Is Brian Kelly The Right Fit For Notre Dame

Is Brian Kelly the Right Fit for Notre Dame?

On the same day that Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate have announced they both will forego their senior season to enter the NFL draft, Brian Kelly has confirmed his interest in Notre Dame. After a week or so of speculation, Kelly has confirmed his interest in the Notre Dame job on his Twitter account and will interview with the university sometime today. Kelly is definitely the right fit for this job. He is an offensive genius and has led the Cincinnati Bearcats to its second consecutive Big East Championship and BCS bowl. Cincinnati is set to play Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl but I am not sure if Kelly will be coaching them.The Fighting Irish are good at a lot of things but hiring coaches hasn’t been one of them. In my opinion, Lou Holtz has been the only strong hire since Dan Devine and Ara Parseghian. The recent run of Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and now Charlie Weis has left the program operating below potential. They need to get this hire right or else they will spend another four or five years in mediocrity. In an age of “microwave mentality”, there is no time to waste and winning needs to happen now and Kelly is the right guy to do it.Brian Kelly joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about finishing the regular season undefeated, watching the Nebraska vs. Texas game and what it was like for him in the last two minutes, whether he would guarantee that he will coach in the Sugar Bowl, and the Notre Dame job.

On finishing the regular season undefeated:

“We did and the nice part about is that we moved up to third in the BCS which was really significant for us because as a BCS conference school which at times I think people forgot that we were a BCS conference school. You know if the kickoff specialist for Nebraska, if he could just kick the ball in bounds. He is not getting a Christmas card from me but I will tell you that we would be playing in Pasadena against Alabama. Having said that it is a great season for us.”

On watching the Nebraska vs. Texas game and what it was like for him in the last two minutes:

“I don’t watch college football that much because it is obviously what I do 24 hours a day and I would like to do something else with my life. I am watching the game pacing around yelling at the TV set. I had to stop myself. I felt like a parent at a tee-ball game. It was amazing because I knew what was on the line there. Obviously for Cincinnati we would have really messed up this BCS if we were playing for it.”

Whether he was more nervous playing Pitt or watching the final two minutes of Texas game:

“Not even close. The last two minutes of the Nebraska game. You are so involved on the sideline and the next play call. If you are nervous during that period of time you are going to lose a lot of football games. That is a different deal because that is what you do. That is when you go on the set. That is when you go on live. For you that is what makes you best. It is the preparation that makes you nervous.”

On whom the best quarterback will be in this year’s Sugar Bowl:

“Um I would say that the body of work goes with Tim Tebow. You know obviously a four-year player for them, won the Heisman. (Host: This year though?) Well I think the production Tony has shown this year I think it is Tony Pike. In a very short resume that he has he has played more consistently this year. Time Tebow in the long haul has shown he would be the better quarterback. If you are just asking me right now, I will say Tony Pike.”

Who he would like in the last two minutes of game: Tim Tebow or Tony Pike:

“Tony Pike.”

On when he leaves for the Notre Dame job:

“That is the proverbial elephant in the room I guess. You know I have just…”

Whether he would guarantee that he will coach in the Sugar Bowl:

“No. There are no guarantees in anything that you do. I have never given a guarantee when I was driving home at the end of the day. But I really have not sat down and had a chance to evaluate what it is that is in the future. I haven’t done that yet. I am going to do that in the next few days because I have an opportunity to do that. Up until then Dan it has been 100% focus on this team back to a BCS game and that really has been my focus because I have said that and I know that people don’t like hearing that because people want you to tell them what they want to hear. The fact of the matter is that I will use the next few days on where we go from here.”

If Notre Dame wanted to talk, how do you do it quietly and in a way that your employer will not get mad:

“Well there are a lot of assumptions there. There are a lot of assumptions that I want another job. But to answer your question truthfully, it is difficult. If somebody wants to talk to you clearly you want to be able to do a couple of things. Number one, I am still under contract year. There are some obligations that I have if in fact they did call me. It is not as transparent as we would all like it to be and sometimes that puts me into a tough position to parse my words. The fact of the matter is that I haven’t made my decision yet as to what is my family’s best interest. I will do that over the next couple of days.”