Notre Dame football: Will Brian Kelly turn to a true freshman at QB in 2021?

Kelly’s first season in South Bend

Kelly arrived at Notre Dame before the 2010 college football season, as he signed on with the Irish in December of 2009. The head coach of Cincinnati at the time, he had brought that program up from nothing, and despite them securing a New Year’s Six Bowl, he bowed out of coaching the Bearcats, a game they lost to Florida.

Kelly was inheriting a Notre Dame team that replacing Charlie Weis has driven into the ground, as they had not been good since 2006, and were coming off a 6-6 season. It would be Kelly’s job to turn this program around, and during his first season, he had Dayne Crist under center to start, and he led the team to an opening game victory against Purdue.

Crist had the Irish sitting with a 4-4 record before rupturing his patellar tendon against Tulsa. That forced Kelly to turn to true freshman Tommy Rees, who shredded the Tulsa defense to the tune of 334 yards, but an interception late cause the Irish to lose Rees’ debut.

Rees would start the rest of the season, completing better than 61 percent of his passes, while throwing 12 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He would be the starter the following season, and as a senior, and currently serves as the program’s offensive coordinator.