[NU Sports] From the NYT -- News Alert: Notre Dame Hires BrianKell y as New Coach

Fri Dec 11 08:23:25 CST 2009

Note that Kelly didn't outright lie when it came to the Notre Dame job - in
all of his comments, he left the door open to future contact and for the
most part focused on his current job since Cincy had a game the last week of
the season to worry about.  His comments were nowhere close to, say, Saban
at Miami (NFL) where he blatantly lied about the Alabama job before taking
it.  Kelly was a politician earlier in life and obviously knows how to
handle himself well - that in itself will be a big departure from the last
guy at ND.

Regarding Barnett, this piece by Haugh in the Trib is a must read as it goes
into the details behind the predicament many of these coaches are in when it
comes to movement:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-09-haugh-notre-dame-dec09,0,879702.column

It says that Barnett told the team he was staying AFTER Colorado had decided
on Kubiak.  Then Kubiak decided to stay in the NFL, Colorado came back to
Barnett, and the rest was history.

And today things are even worse with the rise of the mobile internet,
texting, and twitter that make communications to large numbers of people
truly instant.  So, everyone expects to hear something as soon as anyone
knows anything.  That puts quite a burden on these coaches who are fellow
human beings and have to make important decisions that affect their own
lives more than anyone else's.

Blatantly lying isn't the way to go, but there's no way a coach can keep it
all under wraps.  I think Kelly handled it the best way he could, and don't
tell me if you were a coach that you wouldn't move from a school that was
paying you in the six digits with little tradition and a stadium that holds
about 30,000 to one that will pay you over double your current salary with
the biggest tradition in college football and a stadium that holds 80,000+
and has been sold out hundreds of consecutive games (not to mention the
other resources that are available).  I dislike ND as much as the next guy,
but I can't blame Kelly.

Jonathan

On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 6:23 AM, mlinhardt at netzero.com <
mlinhardt at netzero.com> wrote:

> Maybe I missed some of it, but from what I read Kelly was the #1 realistic
> candidate as of a month ago.  I think most of his players truly knew that
> if/when Weiss was fired Kelly was going.
>
> With GB I don't begrudge him at all for leaving just the way he left.  Once
> a coach flirts and this flirtation becomes public he MUST go.  GB destroyed
> at least 1 full season of NU football and possibly 2 or 3 with the recruit
> meddling.  I think this is why many people dislike him.  I don't think Utah
> fans hate Urban Meyer due to the fact he was offerred and he left without
> being wishy-washy like GB.
>
> My belief in regard to the team in south bend is that put out feelers and
> only Kelly responded.  This does not say much for that program.  Kelly could
> be a Tressel-like coach, which would be good for them, but bad for the rest
> of the world.  OTOH the Tressel aspects maybe don't translate where there
> are still some academic requirements.
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> As I read more about the circumstances of Kelly's hire and departure from
> Cincy, I am saddened and angry at the way this played out.  And this is
> coming from someone who enjoyed watching him and felt he is a tremendous
> coach.  What if Colt McCoy had held the ball another second, and the
> Bearcats would have been paired with 'Bama for the BCS Crown?  Would Kelly
> still have left his team in the lurch?  He is walking away from a squad that
> is on the verge of an undefeated season, playing the biggest game they ever
> had.  Yes, it is his "dream" job, but the fact remains that he spent the
> past 10 days or so lying to his team.  I don't believe for a second that the
> Irish didn't send him feelers prior to the Pitt game, and certainly
> afterwards, he had to know he was probably going, and yet he told his
> players otherwise.  Maybe I am being naive, but when I heard Kelly on ESPN
> (on a web replay) saying that this was being handled with "integrity", I
> almost had to laugh.  Just read his p!
>  layer's quotes in tonight's news reports.
>
> I choose to believe that Fitz would never do this kind of thing and that if
> he ever decided to leave NU--God help us--he would be up-front about it.
> Kelly is a great coach and yes, possibly a miracle worker, but he is far,
> very far, from being a great man.  I choose to believe that Fitz is both.  I
> really think his parents raised him right, and that his NU education just
> built on a very solid foundation.  He is class personified, and emboides
> everything that is good and true about NU.  I cannot imagine him walking
> away from his "young men" like Kelly just did.   President Schapiro and the
> Board of Trustees must make every effort to keep his compensation package
> competititive and to provide the ancillary things (like good pay for
> assistant coaches and upgrading facilities as needed) to go the extra miles
> (not just mile) to keep Fitz clothed in Purple Pride.  He is truly a rare
> breed, and we are so lucky to have him.  Coach Walker's death was a true
> tragedy, but he left a lega!
>  cy in a program that was on the rise and he left us Fitz as his most
> worthy and honorable successor to carry the 'Cats to greater heights.
>
> By the way, I'd love to see Fitz challenge his fellow Irish-American to a
> home and home series (South Bend & Evanston) in the next few years.  Or one
> game--winner take all--at Soldier Field.
>
> See you in Tampa.  Go 'Cats!  Go Fitz!
>
> Paul Levinson
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Bendat <thehaze at earthlink.net>
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Sent: Thu, Dec 10, 2009 9:45 pm
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] From the NYT -- News Alert: Notre Dame Hires
> BrianKelly as New Coach
>
>
> It'll be a far cry from Faust who came from a Cincinnati high school, not a
> niversity. I think that what Kelly accomplished at Cincinnati -- turning a
> joke
> f a program into a good one -- was nothing short of a miracle, and I think
> e'll be a good fit for ND. As long as ND didn't go after Fitz, it's fine
> with
> e. - Jim
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hakirsch at aol.com
> Sent: Dec 10, 2009 6:58 PM
> To: "Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal)" <Alan.Abrahamson at nbcsports.com>,
> wu-sports-bounces at tssi.com, nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] From the NYT -- News Alert: Notre Dame Hires
> rianKelly as New Coach
>
> Last time they hired a guy connected with cinncinati The Domers were
> isappointed with 31-26 Gerry Faust.  Let's hope kelly last less than 5
> years
> ue to performance
>
> Harry
> ------Original Message------
> From: Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal)
> Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: [NU Sports] From the NYT -- News Alert: Notre Dame Hires
> BrianKelly as
> ew Coach
> Sent: Dec 10, 2009 2:54 PM
>
> Breaking News Alert
> The New York Times
> Thu, December 10, 2009 -- 5:42 PM ET
> -----
>
> Notre Dame Hires Brian Kelly as New Coach
>
> Cincinnati Coach Brian Kelly will be introduced as Notre
> Dame's next coach at a news conference in South Bend, Ind.,
> on Friday.
>
> Read More:
> http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
>
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