Notre Dame Football: Why Brian Kelly is Comfortable in the Hot Seat
By Chase Eyrich
Even a bounce back ten-win season hasn’t been able to stop the rising temperature of the hot seat for Notre Dame Football Coach Brian Kelly.
The amount of pressure that comes with being the head coach of Notre Dame football is immense. Thousands of analysts and millions of fans simply know how to do the job much better than the current coach. That has been especially true for Brian Kelly in recent years.
Every coach has to deal with this type of pushback to some degree. The difference is the magnitude at which the Notre Dame head coach must deal with. Only four coaches in Notre Dame history have more wins than Kelly. All four coaches spent more time than Kelly has with the team, as well.
The only coaches to have done more than Kelly in their era at Notre Dame are Lou Holtz, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Knute Rockne. Dan Devine is the only other ND coach to have won a national championship. That’s a hard bunch to put your name next to.
The lack of a National Championship beside Kelly’s name is the biggest reason why many want to put him on the hot seat.
How quickly we forget that he took an undefeated team to the championship game. How quickly we forget that he bounced back from a 4-8 one season to ten wins the next season. In fact, two of the last three seasons have been ten-win seasons for the Irish. Most programs would kill to have that type of production.
While Kelly has yet to claim a National Championship, does that really need to turn the temperature of his seat up?
Since Kelly joined the Irish, there have only been five different National Champions. Does that mean there are at least five coaches in the country better than Kelly? Not necessarily.
It takes more than just a head coach to win a game. Last year would Alabama have won the Natty if it weren’t for Tua Tagovailoa saving the day? There are so many outside factors.
The hard position that Kelly has found himself in is that he produces great coaches. His success there has created a coaching carousel, as they deserve their opportunities to make a name for themselves elsewhere.
There is an unreasonable standard when it comes to coaching Notre Dame. If the Irish would have had the same success as Alabama has had, winning five of the last nine natty’s; We would be asking why the team didn’t win the other four.
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Kelly knew how difficult the job would be when he signed up for it, as well did others in the program. So we can sit here and judge when it’s time for ND to say goodbye to their coach. But in the meantime, it will be a comfortable seat for Kelly until the Irish simply cannot find success.