Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED F eeling empathy for Brian Kelly, or fully trusting anything the former Irish head coach had to say, was dif- ficult at times this summer when he took to the internet and airwaves to discuss his messy firing at LSU last season and to revisit his time in South Bend. Perhaps in an effort to pol- ish his tarnished image and/ or to revive a coaching career, Kelly grabbed a few media op- portunities in recent months to extend an olive branch by cel- ebrating the great job that Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is doing as his successor at Notre Dame. Adding more curiosity to the unexpected Fighting Irish love fest, Kelly also hinted that he would like to return to Notre Dame for a visit this fall and re- unite with Freeman. In a July episode of "The Indepen- dent: A Notre Dame Football Podcast," Kelly told show hosts Pete Sampson and Matt Fortuna that he is "100 percent supporting what Freeman is doing," and Kelly wants to stop by an Irish practice to lend support and "to be visible for a day." Forever ego-driven and well-known for being self-serving, Kelly makes it tricky to decipher his actual motives for wanting to visit campus to support a program that he ditched in November 2021. "I'm not in there to look at what they're running offensively or defen- sively," Kelly shared. "I just want to show that I have 100 percent faith and confidence in what they're doing and how they're doing it." For background, with Kelly as their head coach, the Notre Dame players and program were awaiting their postsea- son destination in November 2021 after an 11-1 regular season, with a poten- tial spot in the four-team playoff still in play. But, instead of sticking it out with his players, Kelly stuck it to his play- ers in the form of a three-minute sayo- nara speech, followed immediately by a flight to Baton Rouge to sign a $95 mil- lion contract. "Men," Kelly said during a hastily gathered team meeting after news of his departure began to leak out. "Let me first apologize for the late-night text, and, more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in per- son that I will be leaving Notre Dame." Kelly pulled Freeman out of Cincin- nati and made him the Notre Dame de- fensive coordinator in January 2021. So undoubtedly, Freeman will forever be indebted to Kelly for the coordinator opportunity that led to his first head coaching job with Notre Dame almost five years ago. "It's extraordinary that a football coach with no head coaching experience has been able to step in the job and do as well as Marcus has," Kelly continued. "I had 19 years of being a head coach, and I felt like the water was up to my nose at times at Notre Dame. I have such re- spect for Marcus and what he's been able to do in that role." Kelly spent 12 seasons on the Notre Dame sideline. He won 113 games with the Irish and will be the program's all-time winningest coach for a long time. Perhaps a commemora- tive statue outside the stadium might even be in order someday. But for now, because of his own undoing, Kelly — who recently took a job with CBS as the color commentator for Mountain West Conference fo o t b a l l ga m e s t h i s c o m - ing season — remains toxic in South Bend. So, why does he think a campus visit would be appropriate? "I want our fans to know, the Notre Dame fans, that I'm 100 percent supporting what they're doing and how they're doing it," Kelly said. "Not that they need me to validate in any way." If nothing else, Kelly got that last part right. The cynic in me isn't buying that Kelly wants to visit campus to sup- port Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame mission. Nope, the cynic in me believes such a reunion would be a PR ploy for Kelly, 64, to rebuild his image as a gracious guy and to help resurrect his coaching career after the selfish de- parture from Notre Dame and the disas- trous three and a half seasons at LSU. Make no mistake, Freeman would manage a visit from his former boss just fine, but what for? With all the pieces in place to win the first national title at Notre Dame since 1988, there is too much at stake between now and the season opener Sept. 6, to invite that disruptive circus. "This is probably the best offseason that we've had so far," Freeman said to open the spring football season. "We're at a different level than I've previously seen us." So, let's keep it that way. ✦ Former Irish head coach Brian Kelly has said he would like to visit a Notre Dame practice and see Marcus Freeman this fall. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at toddburlage@gmail.com UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE We Appreciate The Offer, But Stay Home