Brian Kelly says fundraising distracted him last season

After his worst season as a head coach at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly is suggesting he was spreading himself too thin.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went 4-8 last season, which was their worst season since a 3-9 mark under Charlie Weis in 2007. It was also the first losing season Brian Kelly has had as the head coach of the Fighting Irish, and just the second losing season he has had as a head coach overall, so he’s clearly on the hot season entering this season.

Coaches generally take accountability for the shortcomings of their team, while not necessarily offering excuses for losing. But Kelly has offered one, and it seems awfully flimsy.

According to Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report, Kelly said he was an “absent professor” last season. Fundraising for a new football facility at Notre Dame lingered into the season and led to Kelly neglecting some little things with his team.

"My flawed philosophy was, ‘We’re going to score points early while we’re figuring it out on the other side with a young defense, “Well, that didn’t happen. We gave up way too many points early, we lost three games, and now we’re in trouble."

The defense was an issue for the Fighting Irish last year, particularly early, with at last 33 points allowed in four of their first five games. Things were a lot better in two subsequent losses to N.C. State and Stanford, with a total of 27 points allowed, but a 2-5 start proved to be too much to recover from as they then allowed at least 27 points in four of their final five games.

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It’s the core part of his job, but Kelly seems to be saying he was too busy to focus on winning games early in 2016. Things should be different in that regard this year, so Kelly will not be able to lean on flimsy excuses if Notre Dame goes 4-8 again.