No one would argue that the resources and facilities that Notre Dame has today are quite a bit better than they were even a decade ago. However, any Fighting Irish fan who hears that former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is credited for the turnaround will likely balk. Meyer believes that people who are excited about how much better things are in South Bend have Brian Kelly to thank.
Meyer was talking to Irish quarterback CJ Carr during a recent episode of the Triple Option Podcast, and he talked about how much better things are and how Kelly needs to get more credit. It’s worth noting this isn’t a coach on the outside looking in who just likes Kelly and wants to say nice things about him. Meyer got a first-hand look at what the facilities were like in South Bend not all that long ago.
“1996, Coach Holtz hired me,” the famed former head coach told Carr. “Notre Dame back then, they didn't have a training table. The players had to stay in the dorms for four years. A lot of the dorms were non-air-conditioned. They did not pay the coaches. We got paid about half what other coaches got paid.”
“They refused to give us cell phones. The facilities were awful. I mean, horrible, infested with stuff. And I mean, just really, really bad.”
“But it was a mindset that we're Notre Dame. We don't have to do like everybody else. But I don't think Brian Kelly gets enough credit. He changed that. What I've seen in the facilities … It's the best version of Notre Dame in my lifetime right now.”
Urban Meyer credits Brian Kelly for transforming Notre Dame football
Meyer was the wide receivers coach for the Fighting Irish from 1996 to 2000. It was his work in South Bend that helped him get his first head coaching job in Bowling Green in 2001. He was impressive enough at the MAC school that he was there for just two seasons before jumping to Utah, where he coached just two more years before landing at Florida.
From 2005 to 2010, Meyer established himself as one of the best head coaches in the sport, but stepped down due to “health reasons” just as he had Florida at the height of its power. Incidentally, 2010 was also when Brian Kelly landed at Notre Dame after coaching at Central Michigan and then Cincinnati for three and four years, respectively.
Meyer eventually came back in 2012 with Ohio State and spent seven seasons there before making the jump to the Jacksonville Jaguars three years after stepping down from the Buckeyes, once again due to health reasons. His NFL career lasted just one season, and after 2021, he got into broadcasting.
It’s true that Meyer left Notre Dame a full decade before Kelly took over, but he certainly knew what the facilities were like when he was there and obviously kept track of what the Irish were doing after he left. It’s unusual for anyone to really give Brian Kelly credit for the Golden Domers’ turnaround, but Meyer believes he had more of a hand in changing the atmosphere than people realize.
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