Brian Kelly Brings Irish Back To Prominence

Notre Dame is back.

For much of Saturday night, it may not have looked like it, but Notre Dame is back.

Well, the Irish are headed somewhere they’ve never been before, to the College Football Playoffs, but the inaugural voyage is just the latest and maybe strongest piece of evidence that a coach with elite program-building skills is capable of returning Notre Dame to its spot among the sport’s true heavyweights.

Brian Kelly had already proven his ability to quickly attain success at his previous stops, which is how he ended up in South Bend in the first place. After more than a decade at Grand Valley State, he finished second in the country in 2001 before back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003. He moved on to Central Michigan and after a 9-4 season in 2006, headed to Cincinnati, where he went 10-3, 11-3 and 12-0 in three seasons as head coach of the Bearcats.

Kelly continued that trend at Notre Dame, completing an undefeated regular season with a trip to the national championship in Year 3.

Then he had to do something he’d never had to do on the FBS level, build it up again. And the challenges were many.

After spring practice prior to his fourth season, he learned his starting quarterback was being dismissed from the University for cheating. Somehow, he was dealt an even crueler blow the following year, when five players were suspended in the midst of another academic integrity investigation.

He managed to weather the storm, going a combined 17-9 with a pair of bowl victories in those seasons, before putting the Irish in the College Football Playoff discussion until the very end of a 10-win season in 2015.

Then, suddenly, it appeared the program was on the verge of a collapse as the Irish limped to a disappointing 4-8 season in 2016.

Kelly talked about the need to make changes and that the changes would start with him. It sounded like what needed to be said, but everybody knew the results would need to be seen on the field in 2017.

They were.

A one-point loss to Georgia in the second game was the first sign that Kelly had pressed the right buttons. A November shellacking at the hands of Miami ended the Irish’s bid for a playoff spot, but the feelings from 2016 had been pretty much eviscerated.

Kelly’s job was far from finished, though.

After having to hire a pair of new coordinators in 2017, he had to hire another before 2018.

Then, in the middle of an undefeated season, he made the decision to bench his starting quarterback, a choice that seemed both gutsy and obviously correct at the same time.

And after completing a perfect regular season with a win over USC on Saturday night, the Irish have essentially clinched a spot in this year’s College Football Playoffs.

Kelly is not widely viewed as a dynamic recruiter, but he’s far beyond effective in that area. He’s used a variety of avenues to find success on the recruiting trail at Notre Dame, which is probably the best way to do it.

He’s won battles for highly-ranked national prospects – like Jerry Tillery, Te’von Coney, Dexter Williams and Phil Jurkovec. He’s managed to snag targets once committed to other schools like Houston Griffith, Daelin Hayes and Brandon Wimbush. He’s won highly-contested regional battles – Tommy Kraemer, Liam Eichenberg, Shaun Crawford – and has identified not-as-heavily recruited targets like Drue Tranquill, Julian Love, Miles Boykin and Ian Book.

We’re in an era of college football when all fans – save Alabama and maybe Clemson – scour the landscape speculating on who their next coach may be. A few years back, many Irish fans had that discussion based on the premise that Kelly couldn’t/wouldn’t get the job done. That discussion isn’t had as much these days, and when it is, it’s with the thinking that Kelly will be the coach in South Bend pretty much as long as he wants.

For whatever reason, Irish fans have not embraced Kelly as willingly as past great coaches.

But, if he can find a way to win two more games this season, he’ll take his rightful place alongside those legends, etched in stone forever outside one of Notre Dame Stadium’s gates.