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

[Eric West]

I was wondering whether someone would bring up the Tribune article; 
thanks Jonathan.

I don't see the dishonesty here. While I didn't follow the story 
religiously, every impression I got from Kelly was that he was quite 
interested in the Notre Dame job and would certainly take it if offered. 
He seemed to make it quite obvious, so I have to wonder how anyone could 
be surprised. Not being overly sharing isn't the same as lying. He was 
certainly hedging his bets when he talked about loving Cincinnati and 
coaching there, but that's what most people do when thinking about 
changing jobs. The difference is that most other people (even 
billionaire CEOs) aren't continuously accosted in public with direct 
questions about their job situations.

That said, I don't at all blame any of his players for being upset or 
feeling betrayed. It's a natural and perfectly understandable reaction, 
though I'd be interested to see whether any of the more vocal players 
ever decide to leave school early for a "job change" to the NFL.


Eric West
e-west at northwestern.edu