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SOUTH BEND – Brian Kelly had to leave one story unfinished in order to start the rebuilding of one of the most storied programs in college football.
Kelly, 48, was introduced as Notre Dame’s football coach Friday, and he left behind a 12-0 Cincinnati team preparing to play Florida (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
“You would always want it to end with the best story, and the best story would be I get to coach in the Sugar Bowl,” said Kelly, who replaces Charlie Weis, who was fired Nov. 30. “But I’m here at Notre Dame now, and this is where I want to be. This is where I need to get to work immediately.”
Kelly, who signed a five-year contract, began his work at Notre Dame with a 25-minute meeting with the players Friday morning.
Players described the meeting as energetic.
“You can tell as soon as he walked in he has a passion for the game. I feel his passion will trickle down throughout the program,” said tight end Kyle Rudolph, a Cincinnati native who has received text messages and phone calls from current Bearcats about his new coach.
The next step for Kelly will be laying the groundwork to return the Irish to prominence in college football.
Notre Dame hasn’t won a national title since 1988, and the Irish have endured up-and-down seasons since Lou Holtz stepped down in 1996.
Notre Dame went 16-21 the past three seasons and is losing two of its top offensive players as quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate announced Monday they are entering the NFL draft.
Kelly, who won two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State, has worked wonders in his previous Division I stops.
Kelly turned Central Michigan into a Mid-American Conference power in three seasons. In his final season with the Chippewas in 2006, the team went 9-4 and won the MAC championship.
At Cincinnati, he won a bowl game 34 days after being hired in 2006 and led the Bearcats to back-to-back bowl games. Bearcats offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn will coach Kelly’s former team in the Sugar Bowl.
Kelly wouldn’t put a timetable on when Notre Dame would return to the BCS and championship mix, but he said the tools needed for a successful program are in place.
“We don’t have a five-year plan. This is a five-minute plan,” said Kelly, who grew up in Chelsea, Mass., and played linebacker at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass.
“We expect our football players to play at a high level immediately. Timetables, we don’t want to get into those – those are a setup.”
Kelly will be setting up a recruiting schedule and a staff as quickly as possible.
He listed recruiting, which will cease from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2, as the top priority.
“We’ve already begun the (recruiting) process. That’s probably job one when it comes to me reaching out off this campus,” Kelly said.
As far as the staff, Kelly wouldn’t get into specifics of who he is looking to bring in or retain, but he said he expects the process to move swiftly.
Notre Dame has already lost one assistant coach with receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello leaving to become the head coach at Akron.
“I want to make certain that I get a chance to talk to everybody involved in the process, my staff, the staff here at Notre Dame, and certainly off both of these staffs,” Kelly said.
“That’s a process that won’t take very much time.”
The hiring of Kelly also didn’t take a lot of time.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Kelly was the first of 18 coaches he considered for the position, the first coach he spoke to and the only person he offered the job to.
“I have such a high belief that he is the right guy at the right time for Notre Dame,” Swarbrick said.
Kelly said he will adjust his game plan to the players, but he does plan to bring to Notre Dame his spread offense that produced 464.3 total yards, 320.3 passing yards and 39.8 points a game. Cincinnati was ranked sixth in all three of those offensive categories.
That offense will likely be led by Dayne Crist, who is recovering from surgery to repair the ACL in his right knee but should be available for spring practice.
“I look forward to building a real strong relationship with coach Kelly,” said Crist, the Irish’s only scholarship quarterback.
Kelly will not limit himself to offense, saying he will be an expert at offense, defense and special teams.
“As a head football coach, you are responsible for all those areas,” Kelly said. “… This is about winning football games, and the head coach is responsible for that.”
