At some point, Notre Dame football fans are almost going to start feeling sorry for Brian Kelly. That point has not yet arrived, however. For now, the feeling among most Fighting Irish faithful is one of redemption, for having never really trusted the former head coach who left South Bend for greener pastures, only for the school to upgrade at the position.
Kelly has taken a pounding since his forced exit from LSU in the middle of the 2025 season. Despite many, many openings this winter, he wasn’t really ever mentioned as a possible fit. It got so bad that Kelly announced he wants to come back to South Bend to take some pointers from his replacement, Marcus Freeman. He even claimed he’s using ChatGPT to figure out how to answer interview questions.
Kelly’s trustworthiness is a big part of his problem. Former LSU head coach and current LSU assistant coach Ed Orgeron pointed that out right from Kelly’s entrance at Baton Rouge. Notre Dame fans clearly don't trust him because of the way he left town in the dead of night and right before a bowl game. And as Nicholas Rome of Saturday Blitz pointed out, he's one of the least trustworthy coaches in the game today.
Rome wrote an article listing the 10 least trustworthy coaches in college football, and it should come as no surprise that Brian Kelly made the list. The only part that might surprise some Irish fans is that he finished 10th and wasn't higher in the rankings.
Brian Kelly’s trust problem keeps making Notre Dame football look better for being rid of him
"Brian Kelly has a solid career record, but it's hard to imagine he'll get another head coaching gig in the future," Rome wrote. "The departure from Cincinnati rubbed many the wrong way, as did quitting on Notre Dame to take the LSU job where Kelly flopped despite having high expectations. Kelly has proved he can win games, but the fiery personality doesn't mesh well with this current era while Marcus Freeman has proven that maybe the Notre Dame program did a lot of heavy lifting."
That ranking of the 10 least trustworthy coaches is certainly not a fraternity anyone should want to be a part of:
- Lane Kiffin (Tennessee, USC, FAU, Ole Miss, LSU)
- Les Miles (Oklahoma State, LSU, Kansas)
- Willie Taggart (Western Kentucky, USF, Oregon, Florida State, FAU)
- Tom Herman (Houston, Texas, FAU)
- Todd Graham (Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, Arizona State, Hawaii)
- Charlie Strong (Florida, Louisville, Texas, USF)
- Scott Frost (UCF, Nebraska, UCF)
- Derek Dooley (Louisiana Tech, Tennessee)
- Justin Fuente (Memphis, Virginia Tech)
- Brian Kelly (Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, LSU)
It's worth noting how many schools have had multiple men on this list come worm their way through their program. LSU stands out because of Louisiana's history, but poor Florida Atlantic is also notable for how many untrustworthy players used it as a stepping stone.
Notre Dame obviously has one coach on here as well, but it's worth pointing out that at least the Fighting Irish could point to him not yet having a track record of being a weird liar, unlike Lane Kiffin and Willie Taggart. Still, it stands to reason the powers that be in South Bend will keep this in mind if they find themselves needing a new head coach in the future.
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