Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly threatens to boycott College Football Playoff

Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly may boycott the College Football Playoff.

There is a chance Brian Kelly and Notre Dame football may boycott the College Football Playoff if the Rose Bowl doesn’t change their policy on fan attendance.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are locks to make the playoff, regardless of what happens in the ACC Championship vs. the Clemson Tigers. However, Kelly’s team may not choose to play in the playoff if his team is forced to play in the Rose Bowl where fans are not permitted due to COVID restrictions.

“I’m not sure we’ll play in the playoffs if the parents cannot be there. Why would we play if you can’t have families at the game? … What’s the sense of playing a game in an area of the country where nobody can be part of it?”

How much leverage do Brian Kelly and Notre Dame have in this situation?

To threaten not playing in a national semifinal game has massive implications in the college football landscape. While the state of California and the Rose Bowl are not going to make an exception for any college football program, much less the most popular brand in the country in Notre Dame, there is a chance the Rose Bowl could be moved to a more COVID-friendly state.

There will not be a Rose Bowl parade this year. Nobody will be in the stands. If the College Football Playoff Selection Committee had “The Granddaddy of Them All” flexed to another venue like State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona or AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, maybe this would suffice Notre Dame’s demands? Either way, they are not interested playing in an empty Rose Bowl.

If any program can get the Rose Bowl moved elsewhere this season, it has to be Notre Dame but the decision rests with the College Football Playoff which has thus far been committed to playing the game in Pasadena.

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