Brady Quinn, former Notre Dame quarterbacks chuck Brian Kelly under the bus during Fiesta Bowl

Brady Quinn hit the nail on the head on former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly holding the Fighting Irish’s offense back.

The Notre Dame football team never looked like this offensively under Brian Kelly, as former Golden Domer great Brady Quinn pointed out on Twitter during the Fiesta Bowl.

Kelly left South Bend to take over at LSU. When he left the program, Notre Dame was still in the mix to potentially get back to the College Football Playoff. While the Irish did not make the four-team field, they were fortunate enough to play the Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl. Through the first half, Notre Dame looks like an absolute buzzsaw offensively.

Was Kelly the one holding the Fighting Irish back offensively?

https://twitter.com/brady_quinn/status/1477357384766996486

DeShone Kizer, Malik Zaire back up Brady Quinn’s Brian Kelly critique

Quinn is not the only former Irish signal-caller who is debating this. Two guys who actually played for Kelly in DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire echoed similar sentiments on their respective Twitter accounts. There are a handful of contributing factors to Notre Dame lighting up the Pokes defense like a Christmas tree, but the Kelly bashing will continue. What a great start for Marcus Freeman.

For the better part of the 21st century, Notre Dame developed a bad reputation for being a terrible bowl team. The bigger stage, the more underwhelming they had been. While there is no doubt that Kelly re-built the struggling Irish into a top-six program nationally, the offense would go conservative and be ultra-pedestrian in big moments. They look to be playing unencumbered now.

Freeman may be a defensive-minded head coach, but he was fortunate to retain former Irish quarterback, turned offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. It will not be long before Rees is leading his own Power Five program. Jack Coan never did this at Wisconsin, but has been utterly electrifying in what will be his final college game for the Golden Domers. Why is this happening?

Even with Kelly now in Baton Rouge, the Irish have maintained some degree of coaching continuity. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State missed out on the College Football Playoff by a foot in the heart-breaking Big 12 Championship game loss to Baylor. All the while, their star defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left Stillwater to go help Ryan Kelly fix the Ohio State Buckeyes defense.

What this all really comes down to is the Freeman era of Notre Dame football will be different, and possibly better. He is providing a level of cool Notre Dame has not had since Lou Holtz was at his coaching apex in the late 1980s. Blessed with a wunderkind offensive coordinator in Rees and a rabid nationwide fanbase, Notre Dame should remain New Year’s Six bowl caliber in perpetuity.

It has been eons since Notre Dame looked this impressive in a meaningful holiday season bowl.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.