OT: Brian Kelly gets the Vote of Confidence

Submitted by stephenrjking on

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick today says Kelly will be coming back next year and formally surrenders the best winning percentage in college football to Michigan forever.*

Good to know that Notre Dame will have to delay cleaning up from the tire fire until the year we play there.

*He didn't actually say this, but it was implied.

 

#NotreDame AD Jack Swarbrick to @espn: "Brian (Kelly) will lead this team out of the tunnel opening day next year.” https://t.co/NbaalLTNL5

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) October 21, 2016

 

snarling wolverine

October 21st, 2016 at 8:24 PM ^

Dave Brandon, in one of his less assholish moments, said something like "If I were to fire John Beilein, I'd have to hire another one like him."  I think that was in Beilein's fourth year, when we were looking like an NIT team at best.  We then had a great midseason turnaround to make the tourney and destroy Tennessee, and then had the three banner years in a row.

 

UMProud

October 21st, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^

I, for one, am very pleased with Swarbrick keeping Notre Dame going along it's current path.  Hopefully they will stay the course for years to come.

Hammer of Thor

October 21st, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^

"My wife bought potato chips with olestra in them. I didn't open the bag because I read the warning label: May cause intestinal cramping and anal leakage. Okay. Now, I have a question. How good are these chips? That better be the best chip in the world if you have to change clothes to eat it."

- Ray Romano

Mr Miggle

October 21st, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^

with the current recruiting class when you fire the coach. The only way to mimize them are to fire right after the beginning of the season, which is the worst time to replace him. I don't think public votes of confidence that he'll be back next year do much to help.

How desirable is the ND job? I think that's an interesting question. I don't think they can compete for the very top coaches available. It's a good job, great history, pays well, but it's a place that has some limitations that make it hard to win big. That great history comes with high expectations. Because of that, I don't think one year is necessarily any better than another for their finding a coach. That big extension will probably be what keeps Kelly around for another year, but he's got to win at least a few more games.

 

 

MichiganTeacher

October 21st, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^

Obviously Notre Dame football is returning to glory by following the same strategy that Michigan State hockey is.

stephenrjking

October 21st, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^

Notre Dame looks to be in a death spiral. Even an improvement this year and an average year (three or four losses) next year would be an uptick from where they are now, and wouldn't rescue the Kelly regime.

If they were just average this year I could see them holding onto Kelly due to contract issues and the lack of quality candidates, but the team is melting down and we're approaching the corium lava stage here. 

My observational guideline tends to be the "what do the rivals think" rule. If the rivals are delighted by it (and that is certainly the case for me if they keep Kelly) it's probably a bad idea. If the rivals are disappointed or terrified, it's probably the right way to go. This definitely falls into the former category.

treetown

October 21st, 2016 at 9:14 PM ^

Brian Kelly's meltdown and blaming everyone is now well documented. In the past it may have been a private quiet thing but today, I wonder if his time has passed. As we Michigan fans have personally experienced, the mystique of a place only goes so far.

I actually don't mind if he stays there indefinitely. He doesn't seem to be that imaginative of a coach, he's not a good in-game coach, and his blows up (if there is any justice in the universe) will choke off some of the elite talent he has gotten lately.

Mr Miggle

October 22nd, 2016 at 6:52 AM ^

He's blaming his players for defeats in interviews with the press. There was nothing private about it. It wasn't local media either. His reactions would have gotten proportionally more attention in the years before social media.

 

PopeLando

October 21st, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^

Really, what else was ND to do? Firing Brian Kelly would put them into competition with every other school that fired a head coach this year. And the replacement probably wouldn't be able to recruit or coach like Brian Kelly. He's ok, at times above average. Who on the coaching market this year is better?