Greenstein: It's time for Kelly to step down

[NDSMC78]

From today's Chicago Tribune:

On the day he walked away from his dream job, Lou Holtz was at a loss to explain it.

Why leave Notre Dame in the midst of another strong season? The Irish were 7-2 and ranked 10th on Nov. 19, 1996.

"It's the right thing to do," he said repeatedly.

For whom? For Holtz? The university?


As Brian Kelly turns up volume, things might get noisy if Irish keep losing
Where does that leave Brian Kelly, coach of the nation's most underperforming team? It's doubtful the school would fire him a year after a 10-win season and nine months after he signed an extension through 2021.

But perhaps Kelly will realize that it's just ... time.

Time for both parties to move on.

He has lost the fan base, much of which was aghast that he declined to suspend four of the five players involved in the August incident in which marijuana and a handgun were recovered from a car speeding 35 miles south of South Bend.

And there's word from sources who know several players that, citing Kelly's uneven leadership style, he has lost the team.

What transpired during and after Notre Dame's 10-3 "Mud Bowl" loss Saturday at North Carolina State was mystifying. Kelly's staff called 31 pass plays, netting 37 yards factoring in sacks. When DeShone Kizer threw into a crowd on third-and-goal from the 19, the ball wobbled from his hand and got picked off.


Notre Dame reeling after rain-soaked, 10-3 blooper-reel loss
This occurred midway through the second quarter. The staff had plenty of time to adjust.

Notre Dame took over at the N.C. State 22 after a third-quarter fumble. First down: coverage sack. Second down: failed attempt at a screen pass. Third down: incompletion. Justin Yoon had just nailed a 40-yard field goal, but Kelly passed up a 41-yard try on fourth-and-12. Result: pass broken up.

Perhaps that series inspired Kelly to apologize to his players in the locker room. As aired on the "Inside Notre Dame Football" show, Kelly calmly told them: "You were ready to play. You were excited to play. You were energized to play. And I couldn't find a way to win that game for you. I apologize. I've got to look hard at how I'm doing it to figure out a way to get a win for you guys because you deserve it. You deserved to win."

Kelly alluded to that in his postgame comments to the media, saying he "let the team down" and would "second-guess" his decision to protect punter Tyler Newsome with only two players. The Wolfpack scored the game's only touchdown on a fourth-quarter blocked punt.

Kelly also said, "The lack of our ability to manage the snapping was atrocious."

ESPN's Paul Finebaum blasted Kelly for that line, saying: "He blamed everyone on his team a couple weeks ago. He said that he would be re-evaluating, he blamed his defensive coordinator and fired him. He blamed his quarterback, who has had a really nice year. And (Saturday), he called out the center, saying he had been snapping atrociously in the middle of a hurricane. You know, I'm beginning to wonder, who's next for Brian Kelly to blame: Donald Trump?"


Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly says "coaching had nothing to do with the outcome" of Saturday's 38-35 loss to Duke. (Paul Skrbina/Chicago Tribune)

Finebaum piled on, calling Kelly a "miserable human being."

That's off base, but this season has been miserable, and Kelly deserves the blame. Despite being ranked 10th in the preseason and bringing in four straight top-15 recruiting classes, Kelly's crew is 2-4 — against six currently unranked teams.

Given the remaining slate of Stanford, Miami, Navy, Army, Virginia Tech and USC, the Irish will be fortunate to finish 5-7.

Will that mark the end of Kelly's time in South Bend? His departure could be the "right thing" for the program, but he's not thinking that way.

"I'm doing everything to build the winning identity for this team for right now and for '17, '18 and '19," he said. "We want to stop the slide. That means start winning again."

tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @TeddyGreenstein

 

[Izo]

Kelly is not quitting especially collecting 4 million a year salary.And right now ,Kelly has lost his luster .NFL teams like the Bears are will no longer have Kelly as a potential coach and colleges from the the 6 major conferences will not consider Kelly. Kelly never wanted to end his coaching career at ND ,but the money is good and where would he go now .

Reality : ND is stuck with Kelly and will not fire him in 2016 or 2017 unless the football team falls apart

 

[NDSMC78]

Kelly is not quitting especially collecting 4 million a year salary.And right now ,Kelly has lost his luster .NFL teams like the Bears are will no longer have Kelly as a potential coach and colleges from the the 6 major conferences will not consider Kelly. Kelly never wanted to end his coaching career at ND ,but the money is good and where would he go now .

Reality : ND is stuck with Kelly and will not fire him in 2016 or 2017 unless the football team falls apart

I don't disagree with you.

 

[BGI User 348]

Just FOR THE RECORD.....I am 100% Okay with NOT suspending those players!!!!!!!!!!

I am also NOT Okay with the nc state offensive game plan!!!???

GET BETTER!!!

 

[Howard Hall 74]

This is a program going down the drain. It's called a death spiral. Sorry for those too weak to hear or understand. It will only get worse. Coach 8 & 4 will have considerable trouble hiring assistant coaches. You will see many quality recruits looking elsewhere because the HC is in a terrible situation (oh, they'll be some who come here because of the school). This not only effects the program, but 2, 3, perhaps even 4 years down the line. The cost to the program both in terms of support and the financial costs of redoing a terrible situation years out only multiple dramatically. If 8 & 4 loses 6, 7 games this year there is a good chance both sides will decide to part ways.

What people on this site do not understand is that a coach at this level has professional management company and an agent advising him on the future professional pathways. It is easy to see a program deteriorating in the coming years and the won loss record suffering as a result. That just diminishes the value of HC's resume and his possible future earnings. That's why this could easily come to a close. The proper management decision is to release the HC at season's end and start over. That is extremely hard for most ADs to do. So the doubt for that happening is understandable. But, Swarbrick strikes me as a man that is comfortable in his judgement and not afraid to make a controversial decision. That's just me, but whatever happens, 8 & 4 is not long for here. It happens now to mitigate the damage or you wait a year or so and really damage the program and the brand and the cost to fix it may be more than anyone can resolve.

 

[zonairish]

Great Article ! now if only the powers to be will get some divine message to have Kelly move on. We may be able to stabilize our team and recruits if we announce it.

 

[Harpo Marxist]

this is going to get much uglier......Consolation prize? Familiar territory for Notre Dame fans.

 

[88ND]

ND is stuck with Kelly and will not fire him in 2016 or 2017 unless the football team falls apart

Uuummm,
You must mean that new fall apart definition.

 

[88ND]

I've changed my mind again and let's get one thing straighten out. Brian Kelly does not make 4 million dollars a year. According to SI's article last year Brian Kelly ranks 68th on the list of 127 coaching salaries listed in the article. In 2015 he made 1.8 million a year and did not get a raise with his 4 year extension. Going into this season he averaged 9-4 and doing really well on the recruiting trail for 2017 and 6 commitments for the 2018 class.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Every long term coach at ND with the exception of Parseghian had one bumpy season. In 1928 Rockne went 5-4 and many in the paper started writing nonsense that maybe the game had passed him by. His last two teams went a combine record of 19-0. Leahy in 1950 went 4-4-1 and finished off this career at ND with three strong seasons. Kelly's team went 10-3-0 last year. His team is 2-4 this year and will most likely end with a losing season, the first in his coaching career. He would be crazy to walk away like many, including myself has suggested with the roster ND will have next season. He's not a quitter; and I would be disappointed in him if he gave up and walked away. Bodi, you need to get your butt back here. You're to good a poster to let Hurricane Matthew beech you.

Stop comparing those greats with Brian Kelly.

Seriously you can twist, turn any of that stuff to make the argument for BK average and or below average performances.

If Brian Kelly had won a NC, ...better yet if he won a few big bowl games, we wouldn't even be talking about the validity of his coaching or firing .

But what we have is in 7 years of big games we are unprepared, over whelmed, etc etc.

7 years of player regression.

I don't know how anyone can defend Brian Kelly especially using two of the greatest coaches in our storied history.

 

[Harpo Marxist]

I see in this team some of the same liabilities of the Weis era...poor tackling and playing out of position on defense. Play calling that seems to only outsmart our own offense...and low percentage plays when a high percentage play seems to be in order.
Another similiarity is just the general belief that offense wins games, not defense. Weis seemed to be a bit more committed to running the football...but had lesser players to use...Kelly has the running game weapons and either uses them wrong, or not at all.

I see similiarities yet again with strength and conditioning. Weis had the "big muchachos" who seemed to be outran and out hustled...while Kelly's players are pushed around and outmuscled. The results are getting closer and closer to being the same.

 

[Telx1]

Ara, I fully understand your view, and have questioned my own thinking on this of late. However, I still come down on the side of replacing Kelly. As you know, I have been generally supportive of Kelly his entire time at ND. His stubborn commitment to BVG last year pissed me off, and this year sent me ballistic, as our defensive stats are among the very worse in college football. I was so damn thankful when he fired BVG and committed to spending the majority of his time with the defense. I didn't expect him to turn things around immediately, but I did expect the team to be playing better each week. I thought he had earned the right to turn this team around, and use these games to prep for next season, with expectations he would make a great DC hire and we would have so much experienced talent back. BUT, something seems terribly wrong to me about this team. We play soft on both sides of the ball; our defense in particular is embarrassing for the lack of fundamentals; our OL has underperformed to an extent it is inexplicable; our running game sucks and the coaches obviously have no faith in it. I believe Kelly and his staff have failed in putting our young men in position to win; most notably the switch from the successful four man front back to the three man front against Texas, and the decision to commit to the pass and forgo the run in the NCS hurricane, while keeping MZ chained to the bench. I sense that the players see all this and more, and they have lost confidence in Kelly. I wonder if the OL think MZ should have the starting nod as he makes plays and makes their jobs easier. I wonder if Kelly has in fact lost this team. I don't wonder who has to be held accountable for this decline, and that is Kelly. As much as I liked his hire and think he has done a good job turning the program around, I think ND football this year is an embarrassment on many many levels, and Kelly has to be held to account. That said, I want the team to play hard with emotion and demonstrate improvement weekly, and to win out! If Kelly turns this around and we see significant improvement in their play and in his game planning and in game decisions, then perhaps I will feel differently. Time will tell. Fell the Trees!

 

[tkirish]

I'm curious to see how many empty seats there will be at this weeks game. I would bet this will be one of the lowest watched ND TV games in recent memory. Both teams suck. Still, if ND loses to a bad Stanford team , the stadium for the rest of the year may resemble an Ivy League stadium where only families go to see their kids. Maybe that's what needs to happen. Keep selling out games and buying over priced stuff and nothing will change. Stop going to watch lousy played football and stop buying the ND gear, then maybe the powers that be will get the message. ND the school, is what they are because ND football put a small catholic university on the map. Otherwise all money flowing in would not be flowing and ND would just be one of many small Midwest schools. Nothing will happened until fans say enough. This is not about players getting support. It's about a perpetual lie that those in charge keep feeding the fan base. ND is about winning championships and excelling in academics. The second part may be true, but the first sure as hell isn't. Believe me they spent 4 million on a stupid project. Now is the time to stay home if you go and watch something else. Put a lousy product out there and this is what you get. I believe it's the only way to get the administration to take the football program seriously. Sellouts have been occurring sinc 1964. All things come to an end at some point. That time is now.

 

[theskibro]

I've changed my mind again and let's get one thing straighten out. Brian Kelly does not make 4 million dollars a year. According to SI's article last year Brian Kelly ranks 68th on the list of 127 coaching salaries listed in the article. In 2015 he made 1.8 million a year and did not get a raise with his 4 year extension. Going into this season he averaged 9-4 and doing really well on the recruiting trail for 2017 and 6 commitments for the 2018 class.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Every long term coach at ND with the exception of Parseghian had one bumpy season. In 1928 Rockne went 5-4 and many in the paper started writing nonsense that maybe the game had passed him by. His last two teams went a combine record of 19-0. Leahy in 1950 went 4-4-1 and finished off this career at ND with three strong seasons. Kelly's team went 10-3-0 last year. His team is 2-4 this year and will most likely end with a losing season, the first in his coaching career. He would be crazy to walk away like many, including myself has suggested with the roster ND will have next season. He's not a quitter; and I would be disappointed in him if he gave up and walked away. Bodi, you need to get your butt back here. You're to good a poster to let Hurricane Matthew beech you.

