Report: Chicago Bears Not Interested in Brian Kelly

Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly reacts on the sideline against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half of the 2013 BCS Championship game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports

Despite some reports on Wednesday evening, the Chicago Bears do not appear to have Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly on their radar. Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times passed along the news that Kelly was not among the dozen candidates for the Bears head coaching vacancy, so you can now ignore those rumors.

To to be clear: Brian Kelly will not be the #Bears next head coach. More than a dozen candidates, Fighting Irish coach not among them.

— Sean Jensen (@seankjensen) January 10, 2013

It would have been more of a surprise if the Bears were genuinely interested in Kelly instead of the news that they have none.

Kelly is likely using his NFL flirtation to earn himself a pay raise and contract extension at Notre Dame. Bears general manager Phil Emery is smart enough to realize that.