Pasadena, CA (OnFocus) – Brian Kelly is the Head Football Coach at Notre Dame, and by most accounts, he’s had a successful stint at coaching student-athletes attending the university.
Graduation rate? High.
Winning? Great job.
Being consistent and not being a hypocrite? Kelly earns a failing mark on that one.
Kelly was spouting off about not wanting his Notre Dame team to play in one of the college football semifinal games if his players’ families and parents can’t attend the game. Sounds good, on the surface, because Kelly argues that his players have been away from their families since this summer, and that since the players have made big sacrifices, they should be able to have their families attend their playoff game.
Kelly made another good point, that it’s not fair if one of the college semifinal games can have fans and the other can’t. Kelly is right in his support of family and parents attending. I get it, it’s good for kids and for families.
It turns out, though, that Kelly’s comments lacked some transparency, were a bit self-serving, and deserving of deeper inspection.
- Kelly is kind of saying it’s a lock that his team will be one of the final four teams. Hang on, Coach, You beat a Clemson team that was missing multiple key players, the biggest being arguably the top player in the country, Trevor Lawrence.
- You had the audacity to blast the Rose Bowl, one of the semifinal sites this year. “Why can’t it be the Rose Bowl in Las Vegas,” you said. The Rose Bowl isn’t moving the game because of you, Coach.
- Your school chose to be part of the ACC this year so that … you had common opponents in a conference, reducing the chances of spreading the virus, one good reason. Don’t forget, though, that it also gave you a CLEARER PATH to a berth in a semifinal, being part of a Major 5 Conference, something Notre Dame hasn’t wanted before.
- Complaining now gives the appearance of a coach that wants to make sure that parents of recruits across the country see this Notre Dame Coach wants parents at games, it’s a nice thing to say for parents’ sake. Good recruiting tool, Coach. It’s obviously a good strategic move on your part.
I give Kelly credit for wanting his players’ families at games. I just don’t approve of the timing of his comments, though.
To read Kelly’s comments, click HERE
Next time, before Kelly starts complaining about big moments like this, maybe it would be better to focus on how to get Notre Dame to come up big in big games.
Will Notre Dame do that against Clemson on Saturday? Perhaps. If so, it would be about time that the Fighting Irish played well when the chips are on the line.
Don’t be fooled, this is about more than just football, families, or a university. It’s about big money, big business. Millions are on the line with the Football Playoffs.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