baloney maybe Rockne and Leahy and Holtz had a tough season but Kelly cannot shine their shoes. THAT is the reason why he must go His decision making is atrocious He sux at most facets of coaching

 

[ivan brunetti]

Very much beside the point, but that was no "mud bowl" on Saturday. That was absolutely the BEST grass field in monsoon conditions I have ever seen. Amazing it didn't turn into 100 yards of pudding.

Okay, back to fire the coach/keep the coach...

 

[floridairish]

This is a program going down the drain. It's called a death spiral. Sorry for those too weak to hear or understand. It will only get worse. Coach 8 & 4 will have considerable trouble hiring assistant coaches. You will see many quality recruits looking elsewhere because the HC is in a terrible situation (oh, they'll be some who come here because of the school). This not only effects the program, but 2, 3, perhaps even 4 years down the line. The cost to the program both in terms of support and the financial costs of redoing a terrible situation years out only multiple dramatically. If 8 & 4 loses 6, 7 games this year there is a good chance both sides will decide to part ways.

What people on this site do not understand is that a coach at this level has professional management company and an agent advising him on the future professional pathways. It is easy to see a program deteriorating in the coming years and the won loss record suffering as a result. That just diminishes the value of HC's resume and his possible future earnings. That's why this could easily come to a close. The proper management decision is to release the HC at season's end and start over. That is extremely hard for most ADs to do. So the doubt for that happening is understandable. But, Swarbrick strikes me as a man that is comfortable in his judgement and not afraid to make a controversial decision. That's just me, but whatever happens, 8 & 4 is not long for here. It happens now to mitigate the damage or you wait a year or so and really damage the program and the brand and the cost to fix it may be more than anyone can resolve.

Idiot

 

[HRC08]

I've changed my mind again and let's get one thing straighten out. Brian Kelly does not make 4 million dollars a year. According to SI's article last year Brian Kelly ranks 68th on the list of 127 coaching salaries listed in the article. In 2015 he made 1.8 million a year and did not get a raise with his 4 year extension. Going into this season he averaged 9-4 and doing really well on the recruiting trail for 2017 and 6 commitments for the 2018 class.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Every long term coach at ND with the exception of Parseghian had one bumpy season. In 1928 Rockne went 5-4 and many in the paper started writing nonsense that maybe the game had passed him by. His last two teams went a combine record of 19-0. Leahy in 1950 went 4-4-1 and finished off this career at ND with three strong seasons. Kelly's team went 10-3-0 last year. His team is 2-4 this year and will most likely end with a losing season, the first in his coaching career. He would be crazy to walk away like many, including myself has suggested with the roster ND will have next season. He's not a quitter; and I would be disappointed in him if he gave up and walked away. Bodi, you need to get your butt back here. You're to good a poster to let Hurricane Matthew beech you.

He will return in 2017 but that's going to be it. Unless he wins 9-10 games. Another 8-4 year (not that they get anywhere near 8 wins this year) will probably result in a mutual separation. 7-5 will get him fired.

Hindsight in my side, this is a very young team and one that's slightly overrated. Well a lot overrated given the #10 preseason ranking.

The OLine is the worst Kelly's had at ND. No cohesion and no push in the run game. Compared to Zack Martin's group leaves me shaking my head. Heck iirc Tommy Rees was sacked like 9 times his senior season. Kizer's been sacked 5 times twice already this year. The running game is disappointing but it's hard to know who's to blame. The WR's inexperienced is showing. Lots of drops. Kizer isn't running the ball effectively and is holding on to it way too long way too often.

The defense is playing better but they only have one Sr. Maybe two: Cole Luke and Issac Rochell? Are there anymore? That's bodes well for 2017.

