Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly doesn’t deserve so much criticism
By Ben Belden
The assessment of Head Coach Brian Kelly has been a polarizing debate among Notre Dame football fans. Coach Kelly doesn’t deserve so much criticism.
A few days ago, Slap the Sign ran an article stating that Brian Kelly will likely become the winningest head coach in Notre Dame football history. The article drew a great deal of criticism from the “who cares?” crowd.
It’s easy for people to point to the obvious: The Irish haven’t won much of consequence during Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame. And while this is an easy criticism, there is much more to the conversation… or at least there should be.
The truth is that Brian Kelly has done enough over the past few seasons to warrant his critics to get off his back.
College football coaches come in all shapes and sizes. Some coaches excel in the ability to gameplan and scheme for their opponent. Some coaches excel in program-building and establishing a culture, turning a program into a well-oiled machine.
The best coaches, however, are able to do both. Furthermore, when they lack in one area, they hire key assistants that fill in the gaps where the head coach falls short.
When Brian Kelly was hired in December 2009, Notre Dame got a guy who was a master of strategy and a football genius. Where Kelly came up short was establishing a culture, at least at a place with the prestige of Notre Dame.
Under Kelly, the Irish have experienced peaks and valleys of performance. The valleys, in particular, have been especially frustrating. None of the valleys were lower than a 4-8 season in 2016.
But what Brian Kelly has done in the meantime is improve on his ability to develop not only a winning team, but a winning program.
Kelly has hired top-notch assistant coaches, experienced great recruiting success, and strung together back-to-back 10-win seasons at Notre Dame for the first time since the days of Lou Holtz.
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In short, Kelly is continuing the development of a well-oiled machine of a program in South Bend. It’s time to appreciate what he has accomplished and what he will continue to accomplish at Notre Dame.