While Brian Kelly has one of the better career records among active coaches, he’s not always the most beloved person in the college football world. That extends to at least one of his former players.
Mardy Gilyard was on the University of Cincinnati’s football team when Kelly took the job there in 2006. In 2009, Gilyard was one of the best receivers and return men in the country as the Bearcats went 12-0 in the regular season and earned a Sugar Bowl bid against the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gators. That was Kelly’s last season in Cincinnati, as he took the Notre Dame job after the regular season and didn’t coach the Bearcats in their Sugar Bowl loss.
More than a decade after playing his last game for Kelly, Gilyard doesn’t still doesn’t have a high opinion of his college coach.
Gilyard joined Russ Heltman and one of his former teammates at Cincinnati, Dominick Goodman, on Bearcat Blitz and spoke about Kelly. He did credit Kelly for being good at picking the coaching staffs that have been around him, noting that “any place he’s been at, his staff has been extremely good.” Otherwise, he didn’t have anything positive to say about the kind of coach Kelly is.
.@MardyGilyard addresses his feelings about former #Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly
Full interview ⬇️⬇️
Apple: https://t.co/nG3fCBcCng
Spotify: https://t.co/jHOVia7HR6
YouTube: https://t.co/NzHcadl8Fi pic.twitter.com/3qX8lgnpv4— Russ Heltman (@russheltman11) September 1, 2023
The entirety of Gilyard’s Bearcat Blitz interview can be heard here. His commentary on Kelly starts at the 8:35 mark.