Kizer's gone. The left side of the line is gone. Tarean's gone. All are replaceable.

Kelly's in need of a 2012 like offseason. He needs to refuse all off season interviews and or Booster galas and "get back with his guys" as he said it in 2012. All of those people will be the first to say they told us so if Kelly loses his job after next season. Why try to get them back on board, imo. Spend that time working with his team and recreating his offense. It's in desperate needs of changes. He rolls out the same game plan each week regardless of opponent or weather conditions.

 

[Java65]

I've changed my mind again and let's get one thing straighten out. Brian Kelly does not make 4 million dollars a year. According to SI's article last year Brian Kelly ranks 68th on the list of 127 coaching salaries listed in the article. In 2015 he made 1.8 million a year and did not get a raise with his 4 year extension. Going into this season he averaged 9-4 and doing really well on the recruiting trail for 2017 and 6 commitments for the 2018 class.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Every long term coach at ND with the exception of Parseghian had one bumpy season. In 1928 Rockne went 5-4 and many in the paper started writing nonsense that maybe the game had passed him by. His last two teams went a combine record of 19-0. Leahy in 1950 went 4-4-1 and finished off this career at ND with three strong seasons. Kelly's team went 10-3-0 last year. His team is 2-4 this year and will most likely end with a losing season, the first in his coaching career. He would be crazy to walk away like many, including myself has suggested with the roster ND will have next season. He's not a quitter; and I would be disappointed in him if he gave up and walked away. Bodi, you need to get your butt back here. You're to good a poster to let Hurricane Matthew beech you.

.... but every coach that's lasted more than 5 years won a NC. Kelly hasn't even been competitive in a major bowl

 

[cgvr]

I've changed my mind again and let's get one thing straighten out. Brian Kelly does not make 4 million dollars a year. According to SI's article last year Brian Kelly ranks 68th on the list of 127 coaching salaries listed in the article. In 2015 he made 1.8 million a year and did not get a raise with his 4 year extension. Going into this season he averaged 9-4 and doing really well on the recruiting trail for 2017 and 6 commitments for the 2018 class.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

Every long term coach at ND with the exception of Parseghian had one bumpy season. In 1928 Rockne went 5-4 and many in the paper started writing nonsense that maybe the game had passed him by. His last two teams went a combine record of 19-0. Leahy in 1950 went 4-4-1 and finished off this career at ND with three strong seasons. Kelly's team went 10-3-0 last year. His team is 2-4 this year and will most likely end with a losing season, the first in his coaching career. He would be crazy to walk away like many, including myself has suggested with the roster ND will have next season. He's not a quitter; and I would be disappointed in him if he gave up and walked away. Bodi, you need to get your butt back here. You're to good a poster to let Hurricane Matthew beech you.

Dear Lord, please look up where Mr Potato Head ranks in ND's history. Do not tarnish those greats by mentioning him in the same verse. Those were ND men through and through. Porky is a weak vulgar underachieving bully.

 

[cgvr]

I am not comparing coaching success or failure, but the simple fact that they had a bumpy season along the way at ND. Read and Comprehend.

You were making an excuse for Tinkles and invoked ND legends to do so.
Shame on your b.s..

 

[jpstax]

From today's Chicago Tribune:

On the day he walked away from his dream job, Lou Holtz was at a loss to explain it.

Why leave Notre Dame in the midst of another strong season? The Irish were 7-2 and ranked 10th on Nov. 19, 1996.

"It's the right thing to do," he said repeatedly.

For whom? For Holtz? The university?


As Brian Kelly turns up volume, things might get noisy if Irish keep losing
Where does that leave Brian Kelly, coach of the nation's most underperforming team? It's doubtful the school would fire him a year after a 10-win season and nine months after he signed an extension through 2021.

But perhaps Kelly will realize that it's just ... time.

Time for both parties to move on.

He has lost the fan base, much of which was aghast that he declined to suspend four of the five players involved in the August incident in which marijuana and a handgun were recovered from a car speeding 35 miles south of South Bend.

And there's word from sources who know several players that, citing Kelly's uneven leadership style, he has lost the team.

