Category: Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly’s streak of 10-win seasons ends with LSU loss to Florida

Now who’s laughing?

While Notre Dame is fighting to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation, that dream already was dead for Brian Kelly and LSU. They still could get into a decent bowl game though if they ran the table for the rest of the regular season. That won’t even happen now.

The Tigers suffered a 27-16 loss to a Florida team simply trying to get back to .500. That brought their losing streak to three, and they most certainly will drop out of the rankings now. There’s even more to this though.

With this loss, Kelly’s personal streak of seven 10-win seasons will come to an end. The last time Kelly failed to earn that distinction was during the Irish’s dreadful 2016 season in which they finished 4-8.

Kelly’s decision to bolt for Baton Rogue is looking more foolish all the time. This is the second time in three years Kelly has lost four games with the Tigers, something he didn’t do once over his final five seasons with the Irish. Does he still think he put himself in a better position to win a national championship?

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Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

USC’s Lincoln Riley Seems Afraid of Brian Kelly

Lincoln Riley is changing the way USC has operated for decades and decades

When USC and LSU take the field opening weekend in Las Vegas it’ll surely draw one of the biggest tv-audiences of the entire season.

Two traditional powerhouses starting the year out with a big-time opponent, why wouldn’t it?

Despite the appeal of two bluebloods meeting, USC has tried to get the game removed from the schedule.

According to a report by Saturday Down South:

USC tried for nearly 2 years to find a way out of a contract to play LSU in Las Vegas because Trojans coach [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] didn’t want the game, multiple sources told Saturday Down South.

According to the report, Riley went as far as to ask his agent Trace Armstrong, who also happens to be LSU head coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag]’s agent, to get help in getting Kelly to let USC out of the game.

No such luck for Lincoln as the game is still on for Sunday, Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Don’t get it confused, just because we’re a site that covers Notre Dame doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate what USC does annually away from their conference.  USC has always played an impressive schedule.  Regardless of the Pac 12’s (or 10 or 8) strength in a given year, USC has always kept their annual rivalry with Notre Dame on the schedule as well as usually played another traditionally strong foe.

Alabama, Texas, and BYU have all been scheduled for by USC in the last decade so scheduling tough competition outside of the conference is nothing new to the Trojans.

It’s just something their current head coach seems to have no interest in continuing.

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Brian Kelly to Michigan rumor sets social media ablaze

Brian Kelly – Michigan Man?

This weekend has really been something else in regards to college football and social media.  Upon opening Twitter (now X) Sunday morning I saw “Brian Kelly” trending stopped me in my tracks.

What did he do now?

Did something happen at LSU?

So I clicked on his name and found the rumor that set part of the college football section of the internet ablaze on Sunday.  It read:

LSU radio host Matt Moscona said this recently about the possibility: “If Michigan pursues Brian Kelly, he would leave LSU for Michigan. I am confident in saying that.” Texas A&M insider told Jacob Hester and Chris Doering on their show Pregaming the SEC that Kelly is an option in Ann Arbor. “There’s a couple people in coaching that told me, ‘Hey, watch out for Brian Kelly. He’s not a perfect fit there in Baton Rouge. He might be pursuing that Michigan job if it comes open.”

Obviously there is a lot to chew on there regarding Notre Dame’s all-time winningest football coach.

Would he jump ship to return to the Midwest where he had great success at Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, and Grand Valley State?

Would Michigan even want him?

All of this and more was brought up as this wild rumor went viral.  See some of the best social media posts on it below:

Notre Dame apparently too stuffy of a place for Brian Kelly

Sorry you had to work harder with the Irish, Brian.

We get it. We know you don’t want to hear about Brian Kelly anymore. He’s part of Notre Dame’s past and just want to leave him there. But some things are just hard to ignore.

Kelly, entering his second season as LSU coach, was in Nashville for the annual SEC Media Days. Even though he’s been gone for the Irish for over a year-and-a-half now, he simply can’t avoid questions about his former employer. It seemed inevitable that someone would pose one, and it came while he was interviewed by SiriusXM College Sports Radio. When asked to compare coaching the Irish as opposed to the Tigers, he said this:

“Well, I don’t think you have to wear a tie every day at the job if you know what I mean. It’s a little bit more relaxed from that perspective. That’s not good or bad, but there is a much more relaxed [feeling] because you’re in the south. You’re around people that are very easy to get along with. Not that they were hard to get along with, but there are rules you have to follow in an environment like Notre Dame. And you can’t cross those lines. So there is a little bit of a difference there.

