Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ter Notre Dame's 28-27 loss to Tulsa on Oct. 30, 2010, dropping first-year head coach Brian Kelly's record to 4-5. "Get used to it!" It was Kelly replying T he statement came across with arrogance and hubris shortly af- Getting Used To A Different Blueprint THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI to an inquiry on why he had freshman quarter- back Tommy Rees throw into the end zone in the final series rather than set up for a short field with Lou Groza Award finalist kicker David Ruffer. The pass was inter- cepted and the nadir in Kelly's regime was reached … as was an eventual shift in course. The reality was that Head coach Brian Kelly has resorted to a defense-first mentality, while reshaping the offense to fit the strength of the personnel, in an effort to win football games. Kelly was miscast in the role of the proverbial riverboat gambler at Notre Dame. While building championship programs at Central Michigan (2004- 06) and Cincinnati (2007-09), Kelly em- braced the role of an underdog who oftentimes had to roll the dice. In ad- dition to coaching, he also had to be involved in marketing. "At Cincinnati and Central Michi- gan, I had to put people in the stands," reflected Kelly a couple of days before PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA his 7-0 and No. 5-ranked Irish played at Oklahoma. "I had to sell season tick- ets and needed to be exciting. Now, you have to win, too, or you get fired in those jobs as well. "Here, we've sold out since the 1970s, so I don't need to sell tickets. I just need to win football games." In the bye week after that defeat to Tulsa, a metamorphosis began. The Irish lined up into more power pack- ages by necessity and because that was