I have no inside information, but here is how I would guess things went down. It all starts with the USC job opening up.
1. On September 13, USC announces it is getting rid of Clay Helton.
2. Sometime after September 13 and before September 25, Kelly's agent approaches Swarbrick about getting more money. The threat of going to USC is implied but not spoken aloud. Swarbrick and Jenkins do not give him an answer at that point in time.
3. As I mentioned in a post many weeks ago, upon allegedly surpassing Rockne as the all time win leader at ND after the Wisconsin game on September 25, Kelly goes out of his way to kiss the buttocks of Swarbrick and Jenkins, thanking them by name for the "continuity" of the ND program over the years. Flattering one's boss while awaiting news on a raise is an age old trick used by low character people.
4. Between September 26 and October 17, Kelly is politely told that he will not be getting a raise, as he has demanded more money with increasing frequency over the years, and it's time he actually honor his contract. Kelly is insulted and decides to bide his time.
5. LSU announces it has parted ways with Orgeron on October 17.
6. LSU begins to send feelers out, getting interest from Lincoln Riley and Kelly.
7. In the last 2 weeks, Kelly expresses more interest to LSU, but they prefer Riley. They slow play Kelly, which actually is fine by him, since his goal is to quit at a time to do maximum damage to ND.
8. Everyone knows the rest. USC pulls a boss move, swoops in and hires Riley. LSU wastes no time and agrees to pay Kelly the money he wants.
Couple of things to note. First, for Kelly, this has nothing to do with a NC. With the SEC about to get even more competitive, the odds of him winning one at LSU are low. This was about 2 things: 1) money, and 2) a middle finger to ND and that part of the fanbase (such as yours truly) that never had a high opinion of him.
Second, I do not think I have ever seen a coach quit on a team that is on the verge of playing for a national title. Now, perhaps ND will be left out of the playoffs. Perhaps not. Kelly has no way of knowing that, nor does anyone else. But he could have waited 8 days to find out, and LSU could have waited the 8 days too. If ND were left out of the playoffs, I would be more forgiving of what transpired. But to quit now is just despicable. The irony is that Kelly's low class move to spite ND and people like me proves what people like me have thought of him -- he's a low class guy.
1. On September 13, USC announces it is getting rid of Clay Helton.
2. Sometime after September 13 and before September 25, Kelly's agent approaches Swarbrick about getting more money. The threat of going to USC is implied but not spoken aloud. Swarbrick and Jenkins do not give him an answer at that point in time.
3. As I mentioned in a post many weeks ago, upon allegedly surpassing Rockne as the all time win leader at ND after the Wisconsin game on September 25, Kelly goes out of his way to kiss the buttocks of Swarbrick and Jenkins, thanking them by name for the "continuity" of the ND program over the years. Flattering one's boss while awaiting news on a raise is an age old trick used by low character people.
4. Between September 26 and October 17, Kelly is politely told that he will not be getting a raise, as he has demanded more money with increasing frequency over the years, and it's time he actually honor his contract. Kelly is insulted and decides to bide his time.
5. LSU announces it has parted ways with Orgeron on October 17.
6. LSU begins to send feelers out, getting interest from Lincoln Riley and Kelly.
7. In the last 2 weeks, Kelly expresses more interest to LSU, but they prefer Riley. They slow play Kelly, which actually is fine by him, since his goal is to quit at a time to do maximum damage to ND.
8. Everyone knows the rest. USC pulls a boss move, swoops in and hires Riley. LSU wastes no time and agrees to pay Kelly the money he wants.
Couple of things to note. First, for Kelly, this has nothing to do with a NC. With the SEC about to get even more competitive, the odds of him winning one at LSU are low. This was about 2 things: 1) money, and 2) a middle finger to ND and that part of the fanbase (such as yours truly) that never had a high opinion of him.
Second, I do not think I have ever seen a coach quit on a team that is on the verge of playing for a national title. Now, perhaps ND will be left out of the playoffs. Perhaps not. Kelly has no way of knowing that, nor does anyone else. But he could have waited 8 days to find out, and LSU could have waited the 8 days too. If ND were left out of the playoffs, I would be more forgiving of what transpired. But to quit now is just despicable. The irony is that Kelly's low class move to spite ND and people like me proves what people like me have thought of him -- he's a low class guy.
