Ranking the top 20 college football coaches for 2021

6. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

Brian Kelly seemed like he was on the hot seat at Notre Dame not too long ago. After the team went 4-8 in 2016, eventually saw their wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons under Kelly vacated and had a pedestrian 10-3 record in the 2017 campaign, there were legitimate questions about if he would be around for the long haul with the Fighting Irish.

That narrative seems like a lifetime ago, however. The following year in 2018, Kelly coached Notre Dame to a perfect regular season and a berth in the College Football Playoff (even if they were run off the field in that game). He went 11-2 the following year but then, as a one-time member of the ACC in 2020, made it to the conference championship game and the CFP yet again, though that resulted in another loss.

There has long been a perception in college football circles that Notre Dame is overrated because of their blue blood status. Having said that, Kelly’s work over the past few years has started to remove them further from that conversation than ever before. He is recruiting at a high level and his teams simply keep winning.

For Kelly to rise higher in the rankings, he would need to catch up with the likes of Clemson and Alabama, which the Playoff has clearly shown he hasn’t done yet. As of now, though, he’s with Fisher on the right path to doing so.