OT: Opinion Piece About why Kelly may Leave ND
Not a fan of Dennis Dodd, but in this piece he gets at the reason why Kelly might well leave--he was lucky as heck to go 12-0 this season and will have a hard time replicating the feat:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21534588/kell…
"[D]on't interpret Kelly's interview with Philadelphia as a “money grab. . He is/was going to get paid," Dodd writes. The reason why Kelly moved fast: "The bar has been set for him and his program. There is no going back. . . Ten wins won't be acceptable, probably not after this season. . . at the moment, there is more certainty that Kelly can get himself to the next level (NFL) than he can keep Notre Dame at its current level."
Anyone disagree with this assessment? Seems about right to me.
Mod Edit: thought Kelly had decided to leave based on title. Edited said title. [zl]January 10th, 2013 at 6:34 PM ^
Yahoo! Sports had an intriguing take on this - (LINK)
It touches a bit on an important cultural difference between the college game and the pro game, which would be that the NFL is a players' league where coaches aren't often quite as celebrated, with the college game typically venerating coaches a little more. That's true, I would say.
Essentially, it asks the question - "Does Kelly realize what he may be giving up?". In the NFL, you wouldn't necessarily hear the names John Fox and Mike McCarthy before you heard the names Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers. Coaches that have won, or at least gotten to the BCS, tend to be held in somewhat higher esteem overall.
I do wonder if that is something he would think about - if he jumped to the NFL, his success would be dependent on many more things outside his control, and he does have at least a little more control over his own legacy at Notre Dame, in my estimation.
January 10th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
At both levels you win with players. Like you point out though, getting those players is not in your control in the NFL the way it can be in college, especially if given time to build a program.
At the same time though, people seem to recognize that and as such there doesn't seem to be any career risk involved if Kelly goes to the NFL, even if his teams flame out horrendously. Spurrier, Petrino, and Saban all had an awful time in the NFL. That didn't prevent them from making a crapload of money when they decided to go back to coaching and college, nor did it prevent them from having immense success there. Same goes for guys like Calipari and Pitino in basketball. Harbaugh and Carroll landed in better situations, but even if they hadn't there isn't a college job in the country that wouldn't consider them.
The worst that can happen is Kelly makes a shitload of dough, loses a bunch of games, and in a few years he has to settle for making more millions as the head coach at a school like Washington, UCLA, Colorado, ASU, or an SEC school that happens to be "down" at the moment. That worst case scenario at ND seems like it could be a lot less pleasant.
January 10th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
I think the veneration of coaches in college is not so much a cultural differece as a function of the limitations that college sports place on player eligibility and public visibility. Since coaches are essentially the only stable element of college football year to year, they have a much greater presence in broadcasting and pre/post game analysis. There's also the more noticeable variation in offensive schemes. They are, in a sense, what the broadcasters "know" from year to year. Add in the fact that they, and not players, can appear in advertisements and endorsements and the coaches gain greater visibility for their team's success.
It's even more extreme in college basketball, where the players have become, in broadcasts at least, background elements of battles between "genius coaches." (You see this a lot with Roy Williams, Coach K, Izzo, and I'd expect you'll begin to see it with Belein next year assuming that Burke and Hardaway go pro).
Compare to the NFL (or even more notably, the NBA) where star players exist in the public eye much longer and across more media types.
January 10th, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 6:53 PM ^
Extremely lucky. Him interviewing for the NFL is like a player leaving early after his stock blows up as a junior. Ask for a big salary while everyone still assumes the sky is the limit because if the team falls on its face next year he won't be able to. We were all thinking he might get fired after this year because their schedule looked so daunting.
January 10th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^
I don't think he'll go yet. He's waiting for the Lions job to open up.
After his career with the Lions ends badly, as it does with all coaches, he will be able to retire in peace, certain in the knowledge that he will never again be tempted by being offered a head coaching job.
January 10th, 2013 at 7:59 PM ^
January 10th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^
Since WC Ford assumed total control of the Lions in 1964, not a single full-time "permanent" Lions head coach has been the head coach of another NFL team after leaving the Lions. The only exception is Dick Jauron, who was the interim coach for 5 games during the 2005 season after Mariucci was booted. Jauron was not retained by the Lions for the 2006 season, and subsequently was hired by the Bills as their HC.
Detroit is where head coaching careers go to die.
January 10th, 2013 at 10:23 PM ^
It's not like ND is the only team that got hammered by Alabama this year, or the only team that ever got slapped around by Saban when he has a month to prepare. I think Dodd is underestimating ND and northern football in general, and lionizing the SEC based on the results of one game.
That being said, ND certainly did need a lot of "help" to get to the MNC game.
January 10th, 2013 at 10:49 PM ^
no way he leaves unless some owner offers him an ungodly sum of money. it's not ego, it's dead presidents that he's after if he decides to leave.
January 11th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^
If this at all means turmoil for them, God Bless 'im.
January 11th, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^
After Notre Dame's 15 or so years in the wilderness before this year, Kelly gets 2-3subpar years before he has to worry. ND recruits above all but 2 or 3 of its opponents per year. In the pros there's no guaranty talent superiority and not much job security. I think leaving would be a mistake.