After getting walloped In title game, ND’s Brian Kelly thinking NFL
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
This week has gone from bad to worse for Fighting Irish football fans.
After getting shellacked by Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game by Monday night, Brian Kelly was interviewed by the Philadelphia Eagles for their head coaching position.
A source with very close ties to Notre Dame tells me Kelly is seriously entertaining NFL offers and may in fact leave the Fighting Irish program after just three seasons.
Perhaps the lure of the NFL is too great for Kelly and he figures he needs to leave while his stock is at an all-time high so he can fulfill his apparent lifelong dream of coaching in the NFL.
Sure, after having engineered college football’s most recognizable program to an appearance in the national title game and with a team that will in all likelihood be a preseason top-10 pick to start the 2013 seasons, there may be some who question Kelly’s sanity. But who knows what’s driving his interests in making the huge leap from college to the pro ranks.
It could be money. Currently, his $2.5 million annual salary ranks among the top-25 nationally, but is less than half of what Nick Saban makes. Kelly’s figure would likely double in the NFL.
Or maybe it’s the realization that even with Notre Dame’s best defense since 1966, the nation’s best defensive player and finest tight end, the Fighting Irish couldn’t compete with a team from the mighty SEC.
There’s no doubt if Notre Dame played Alabama 10 times, it would lose all 10.
Maybe Kelly believes the gap between the SEC’s elite and the rest of college football is too gaping to close.
After all, this is a Notre Dame coach who at halftime of the national championship game suggested the only way things might be fixed from his team’s perspective was if Bama didn’t return to the field. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for your program is it?
Maybe Kelly is thinking his team got every conceivable break this season including suffering very few injuries and played what turned out to be a very friendly schedule yet was blown out by an Alabama program that could realistically and very conceivably dominate college football for years to come.
Kelly is an East Coast guy. He was born in Massachusetts and went to college out there, so maybe Philly is an appealing destination.
Kelly hasn’t stayed more than four years at any of his other two FBS stops – Central Michigan and Cincinnati – so maybe he thinks the time is right for another change.
Or maybe he’s one of those coaches who thrives on challenges, proving people wrong and wants to be one of the few college coaches to succeed as an NFL coach. Saban couldn’t do it.
Kelly was told he couldn’t make Notre Dame relevant again, but he did.
Now there are rumblings that he’s out of his mind for contemplating a move to the NFL.
Remember, coaches are a different breed. Many need mega-challenge after mega-challenge and perhaps Kelly is in need of the challenges the NFL would present after he’s in a lot of ways conquered the challenge of making the Fighting Irish program matter again in the national landscape of college football.
What has to be concerning to all of Irish Nation is the apparent damage being done with the silence from Kelly and Notre Dame this week. All the uncertainty seems to be creeping into recruits’ minds, less than four weeks from national signing day.
Notre Dame entered the week with the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class according to Rivals. However, it is now No. 2 after Pennsylvania four-star linebacker Alex Anzalone switched his verbal commitment from Notre Dame to Florida. Anzalone was supposed to enroll early and be on campus when the semester begins on Monday. Instead, he’s now in Gainesville going to class.
The Irish are hoping Anzalone is the only commit they lose, but the longer this saga with Kelly drags out, the more likely recruits are to jump ship.
A resolution is desperately needed, but when it might come is anyone’s guess.
As we end into the weekend, what we do know is Kelly is seriously considering leaving Notre Dame for the NFL and if he does, what once was a magical 2012 season for the Blue and Gold will turn into a very forgettable week in short order.
