Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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B BY WES MORGAN ment keynoter. As important as it is for the Fighting Irish head man to make the many public appearances required of him, and as much as Kelly under- stood and accepted those responsibili- ties, it took him more than two years to find a balance. After being pulled in so many direc- rian Kelly came to Notre Dame to coach football, not be a speaker on the alumni fund- raising circuit or a commence- tions, Kelly realized it was time to get back to his roots. "It started back in January when I was committed to being a better head coach in the sense that I needed to spend more time with my players," Kelly said following the squad's first practice of the 2012 campaign. "This job has a tendency to distract you a little bit. I took it because I wanted to coach and I wanted to be around the guys." Kelly felt like he was losing touch with his players, a foreign experience to a man who has spent 30 years in the business. "I've never been that kind of coach, and I felt myself sliding towards that in my first couple years," he said. "I don't think it's anything on their part; I think it's probably more on my part, being more accessible and being around the guys a lot more." It wasn't a singular moment that prompted such introspection, he said, but more of an aggregate of experi- ences and results. "I think when there's not the kind of results that you're looking for, you have to look at yourself first," he said. "That's where I looked." With back-to-back 8-5 seasons to be- Kelly has made a concerted effort to spend more time with his players and get to know them. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz sat down with Kelly back in 2010 and shared some advice that's still poi- gnant. Holtz recalled counseling Kelly to remember what got him here. "Being at Notre Dame, it's impor- PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND gin his tenure in South Bend, Kelly must have considered an incident last season in the days leading up to the Oct. 29 game against Navy, when he commented on there being a difference between his guys and the players he inherited. The statement irritated team veterans recruited by former head coach Charlie Weis, but the wound seemed to heal quickly because of some quick thinking by mature lead- ers such as captain Harrison Smith, who first held a players-only meet- ing and then openly shared everyone's thoughts with the Irish coaching staff. Both sides agreed that face time was critical to better communication and understanding each other. 36 PRESEASON 2012 tant that you've had success at other places," Holtz said. "You know what you're doing and you believe in what you're doing, be yourself, you'll win. He didn't win [at Central Michigan and Cincinnati] because he had supe- rior talent, he won because he knows how to coach and do things. "What I say is he's our coach and we championships and a school-record 12 victories in an undefeated 2009 regular season. The previous year, Cincinnati finished 11-3, losing to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. It was the first time in school history the program had back-to-back 10-win seasons. "We should have turned this thing all rally behind him and we all support him. The media doesn't have to do that, but I'm talking about the Notre Dame family." Kelly overhauled a Central Michi- gan program that had hit the skids by going a combined 16-34 in the four seasons prior to his arrival in 2004. By Kelly's third and final year, the Chip- pewas were Mid-American Confer- ence champions for the first time in 12 years. In three seasons at Cincinnati (2007-09), Kelly took the Bearcats to a 34-6 record, including two Big East around a lot quicker than we did, be- cause we had talent in '86," Holtz said. "But they didn't buy into it as quickly as needed. But each week we got more converts, and what I sold them on is: 'You're laying the foundation; you ain't going to win the championship'. … That's why it's so important when you come here that you have such a strong faith in what you're doing and how you're doing it — because you're going to have times like this and you're going to have people scrutinize. "The whole story is getting to the top and then the rest of the story is tearing down … I never got a positive comment after '88. It was all, 'Well, we didn't win big enough.' That's just the way the story goes … Someone finishes last in medical school and he's called 'Doctor.' I finished No. 2 here and was called an idiot." BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED