, but 2nd hand word-of-mouth on internet message board doesn't qualify as the most impressive source from my perspective.
of those events, the only one that worries me as a potential indictment of kelly is the sullivan death - which is much more complex than was projected here, but is worrisome nonetheless. the other were situations where kelly acted on the reasonable judgements of professionals that are paid to make just those types of professional judgements.
September 4th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^
Detailed investigation on number 2 my fucking ass. My. Fucking. Ass.
That was a run around that was allowed because the family, for whatever reason, decided not to pursue it. That was a corruption of justice and a farce. That was powerful people treating a tragic, very easily avoidable death like an inconvenience because to them that's what it was.
September 4th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
Let's look at the Crist situation.
Kelly said it was an "ocular migraine". A trainer initially said it was a concussion and then withdrew it.
Crist's symptoms:
1) Started after a blow to the head. Fits a concussion not an ocular migraine.
2) Slurred speech. Fits a concussion not an ocular migraine.
3) Loss of memory. Fits a concussion not an ocular migraine.
4) He has a history of concussions. Fits a concussion not an ocular migraine.
5) Headache. Fits both.
6) Vision problems. Fits both.
You are an adult and leader. Should Crist play with all of those symptoms knowing that he could literally die with another concussion?
Let's look at Declan Sullivan.
Kelly is paid to be an adult and leader. There were high speed winds on the news headlines for days. The kid is up a scissor lift. Shouldn't the adult in charge get him down? Common sense. Now the kid is dead.
Now let's look at the sexual assault. The ND police did nothing and the ND coaches did not suspend him. Shouldn't they at least sit him after the girt commits suicide to at least sort out the situation. The girl's family felt as if ND was stonewalling any investigation into the accusation.
Now let's look at CMU. In a muder investigation where Chip players were the suspects some people accused him of trying to cover up any information and silence players from talking. He responded: "A number of them were African-Americans that had been in that culture of violence, and they're taught to look away, You don't want anything to do with it. Get out of there. You don't say anything to anybody."
I know my information on GVSU isn't solid and it probably happens everywhere, but I can swear on my grandma's grave that a highly responsible (and successful) female student at GVSU claimed that it was blatant cheating on tests in the classroom and even the professor was in on it. The professor would have her move her arm so the football players on each side could copy her test and she was stonewalled when she complained.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:38 AM ^
I don't do it or believe it's the right thing to do.
But you cannot deny how verbal abuse, humiliation and loud, angry and public tirades do serve to motivate people. The fuel is anger and fear, but it motiviates. Otherwise they would not utilize this tactic in high school, college and the military.
But I agree that there's a ton of substantiated evidence that suggests that berating and verbally abusing (name-calling, put downs, etc.) young people is completely counter-productive.
Remember, these are 18 year old kids who can vote for President and die in foreign wars.
Are they not adults?
September 4th, 2011 at 12:43 PM ^
Legally yes, developmentally, no. The latest research on brain development indicate that the human brain is not fully developed until approximately 25 years of age.
And yes, fear can serve as a motivator for a short period of time, but will eventually lead to resentment of the one inducing it. The military can get away with this* for prolonged periods because once you have enlisted you can't just walk away (or believe me, many would).
I believe if BK continues to behave this way towards his players he will lose them. They have many other school options from which to choose.
*The military is actually moving away from this form of "motivation".
September 4th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^
Also no suspension of his best player despite a DUI plus two lesser drinking offenses. Total hypocrite.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Kelly had a similar blow-up after Crist threw that endzone pick in the first half.
I had a good chuckle when my dad, the non-sports fan of the family, saw that tirade pictured above and called Kelly an "asshole." Kelly's face was so red on our television that it had all of us laughing.
September 4th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
for a long time. I'm sure he didn't turn over a new leaf while at Notre Dame.
This is his MO. He needs to cover his mouth because he articulates his words too perfectly
NBC TV does a nice job of getting his reactions on the broadcasts. In the USF game he totally went ballistic on one of his own staff. Kelly's lips read: "What the f*$% is going on!!??" and his sideline assistant with headphones on protested a bit to explain, then looked clearly upset.
Here's to more frustration upon Kelly and his staff in Ann Arbor....
September 4th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
NBC showing Kelly tirades is all very interesting when you consider that this sort of PR could be bad for the program. You'd think the school would tell NBC, "dont pan to Kelly every time we shit the bed" because NBC is essentially putting out a very negative persona of the ND coach (whether deserved or not) to a national audience.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^
Kelly's post game press conference and he actually said something about a player "losing composure" or something to that effect. Hypocritical asshole.
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<br>I can't imagine ND administration is comfortable with him representing the university that way - on TWO TV channels.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:07 AM ^
As in beet red:
September 4th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
September 4th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
Thank you very much. I needed this gif.
Brian Kelly let a kid die through neglience. He's an asshole.
This is nothing.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
I saw Hoke get in BWC's face at the game after a special teams' play. He kinda shouted then knocked on his helmet. Looked like a "get your head in the game!" rather than "ZOMGEATBABIES."
September 4th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
I don't believe that Jones caused that tirade. He just lost his composure, so did RR, Bo Pelini, so have every coach in D1. Everything accumulated that Jones ran a sloppy route, didn't look for the ball, and it was picked off and you can't play with emotion when you are playing against a good team. If they were have scored on that drive, I believe that Notre Dame would have came back and won that game. Instead it is a turnover at the opponents 5 yard line. That changed the entire second half for ND.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
we do this with every ND coach. "This" being finding minor character flaws and tssk tssk-ing them as national televsion embarrassments.
September 4th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
But every recent ND coach has also proven a failure.
September 4th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
A minor character flaw? He has major character flaws.
Who has a kid up a scissor lift with wind storms for days. Plays a player with a track record of concussions suffering from concussion symptoms. Acts so poorly that some accuse him of trying to cover up info during a murder investigation and then claiming that African-American culture has violence and hates snitches. Doesn't suspend a player accused of rape even after her suicide.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
about those things then by all means go ahead. I'm not even saying he is a great guy or a great person or that his reaction is an effective method of coaching. I just don't agree with taking a clip of a guy swearing at (or in front of a player) and using it as proof all of the things you suspect or don't like about him.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
Try finding that clip of any other current Top 25 coach (much less one of a program that prides itself on character, e.g. BYU/Stanford/Michigan/ND).
Bo Pelini is maybe your best bet, but he also didn't kill a kid in scissor lift or try to sweep a rape investigation under the rug. And I'm not a huge fan of Pelini's demeanor either.
September 4th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^
You have a point that fans tend to overdo it.
In example, Weis..... Arrogant sure. Swears a bit, yep. Fat, yeah we had petty jokes for that. Weis probably isn't a bad guy overall and I think most people knew that.
This is different. I sincerely think Kelly isn't respectable. I would rather have any of the other 119 D-1A coaches over that guy not on the grounds of coaching ability, but on the grounds of wanting to be able to cheer for my head coach as a person.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^
See, e.g., the comments here on ND Nation. Lots of comments to the effect that although the loss was tough to swallow, Kelly's behavior was worse than losing and indeed unacceptable.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
when your team wins and your coach screams, he's a great motivator. when your team loses and your coach screams, he's a jerk.
when your coach wins and your coach is stoic, he is a sterling leader. when your team loses and your coach is stoic, he's not an adquate motivator.
opposing fans always find fault with other team's coaches personalities. your own fans find fault only when you lose. college football teams have enshrined various coaches who were pathologic screamers and pathologicly stoic as legends...because they won. notre dame fans are talking about kelly this morning because the team was incredibly sloppy and lost a game they shoudnt' have lost...and people are pissed at kelly. when you're pissed at somebody, you find fault with their every behavior.
the other reason we hear about sideline personality is because the obvious stuff isn't as interesting to talk about. notre dame turned it over 5 times, 3 times inside the 5 yard line and missed a chipshot field goal - if any of those things hadn't happened, they likely would have won the game. of course brian kelly was pissed. i was pissed...and i'm used to this sort of thing at this point.
September 4th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
i don't care one way or the other what brian kelly does but he will lose players and possibly his team witht his kind of actions. you could see it in the players face as he's screaming at them. when someone is yelling at you like that you're not taking in what they're saying you're just thinking when is this asshole going to get out of my face. now i don't know if kelly maybe has a bad cop/good cop thing going where he just blows up and then when he's done with his tirade one of his assistants goes and talks to the kid calmly and actually tries to correct them on what they did wrong. either way it's entertaining to watch and i hope there's a few epics on the sidelines next weekend.