If you were surprised by Brian Kelly reportedly leaving Notre Dame for LSU’s head coaching job, you’re not alone. In fact, people on Kelly’s own staff at Notre Dame and other prominent folks within the university don’t appear to have seen this coming, and they’re not taking it well. Matt Fortuna of The Athletic is reporting just how deeply this runs:
To say that Notre Dame coaches, admins and boosters I have spoken with in the last 15 minutes have been blindsided is an understatement. An absolutely shocking development in South Bend. https://t.co/Lnwk06Eqfu
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 30, 2021
One Irish assistant apparently found out the news about his boss at a particularly bad time:
This is usually how these things go, but Brian Kelly has ghosted everyone at Notre Dame. Just spoke to one assistant who saw reports on his phone tonight as he was exiting a recruit's home: "The news broke when I walked out of the house, so I look like a f—– a–hole."
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 30, 2021
So it should come as no surprise that Kelly’s players don’t seem to have known about this either. Otherwise, Kyren Williams and Isaiah Foskey wouldn’t have taken to Twitter to give the understatements of the evening:
that’s crazy
— Kyren Williams (@Kyrenwilliams23) November 30, 2021
🤦🏾♂️This has been a wild Monday night
— Isaiah Fos🔑 (@IFoskey) November 30, 2021
As of right now, LSU has not been scheduled as a future regular-season opponent for the Irish. However, if that changes or these programs meet in a bowl as they did twice during Kelly’s Irish tenure, you better believe emotions will run high, especially if the people employed at Notre Dame now are still around.