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Where Does Brian Kelly Rank Among Notre Dame Football Coaches?

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Sam Kohler #29, head coach Brian Kelly, Grace Kelly and Hunter Bivin #70 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sing the alma mater following a loss to the Michigan State Spartans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 17, 2016 in South Bend, Indiana. Michigan State defeated Notre Dame 36-28. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Sam Kohler #29, head coach Brian Kelly, Grace Kelly and Hunter Bivin #70 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sing the alma mater following a loss to the Michigan State Spartans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 17, 2016 in South Bend, Indiana. Michigan State defeated Notre Dame 36-28. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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With the regular season over, it’s a good time to look at how Brian Kelly measures up to Notre Dame football coaches throughout history.

Since 2010, Brian Kelly has led the Notre Dame Football team to some great highs — most recently this year’s undefeated season. There have been some lows though, like 2016’s 4-8 team.

For most programs, this would be seen as monumental success for the head coach. As we all know, however, Notre Dame is different. While Kelly has certainly been one of the best modern coaches in Notre Dame history, how does he compare to the entirety of the pantheon of Notre Dame coaches?

From Knute Rockne to George O’Leary, where does Brian Kelly rank? (Hint: Somewhere in-between)

My criteria is a mix of years spent with the program, importance of advancing the program forward, and of course, winning.

Let’s start with the obvious, Knute Rockne is the number one, and that will never change. Without Rockne, it would be unlikely that Notre Dame football is half the program it is now. Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian can also pretty easily be slid into the category of “uncatchable” for Kelly.

Given that they won National Championships and had multiple years of success, Lou Holtz and Dan Devine edge out Kelly as well. Holtz does so more easily than Devine. Five top 10 finishes for Holtz and a decade of greatness put him in elite company. Devine spent only six seasons with Notre Dame, already less than Kelly, but his three top 10 finishes help keep him above Kelly — for now.

At this point, things get a little messier. I’m also going to put Elmer Layden ahead of Brian Kelly. Layden lacks any National Championships, like Kelly, but boasts three top 10 finishes (two more than Kelly, and Layden did it in less time).

This leaves, for me, a handful of names to discuss in regard to being around Brian Kelly: Terry Brennan, Heartley Anderson, and Jesse Harper.

Anderson only coached for three years at Notre Dame and left on a sour note, putting him firmly behind Kelly.

Brennan coached for five seasons and managed three top 10 finishes. However, there is a 2-8 season in the mix. Given this — and a longevity issue — Kelly slightly beats out Brennan.

Jesse Harper, on the other hand, is going to stay ahead of Brian Kelly. This is fairly simple. Beyond his incredible success record-wise — which came before the AP Top 25 to help punctuate the Irish’s success under him — he innovated. Beating Army in 1913 made Notre Dame a known entity in college football. That’s not even getting into the details of Harper and the forward pass. In many respects, Harper is the forgotten architect of Notre Dame football. He is certainly Notre Dame’s most underrated coach ever.

This leaves Brian Kelly as the 8th best coach in Notre Dame Football history. With the success so far this year, he can improve his position with any success in this season’s College Football Playoff.

To recap, here is my top 10:

  1. Knute Rockne 1918-1930, 105-12-5 record
  2. Frank Leahy 1941-1953 (but not 1944-1945), 87-11-9 record
  3. Ara Parseghian 1964-1974, 95-17-4 record
  4. Lou Holtz 1986-1996, 100-30-2 record
  5. Jesse Harper 1913-1917, 34-5-1 record
  6. Dan Devine 1975-1980, 53-16-1 record
  7. Elmer Layden 1934-1940, 47-13-3 record
  8. Brian Kelly 2010-present, 60-33 (80-33 with vacated wins) record (prior to the 2018-2019 CFP)
  9. Terry Brennan 1954-1958, 32-18 record
  10. Heartley Anderson 931-1933, 16-9-2 record

Next. 2018 Echoes Awards Recap. dark

Where do you rank Brian Kelly among the great Notre Dame football coaches in history?

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