Brian Kelly responds to rumors he’d leave Notre Dame for the NFL

Brian Kelly is no stranger to rumors he’d leave Notre Dame for the NFL, but he did his best to quash the speculation he’s ready to do it now.

Now into his 11th season at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly, 59, is no stranger to rumors he’d leave South Bend for an NFL head coaching job. With last weekend’s win over Boston College, he now has 100 wins as the Fighting Irish coach (counting vacated victories from 2012 and 2013).

The Fighting Irish are 8-0 on the season (7-0 in the ACC) and ranked No. 2 in the country, with a big win over Clemson.

Kelly appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Tuesday, and he said he feels like this year’s team is the best he’s had at Notre Dame.

“I would say it is,” “We had some great players on the ’12 team, the ’18 team, even ’15, Will Fuller on the outside, C.J. Prosise [at running back], there were some great players.

“If you talk about physicality, think about the basic premises of putting together a really good football team, its O-line, D-line and speed on defense. Those are the three areas that separate this football team.”

Cowherd asked Kelly if he has ever had the itch to coach in the NFL. Kelly’s response was very telling.

Brian Kelly knows Notre Dame is a unique opportunity

“I’ve always looked at the possibility, but I’m at a point now at Notre Dame where I can control the roster. I have a great understanding of what our process is here. They give me the opportunity to set this program up and make all the decisions as it relates to how this program runs on the day-to-day basis. You don’t get those opportunities in the NFL unless you’re Bill Belichick or Andy Reid.

“For me to give up all of that to go to NFL, as much as you want to be able to coach the best players in the world, this is such a great opportunity that you don’t want to give up.”

A 4-8 season in 2016 fueled hot seat talk around Kelly. But since then Notre Dame has gone 10-3, 12-1, 11-2 and now 8-0 so far this season. So he’s not going anywhere unless he wants to, and there’s no college job that would be a step up for him. So it’s the NFL, or stay put until he’s let go or retires from coaching.

Kelly sends players to the NFL from his program every year. But at least for now, he has no desire to follow them to the next level.

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