Live From the Windy City: Brian Kelly to ND?
by Graham Filler on Dec 8, 2009 11:33 AM CST
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PrintI am sitting on Michigan Avenue at something called the Corner Bakery and I'm thinking about Brian Kelly. Such is the power of the Notre Dame job search. I have this vague feeling that Kelly is gone, toast, off to the Dome for upwards of 5 million per year. Law Buck thinks he should go, reasoning that this is still a marquee college football head coaching job. Even if Kelly fails Weis-style, LB reasons, he still gets to put on his tombstone "College Football Coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish." ...Yeah.
Brian Kelly fits the Notre Dame profile.
So wipe the vomit off your sweater caused by that last sentence and look at a couple facts at play here. First, Cinci's stadium is low-grade, the facilities are low-grade, and no matter how high he takes Cinci, it's still JUST Cincinnati to a national audience. But on the other hand, if Notre Dame and Cinci played next year or in 2011, I would wager all of my money on the Bearcats. 2010 Notre Dame is going 5-7 or 6-6, depending on the schedule. Plus, we all saw the national skewering of Chuck Weis, does BK really want to go through that?
If he stays, Kelly runs the risk of turning down oodles of money and the opportunity to resurrect a storied program. If he goes, Kelly takes a daunting job that has lost some of its luster in the last 20 years. Either way, we're going to learn a hell of a lot about BK in the next week. Law Buck and I decided the odds were 80-20 that he goes to South Bend. We'll see.
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actually
I’d rather live in Gary Indiana Gary Indiana, not kentucky or Louisiana oh noooo
The Rivalry, Esq.
"Ricky Stanzi is to interceptions as Journey is to 80s rock ballads...inextricably linked."
by Graham Filler on Dec 8, 2009 12:33 PM CST up reply actions
He should go
Forget the cash for a second. Ok. Now, think about the cash again. Weis got better pay for being fired than most coaches see. And Kelly should have the power to put a hefty buy out clause in his contract as well.
That being said, coaches are vagabonds, they understand that moving is generally part of the deal, as is failure. But if he succeeds. If. He becomes a coaching god. You have to take a shot at that.
It never gets to be easy
Go to ND
BK could go undefeated for the next five seasons and at the end of the day he’s still the head coach of…wait for it…Cincinnati. Woo. Hoo.
Cincinnati has, is, and always will be second rate, no matter how much he wins. He’s a football coach at a basketball school, and won’t ever get out from Ohio State’s shadow. Ever. No matter how much he wins, no matter how many bowl games he wins.
He goes undefeated for five years at ND, he’s a legend and a College Football Hall of Fame Coach.
Yeah, go to ND.
"We're used to Favre-a-palooza now. We're engulfed in Favre-a-palooza. It's not even Favre-a-palooza anymore. He's family now."
--Vikings TE Visanthe Shiancoe, on Brett Favre
He should stay at Cinci
And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Big East guy. ND is a career-killing job. After failing at ND — and he will fail in the minds of ND boosters, just like the last three guys did — it’ll take him years to land another head job. On the other hand, it’s likely he can keep Cinci good enough that he’ll be near the top of the list when a job with real long-term winning potential opens up.
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