Brian Kelly Joins Scott Van Pelt to Discuss Covid-19 Action

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly jumped on the Scott Van Pelt show on Wednesday night to discuss how his program is maneuvering the challenges of Covid-19. 

"We're all trying to figure this out," stated Kelly. "30 years of being a head football coach, I thought I had the manuel written and read, but no, that's not the case. 

"One thing for certain is player safety, student-athlete safety, staff, support staff and making sure everyone is healthy and safe."

Kelly was clear safety was the No. 1 priority for his staff and team, but his staff has also had to step up in different roles due to the unique situation. 

"We're student-athletes," explained Kelly. "Where's the education piece come in? Our football coaches took off the football coach hat and put on the academic support hat. It's been challenging, but it's been fun that aspect because it's been something different." 

In terms of the season, Kelly was firm in that the leaders of college football need to find common ground on a date where football activities can resume.

"There's going to be a date where we all as college football administrators and coaches come up with a date where from a player standpoint, we have to say this is the date that we can live with to get these young men physically conditioned and ready to go to camp," Kelly stated. 

"To me, I think July 1. If you can't start training your football team by July 1 - you're going to need at least four weeks. Strength and conditioning coaches are going to want six. Sports medicine is probably looking at 4-6 weeks."

Every program in the country needs proper training to be able to head into camp to prevent injuries and simply get the players back into a routine. 

"The realistic goal here a minimum of four weeks of conditioning before you put them in camp," Kelly said. "College football is going to be affected if we're not playing in 90 days in terms of the conditioning element in getting these young men ready." 

On the recruiting trail, Kelly and his staff have been proactive using technology to stay in contact with recruits.

"Every recruit is very popular right now," laughed Kelly. "Coaches have plenty of time to be on the phone, using FaceTime and all the social platforms. We're being so creative with our graphics. You're getting a lot of traffic right now." 

Kelly also admitted there is a line in terms of communication. Every school is in the same situation and not overloading a kid with communication is also something coaches have to be conscious of over the next few weeks. 

"I feel for the young men in this recruiting process," Kelly explained. "They probably are sick of us already and we've only been at this a few weeks.

"We've got to be careful as well. We have to have some semblance of normalcy here pretty soon when it comes to recruiting. Right now, it's unlimited in a sense that you can be on the phone and make that one phone call, but they can get back to you every single day." 

The Kelly household has also implemented social distancing and have made sure to follow the guidelines established in hopes of preventing the spread of the virus.

"We're not out," said Kelly. "We're being very careful other than me doing this interview. We've tried to do everything on Social Media as well. We're being careful about what we do. It's still about our family and health. 

"We're not taking guests over to the house and being careful in terms of what we do. 

"It's been kind of nice as a football coach who has been in it for 30 years, I've seen a lot of my family. It is kind of nice we're being able to take advantage of this to be with our families."