Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly tabbed as 16th-best coach by 247 Sports

Brian Kelly, the Head Coach of the Notre Dame football program, has been tabbed by writers at 247 Sports as the 16th-best coach in college football.

Last week, 247Sports.com released its list of the best power-five coaches in college football. Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly found himself on the list, but his ranking stunned many Notre Dame fans… or at least it stunned me.

It’s no surprised who the top coaches are: Nick Saban was first on the list, while Dabo Swinney came in second. Many might debate the fact that Swinney should have overtaken Saban, but we’ll save that debate for another day. Lincoln Riley and Jimbo Fisher come in at 3 and 4 on the list, and it’s hard to argue with that logic.

Ranked 16th on the list, Kelly finds himself just behind Stanford’s David Shaw and just above Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.

And for a multitude of reasons, I can’t help but think to myself what in the world were these people thinking? 

Besides David Shaw, here are the coaches who appear above Kelly on the list: Chris Petersen (Washington), Mike Leach (Washington State), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Gary Patterson (TCU), Matt Campbell (Iowa State), Kirby Smart (Georgia), James Franklin (Penn State), Dan Mullen (Florida), Tom Herman (Texas), and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State).

Of these coaches, it’s hard to argue that many of them have the accolades and accomplishments of Brian Kelly.

Kirby Smart has been beyond impressive at Georgia, winning an SEC Championship and seeing his team to the National Championship in just his second season.

Overall, it’s not worth using conference championships as a barometer, as Notre Dame goes without a conference. But for the sake of eliminating a few off this list, let’s just say that Brian Kelly has won as many conference championships in has time at Notre Dame as Fitzgerald, Leach, Campbell, Mullen, and Herman have won at their schools in the same time period.

It may be argued that coaches like Fitzgerald and Campbell fall in the category of those who “do less with more” than other coaches in their field, but can the same not be said about Kelly? Are the academic standards at Notre Dame not as difficult as they are at Northwestern? IS it fair to dub Campbell as a great coach before he’s even proven himself as a coach of powerhouse?

And while we’re at it, I’d take Notre Dame’s past 9 seasons over Michigan State’s last 9 seasons any day of the week.

The bottom line is this: Brian Kelly is, at worst, at top-10 head coach in college football. Regardless of what any rankings say, Notre Dame fans should feel lucky to have him.