Well, excuse Notre Dame for wanting everyone to look and dress proper, Mr. Kelly. We’re not sure what you expected from a Catholic university with high academic standards, but we guess everyone has their thing.
Not only that, but Kelly doesn’t seem to like traveling far for recruiting either:

“I would say the biggest one other than that small narrative that I gave you is that I had to be on a plane and I had to pull the best player out of California, out of Texas, out of New Jersey. I don’t have to do that at LSU. The best player in the state of Louisiana, if we do a really good job recruiting him, he wants to be a Tiger. That’s a difference that, more than anything else, allows you to really focus on what’s important within your program and that is the state of Louisiana and player development.”

Based on this, maybe Kelly never was comfortable with Notre Dame being a national school and having to do everything to keep that reputation going. But it’s OK because not everyone embraces the national spotlight. Sometimes, it’s best to stay regional, which he seems to enjoy in Baton Rouge. Good for him, we guess.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Rudy Ruettiger discusses dreams, shares Ara Parseghian stories, and weighs in on Brian Kelly

Hear Rudy tell some truths about the movie, react to Joe Montana’s comments, and give you a general pep-talk for life as he joined the Fighting Irish Wired podcast!

The man who became an inspiration for millions who wanted to chase their dreams is coming to Chicagoland next week.  The real-life Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger, who the movie was made about, will be at Elmhurst University in the near-western Chicago suburbs on February 23.  Tickets are free but must be reserved to attend and you can get them by visiting the Elmhurst website.

When I saw that Rudy was coming to town I decided, why wait until then? I want to talk to the man now!  So for roughly a half hour on Wednesday I was able to sit down and chat via Zoom with Rudy about his story, finding and creating motivation, and hear a few stories from a man who has seen a ton.

In this episode of the newly launched “Fighting Irish Wired” podcast (yes, I spent the last month thinking of a name) hear Rudy discuss, in addition to his message of positivity:

  • His legendary high school football coach, Joliet Catholic’s Gordie Gillespie
  • What made Tom Brady so great for so long
  • The actual events that led to Rudy dressing (no, it wasn’t Joe Montana being hurt)
  • The greatness of Ross Browner
  • How Ara Parseghian used to take pressure off the team each game-week
  • How he actually introduced himself to Ara in real-life (better than the movie portrays)
  • His reaction to the comments Joe Montana made about ‘Rudy’ in recent years
  • Brian Kelly’s exit from Notre Dame

And finally, hear Rudy discuss a made-up part of the movie that would have been handled differently in real-life than it was in the movie…had it been true, at least!

Listen to and subscribe to the Fighting Irish Wired podcast on:

Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify

In full disclosure I have been working on recording a few episodes of a new podcast over the past month.  I was shaking out the cobwebs with our very own Jeff Feyerer recently so if you’re so inclined, feel free to listen back to our now very much dated episode discussing how excited Tommy Rees has to be to be leading Notre Dame’s offense in 2023 as well 😉

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Lane Kiffin rightfully roasts Brian Kelly

Oh how things have changed in a decade…

If it wasn’t obvious before, it certainly is now: Brian Kelly and the LSU administration believe that any publicity is good publicity in terms of him on the recruiting trail.

Kelly wasn’t above getting a little bit out of his comfort zone at Notre Dame. There were plenty of awkward photos and videos of him in blue and gold, but it was nothing compared to whatever he’s doing now.

Previously, his sudden southern accent swept the internet before his dance moves took center stage.

On Friday night, committed tight end Danny White, Jr. release a video that instantly made the rounds on Twitter thanks to Kelly again looking like a fool.

This time one of his new SEC rivals didn’t let the activity slide. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin roasted Kelly on Twitter.

Back in 2010 if you told me I’d be pulling for Lane Kiffin in a meeting with Brian Kelly, I would have looked at you like you had three heads but here we are.

For whatever it’s worth, the video had over 2.1 million views on Twitter four hours after it was originally posted.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Nick on Twitter: @nickshepkowski

Brian Kelly and LSU throttled by No. 8 Tennessee: The best Twitter reactions

At least the dining hall is top notch, right coach?

Ask a Notre Dame fan what the Irish did under Brian Kelly in just about any big game and be ready to be greeted with a long sigh or something of the sort.  Yes, he led Notre Dame to a win over No. 1 Clemson in 2020 (as the Tigers played without college football’s best quarterback that year in Trevor Lawrence and three of their regular defensive starters), but beyond that there is the 2012 road win over Oklahoma and that’s pretty much it.