What transpired during and after Notre Dame's 10-3 "Mud Bowl" loss Saturday at North Carolina State was mystifying. Kelly's staff called 31 pass plays, netting 37 yards factoring in sacks. When DeShone Kizer threw into a crowd on third-and-goal from the 19, the ball wobbled from his hand and got picked off.


Notre Dame reeling after rain-soaked, 10-3 blooper-reel loss
This occurred midway through the second quarter. The staff had plenty of time to adjust.

Notre Dame took over at the N.C. State 22 after a third-quarter fumble. First down: coverage sack. Second down: failed attempt at a screen pass. Third down: incompletion. Justin Yoon had just nailed a 40-yard field goal, but Kelly passed up a 41-yard try on fourth-and-12. Result: pass broken up.

Perhaps that series inspired Kelly to apologize to his players in the locker room. As aired on the "Inside Notre Dame Football" show, Kelly calmly told them: "You were ready to play. You were excited to play. You were energized to play. And I couldn't find a way to win that game for you. I apologize. I've got to look hard at how I'm doing it to figure out a way to get a win for you guys because you deserve it. You deserved to win."

Kelly alluded to that in his postgame comments to the media, saying he "let the team down" and would "second-guess" his decision to protect punter Tyler Newsome with only two players. The Wolfpack scored the game's only touchdown on a fourth-quarter blocked punt.

Kelly also said, "The lack of our ability to manage the snapping was atrocious."

ESPN's Paul Finebaum blasted Kelly for that line, saying: "He blamed everyone on his team a couple weeks ago. He said that he would be re-evaluating, he blamed his defensive coordinator and fired him. He blamed his quarterback, who has had a really nice year. And (Saturday), he called out the center, saying he had been snapping atrociously in the middle of a hurricane. You know, I'm beginning to wonder, who's next for Brian Kelly to blame: Donald Trump?"


Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly says "coaching had nothing to do with the outcome" of Saturday's 38-35 loss to Duke. (Paul Skrbina/Chicago Tribune)

Finebaum piled on, calling Kelly a "miserable human being."

That's off base, but this season has been miserable, and Kelly deserves the blame. Despite being ranked 10th in the preseason and bringing in four straight top-15 recruiting classes, Kelly's crew is 2-4 — against six currently unranked teams.

Given the remaining slate of Stanford, Miami, Navy, Army, Virginia Tech and USC, the Irish will be fortunate to finish 5-7.

Will that mark the end of Kelly's time in South Bend? His departure could be the "right thing" for the program, but he's not thinking that way.

"I'm doing everything to build the winning identity for this team for right now and for '17, '18 and '19," he said. "We want to stop the slide. That means start winning again."

tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @TeddyGreenstein

 

[jpstax]

I was scanning Yahoo News and saw this story. I was about to post the link before you beat me to it. Anyway, I thought it was a very enjoyable article, written by one of the most respected mid-west sports writers.

 

[Toby Smart]

How much time does this writer actually spend around the ND campus or program? He seems to paint a really broad picture by saying that BK has lost the fan base. That's a lot of fan base. I'm sure he's talked to every single Irish fan. He said BK has lost the team. That's a lot of team members and I'm sure he has talked to every single team member. Eric Hansen mentions yesterday that he attended practice the other day and heard a bunch of hollering and excitement. He talked to Isaac Rochell afterward and Isaac told him that the players are all in and convinced the team can turn things around. And of course, while writing about the unsuspended four, the writer conveniently and purposely forgets to mention that BK dismissed Max Redfield from the team almost immediately. You are going to find pissed off players and fans and parents in every single program so before you make general and sweeping opinions, you better have a giant sample size of facts and try spending a little time around the program.

 

[simontonlake]

Re: Written by one of the most respected mid-west sports writers

Says who? TeddyGreenstein is a ND hater.

 

[NDEwing18]

Re: Written by one of the most respected mid-west sports writers

Says who? TeddyGreenstein is a ND hater.

Every college football fan who reads something written by a reporter that is critical of such fan's team believes the reporter is a "hater".

It's a stupid accusation.