Tramel: Credit Brian Kelly for Notre Dame football's renewal, like it or not
Berry TramelOklahoman
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — Golden Domers from Lou Holtz to the ghost of George Gipp are not happy with Brian Kelly.
The 12-year Notre Dame football coach left the Fighting Irish on November 30 for Louisiana State. Bad enough that Kelly bailed on Notre Dame. But he did so when the Irish still was in contention for a College Football Playoff berth.
Kelly did the seemingly impossible. He made Lincoln Riley look not quite so bad.
But while we all brand Kelly with a capital C for carpetbagger, let’s also remember one thing. Kelly restored the luster to Notre Dame football.
The fifth-ranked Irish play OSU on Saturday in the Fiesta Bowl, and win or lose, Notre Dame likely will finish in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll.
That’s no big deal under Kelly. It was a big deal in the two decades before Kelly.
From Holtz’s retirement after the 1993 season to Kelly’s hiring for the 2010 season, Notre Dame had one top-10 finish. The Irish never fell into deep mediocrity. But three straight head coaches were just OK — Bob Davie was 35-25, Tyrone Willingham was 21-15 and Charlie Weis was 35-27.
But from 2012 through 2021, Notre Dame has four top-10 teams and thrice made the playoffs, either the two-team version (2012) or the four-team affair (2018, 2020).
“What Coach (Kelly) did over his time at Notre Dame needs to be respected in the way that it is,” said Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, a quarterback for Kelly from 2010-13. “Look, he built this program back up … he built the culture into a place where it's really strong.
“And he built the culture into a place where it's strong to the point where we felt like we can seamlessly get into this transition because there's a very strong culture already laid down.”
Of course, Notre Dame’s culture was strong under Holtz. And the promotion of Davie off Holtz’s staff didn’t work out. So you never know.
But Notre Dame’s promotion of defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to head coach has Irish eyes sparkling.
“The goal is to win,” Freeman said. “The goal is to win it all. The goal is to win the national championship. That’s the ultimate goal.
“It’s going to take a process. It’s going to take enhancing whatever we’ve done to get to this point.”
That means building on what Kelly constructed. The Irish have been talking culture, culture, culture all year, and that didn’t change even when the master builder was proven to be a fraud.
“I still think Coach Kelly is pretty popular and held in high regard in a lot of people that are part of this program,” Rees said. “People that he's impacted, myself included.
“I know there's a lot of other individuals within our program that have been here that share that sentiment towards Coach. And there's really no ill will towards him throughout this entire change and process.”
If so, that’s some Touchdown Jesus forgiveness.
Hard to believe there isn’t some Kelly resentment in the Notre Dame locker room. On the other hand, the Irish typically have mature, sharp thinkers who from the outset might have known not to put too much stock in a coach’s character.
Of course, Kelly did more than change the Notre Dame culture. He changed the Irish talent base.
In the last nine NFL Drafts, 49 Notre Dame players were selected. In the nine years before that, which means players not recruited by Kelly, the number was 31. Big difference.
So the future is bright, if the 35-year-old Freeman is like Ryan Day and Riley, ready to lead a program despite a relative lack of experience.
“You have to embrace this place,” Freeman said. “You have to embrace the things that make us different. You have to embrace the competitive thinkers, the individuals that are on this football team. If you embrace everything that comes with the University of Notre Dame, you’re going to be better because of it.
“If you’re making the playoffs, you have a chance to win it all … we’re close. We’re close. We’re not there yet, but we’re close. It can be done right away. We’re not talking about a future long-term plan.”
In the last decade, the college football hierarchy is clear. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Georgia. In that order.
And we have to credit Brian Kelly, like it or not.
