In the typical world of college football, a new head coach is given a couple years to let his recruits grow and his program develop into the program he promised a team’s fanbase when he first arrived. In South Bend, things haven’t gone the way Brian Kelly might have wanted.
Here’s how Brian Kelly’s seven years at Notre Dame have gone:
2010 – 8-5 and Sun Bowl win
2011 – 8-5 and Champs Sports Bowl loss
2012 – 12-1 and BCS National Championship loss (All 12 wins later forfeited)
2013 – 9-4 and Pinstripe Bowl win (All 9 wins later forfeited)
2014 – 8-5 and Music City Bowl win
2015 – 10-3 and Fiesta Bowl loss
2016 – 4-8 and no bowl game appearance
Kelly’s seven seasons with the Fighting Irish have seemed like a roller coaster. A decent start with back-to-back 8-5 seasons before a stellar 12-1 campaign before dropping back to the 9-4 and 8-5 range. The most recent season, 2016, was by far the worst as Kelly’s team went 4-8 and didn’t make a bowl.
With the future of Kelly’s time at Notre Dame looking bleak, the longtime college coach wants to make the jump to the NFL. The only problem is that it looks like nobody wants him.
Kelly was the head coach at Grand Valley State from 1991-2003, Central Michigan from 2004-2006, Cincinnati from 2007-2009, and Notre Dame since 2010. His overall college record is 230-88-2 and 5-4 in bowl games. Kelly’s NFL record is 0-0.
But for some reason, he really wants to make the move right now to the NFL. Despite that, once again, NFL teams aren’t reciprocating that desire.
According to Pro Football Weekly, Kelly’s representatives are talking to a majority of NFL teams trying to find one franchise who would consider or want Kelly to be their next head coach. In South Bend, alumni are debating whether Kelly should lead the program in the future. So the timing of Kelly’s reps reaching out isn’t too surprising.
Sadly for Kelly and his representatives, they aren’t having much luck. Apparently their luck is so bad that no team is even interested in listening to their pitch. Imagine how poor your prospects are if teams like the Rams and Jaguars are like, “thanks, but no thanks”.
That’s got to hurt.
