Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2022 27 Tiger faithful. It's possible some Notre Dame fans will choose to remember Kelly for not turning his back on the Irish on a whim but for all he did for the pro- gram while he called South Bend home. That list is quite extensive. "Coach Kelly did a marvel- ous job of helping to restore the program at the University of Notre Dame," director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said. "I am thankful to him and [his wife] Paqui to this university and to the football program. We'll be forever indebted for the con- tributions that they made." From a pure football perspective, Notre Dame was in a dark place when Kelly se- cured the job ahead of the 2010 season. The Irish had only won 10-plus games twice in the 16 years before Kelly arrived. Notre Dame piled up 10-plus win sea- sons in seven of Kelly's 12 years at the helm. Never before had Notre Dame won at least 10 games in five straight seasons until that new mark was set with a 55-0 thumping of Georgia Tech Nov. 20. Little did anyone — possibly even Kelly — know that it would be his last game as the Irish's head coach at Notre Dame Stadium. Kelly was adamant throughout me- dia obligations and his introductory press conference at LSU that he never checked out of the 2021 Notre Dame season. He said his agent presented him with the idea of leaving for LSU the day after the Stanford game — Sunday, Nov. 28. The news first broke that Kelly was leaving Notre Dame the day after that. By Tuesday, Kelly had signed on the dotted line. It was official. Again — such is the nature of the busi- ness in college football. Things move quickly. Look no further than Notre Dame replacing Kelly with Freeman. That took less than a shortened business week. It might have felt like months to Freeman and everyone involved, but Swarbrick of- ficially announced a coaching search that Tuesday morning. Reports of Freeman's hiring surfaced Wednesday night. Friday morning, Notre Dame made it official. That in mind, the sudden nature of Kelly's exit shouldn't be so shocking. Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC in similar fashion. Mario Cristobal had just finished a press conference in Oregon attire when word got out that he had ac- cepted the Miami job. Neither of those coaches said it would take a fairy god- mother and $250 million dollars to lure them away from their previous posi- tions, though. That was uniquely Kelly. Kelly didn't get fairy godmother money from LSU, but he got nearly $100 million. And despite Notre Dame's status as a private university preventing coach- ing salary information from coming to light, it's pretty safe to say that was more than he earned with the Irish. Much more. Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz wasn't buying the increase in pay as a valid reason for relocation, however. "You don't go to Notre Dame for the money," Holtz said. "My average sal- ary for 11 years was $115,000. Now he's going to go because of money and all the perks, etc. … He is an excellent coach, and he did a wonderful job. He left the program in much better shape than when he first arrived. "But to go somewhere for money, I just don't think that's the right reason." About those perks? Kelly went on and on about the rea- son for leaving Notre Dame be- ing to take on a new challenge and wanting to have the best re- sources and players at his disposal in the SEC. Notre Dame finished the first day of December's early signing period with the No. 7 recruiting class in the country per Rivals. LSU checked in at No. 27. The narrative has long been that Notre Dame is at a recruiting disadvantage com- pared to the country's elite recruiting pro- grams; Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, etc. — all LSU rivals in the SEC. Kelly, though, hired assistants who have worked tirelessly to shed that stigma. That could finally be materializing, and Kelly bolted right when signs of that started to show. Just another example of it being an ex- tremely odd time for him to leave. But it happened. What's done is done. Kelly moved on. Notre Dame moved on. The Irish have their 35-year-old head coach. He has to win 114 times with the interlocking "ND" logo in his chest to break Kelly's program record for all- time wins by a head coach. He's not thinking about that, though. He has the Fiesta Bowl on his mind. As for Kelly, well, he's just "callin' Baton Rouge." These are different times. ✦ BRIAN KELLY YEAR-BY-YEAR AT NOTRE DAME Year Record Postseason Result 2010 8-5 Beat Miami 33-17 in Sun Bowl 2011 8-5 Lost to Florida State 18-14 in Champs Sports Bowl 2012 12-1 Lost 42-14 to Alabama in BCS title game 2013 9-4 Beat Rutgers 29-16 in Pinstripe Bowl 2014 8-5 Beat LSU 31-28 in Music City Bowl 2015 10-3 Lost to Ohio State 44-28 in Fiesta Bowl 2016 4-8 — 2017 10-3 Beat LSU 21-17 in Citrus Bowl 2018 12-1 Lost to Clemson 30-3 in Cotton Bowl/CFP semifinal 2019 11-2 Beat Iowa State 33-9 in Camping World Bowl 2020 10-2 Lost to Alabama 31-14 in Rose Bowl/CFP semifinal 2021 11-1 — Totals 113-40 5-5 in bowl games "There comes a time where you look in your life for another opportunity, and I felt like it was time in my life for another challenge." KELLY Less than 12 hours after the news broke Kelly was headed to LSU, he returned to South Bend for a very brief meeting with the Fighting Irish players on campus before driving off for good. PHOTO BY TYLER HORKA