Brian Kelly to Notre Dame, Irish Hope he Brings Luck With Him

Reports have confirmed that Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly will be the next coach of Notre Dame. Kelly leaves a 12-0 Cincinnati team that narrowly missed the National Title game and is poised to play Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly will not be on the sidelines for that game, nor will many of his assistants as many will follow him to South Bend.

The coaching search was extremely well executed by Notre Dame, suggesting to me that they may finally have found a candidate that can lead them into the future. First, Kelly was hired only 10 days after Charlie Weis was fired. The Irish didn't waste any time with their unrealistic wish list, quickly ruling out Oklahoma coach, Bob Stoops, and Florida coach, Urban Meyer. While Notre Dame would have loved either one of these coaches, neither coach was going to leave their respective program. There was no point in alienating prospective candidates to pursue a situation that just wasn't going to happen. Second, Notre Dame recognized Kelly as the man for the job very quickly and did what was necessary to bring him in. Kelly refused to publicly acknowledge any interest in the job. Then on Wednesday of this week, reports came out saying there was mutual interest between the Irish and Connecticut coach, Randy Edsall. The next day Kelly accepted the job. While we don't know for sure how negotiations went between the two parties, it looks like the Irish may have played a little hardball to bring him in.

Why was Kelly so sought after? Well, the Irish may finally realized what it takes to be successful in South Bend. Lou Holtz has been reporting on ESPN that the coaches that make it in Notre Dame are the ones who come in already well established and successful as a college head coach. Charlie Weis came in as a great NFL offensive coordinator. Tyrone Willingham was the head coach of Stanford going 44-36-1, but was inconsistent to say the least winning the Pac 10 in 1999 while still losing to teams such as San Jose State. Bob Davie was Lou Holtz's defensive coordinator. The last successful coach for the Irish was Lou Holtz himself, and he had 17 seasons as a head coach coming into Notre Dame. Kelly comes to South Bend with 18 years of head coaching experience and an overall record of 171-57-2. The Irish may finally have found the coach they need instead of the coach that fits.