Kelly had his first really big game at LSU on Saturday as the Tigers played host to No. 8 Tennessee.  After a special teams debacle to start the game (another shocker), the boat race on the Bayou was on as the Vols sent the home crowd to their cars early in a 40-13 rout.

As you can imagine, Notre Dame and college football fans alike reacted to a team coached by Kelly failing to show up in a big game.  Here are just a few of the best reactions.

Shocker: LSU special teams struggle again

Color us shocked: LSU special teams a no-show in big game.

Shake me and wake me if you’re a Notre Dame fan and have heard this before:

A Brian Polian led special teams unit is performing at a Pop Warner level at very best.

LSU is playing host to No. 8 Tennessee in a rare 11 a.m. CT kickoff at Tiger Stadium and it’s safe to say the Bayou Bengals special teams unit which is led by former Notre Dame assistant coach Brian Polian, failed to hear their alarm clocks this morning.

It started as LSU fumbled and lost the opening kickoff which resulted in a Vols touchdown five plays later.

After LSU was forced to punt the following drive, a 58-yard punt return set up the Vols for a field goal to go up 10-0.

Credit to LSU’s defense for keeping Tennessee out of the end zone since (as we write this at 12:40 p.m. ET) but the Tigers can’t seem to get out of their own way on offense or special teams.

It’s almost like I’ve seen this from a Brian Kelly coached team against a top ten team a time or two before.

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College football in a hurricane: Notre Dame tries throwing 31 times in middle of literal hurricane

What is your pick for all-time most memorable “weather game” in Notre Dame history?

This week ESPN’s “College Gameday” travels to Clemson, South Carolina for a battle between a couple of unbeaten squads as the host Tigers take on North Carolina State.  Notre Dame is off for their bye this week but with the weather that is expected it’s seemingly fitting from a Fighting Irish fan’s perspective that these two are meeting up.

Hurricane Ian is making landfall on Wednesday on Florida’s gulf coast and with it is bringing an incredible amount of rain and dangerously high winds.  In all seriousness, far beyond the importance of a silly football game this weekend or from years ago now, all the best to those having to evacuate or ride this thing out.

Clemson playing host to North Carolina State on Saturday will be played in what should be a ridiculous amount of rain and probably wind, too.  With it being at Clemson it brings back memories for Notre Dame fans as in 2015, the unbeaten Fighting Irish and Tigers met in Clemson and played a classic while being poured on by the rains from Hurricane Joaquin.

We looked back at that memorable night with photos here.

For Notre Dame fans it also brings back memories of one of the ugliest games in Notre Dame football history, the 2016 game at North Carolina State as the rains from Hurricane Matthew took a toll on the east coast.

The game was only memorable for all the wrong reasons, especially for Notre Dame.  Brian Kelly’s questionable game plan that afternoon called for 31 passes (five of which resulted in sacks) in conditions that featured a constant downpour as well as wind gusts north of 50 miles per hour.

It’s no surprise that the teams combined to throw for less than 100 yards and the only touchdown came on a botched punt.

Said [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] after the 10-3 defeat, “I think it was pretty evident to me that we were in need of throwing the football when we did throw it. We just weren’t as effective as I thought we could be.”

That one is still mind-numbing six years after the fact.

Perhaps it would have been wise to have pushed that one back a few weeks.

Then again, would anyone really look back on this meeting had it been played in sunny conditions?

Enjoy some incredible photos below from perhaps the most infamous weather game in the long history of Notre Dame football.

Lou Holtz says Brian Kelly ignored at least eight personal letters

When is the last time you sent an actual letter?

Quick — when was the last time you sat down, penned a letter, put it in a stamped envelope and dropped it in the mailbox?

It has to have been at least 10 years since I wrote a letter, and I’m guessing it’d be closer to 20. However, former Notre Dame head coach [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] comes from an era where letter-writing was much more the norm.

Holtz spoke last week at the “Win Without Losses” dinner in Birmingham, Alabama, and shared a story about how he wrote [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] at least eight letters during Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, but never received a response.

Holtz doesn’t seem overly upset about it but certainly didn’t sound thrilled, either. Personally the best part of this to me was how Holtz says he’d respond to mail from some of his naysayers during his coaching days. I think next time I get a less-than-positive e-mail at work I’m going to respond with something like that.

Related – Fighting Irish Wire staff’s game-by-game predictions for 2022 season

For whatever its worth, my money is on Kelly never saw any of those letters.

That or I’m giving the man too much credit.

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