Brian Kelly has been around for quite some time. He got his first head coaching job in 2004 at Central Michigan University and inherited a team with limited success. Before hiring Brian, Central Michigan had won more than three games only once in the previous four seasons. Under Brian in the first year, they won four games. In 2006, he lead them (Central Michigan) to a 9-4 record and they won the MAC championship. After that, he took the Cincinnati Bearcats job and replaced Mark Dantonio who left for Michigan State. Brian finished his tenure in Cincy with a 34-6 record. Next, he agreed to replace Charlie Weis as the next head coach for the iconic Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he’s spent the last 11 years of his career. Coaching carousels are bound to happen in this game. First, Lincoln Riley accepted the USC job. Monday night, the LSU Tigers announced they are hiring the now-former Notre Dame coach.
Everywhere he’s gone, success has followed. I looked at how he was able to turn Central Michigan around and I look at the incredible run he had in Cincinnati before taking the job in South Bend. The great coaches at any level of this game can pave their way to these positions by doing one thing. That’s having a signature philosophy and that has been the case with Brian all these years. He’s known for running high-powered offenses. The foundation of those offenses was to win by throwing the football. That was the identity while he was at Cincinnati and it won football games. However, that style of football wasn’t going to work in South Bend. What’s made Brian stand out over the years has been the ability to adjust. When you coach, you can’t just rely on one way to win. It’s common for a first-year leader to be successful because there’s no tape on his formula to win. The following year, people begin to pick up on how you operate. Brian’s offensive attack now is a balance of running the football and throwing it down the field. He runs that pro-style scheme. I notice how he keeps his men focused. It’s all about that particular moment and nothing else. Sometimes, I feel he can get stuck in his ways and gets stubborn at times which can hurt the team.
I’m just as shocked as you are. First, it was Lincoln jetting for Southern California, and now, this. Just this year, Brian became the winningest coach in Notre Dame football history by surpassing the icon, Knute Rockne. During his time at Notre Dame, the Irish reached double-digit wins a total of five times. Now, he takes on the task of trying to bring a team almost three years removed from a title in Baton Rouge back to relevance. I think this is a good hire for the LSU football program.
