Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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74 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MATT JONES B rian Kelly knows he'll be re- minded of the past, specifi- cally the 2016 football season, for months on end. The Notre Dame head coach, who enters 2017 on the hot seat, said he's focused on the present, but took one last look at the team's disappointing 2016 campaign. "There are no bad football teams," Kelly said. "There's just poorly led football teams. And I led this team poorly." At his press conference to an- nounce his seven new assistant coaches — which includes new lead- ership on offense, defense, special teams, and strength and conditioning — Kelly, in his first interview since a season-ending loss at Southern Cali- fornia, touched on a wide range of topics. The eighth-year coach was asked about his postseason conversa- tion with athletics director Jack Swarbrick. Kelly said his own job status was not discussed, only the plans for the future of the program. "The great thing about Notre Dame is you're not defined by what hap- pened in the past; it's about what you do in the future," Kelly said. "And we all know that we did not live up to the expectations. We're here — our mission is a mission of excellence. It's to win championships and to gradu- ate our players. We fell short of that. "But we didn't sit around talking about what we didn't do. We spent all of our time thinking about what we needed to do to be successful, and that's when you know you have great leaders. And [we] didn't waste time on discussions that were not tangible or specific to how do we get better." Kelly's exit interviews with Notre Dame's players — he spoke with 96, he said — highlighted a need for sweeping changes. Gone is longtime strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo, who Kelly said "cannot fulfill the duties of this position." Longo was placed on long-term disability, and the Irish brought in Matt Balis from Connecticut to fill the role. Notre Dame's top offensive coaches Mike Sanford (head coach at Western Kentucky) and Mike Denbrock (of- fensive coordinator at Cincinnati) left for other opportunities. Kelly brought in Memphis' Chip Long as offensive 'I LED THIS TEAM POORLY' Brian Kelly takes blame for 2016 at the press conference to introduce his new assistants Kelly will have six new on-field assistants when he enters a crucial 2017 season. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND