Brian Kelly: The Biggest Loser of the College Football Playoff
Why Brian Kelly's past comments have come back to bite him.
Brian Kelly’s grasp on the truth seems to be conveniently slipping away as his former team finds itself in the National Championship. His revisionist history is simply false. Before we dive into his recent comments, it’s critical to take a trip back to 2021.
After 12 years as the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Brian Kelly left the program just 33 days before the Fiesta Bowl - the biggest game of Notre Dame’s season. In a shocking move, Kelly announced in a 3-minute speech that he would be taking the job at LSU and made it quite clear why he was leaving:
“I get a chance to coach LSU football players, the best in the country, that have the best resources and have an administration that's aligned to that end”
If there was any doubt about his motivations, Brian Kelly doubled down in April of 2022 in an interview with NBC, saying:
“I want to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship”
His sudden departure a month before a bowl game, and his brisk and his somewhat insulting speech were not what the University - and most certainly his players - deserved. Blaming the press, the fans, and the University three years later and lying about why he made his choices adds another set of character flaws to an already muddied portrait. Still, LSU is a premier football program and Brian Kelly is entitled to his opinions and to make decisions that favor him professionally. While he has much to be embarrassed about with his departure, he can make his own choices.
However, any salvation left for Kelly’s character crumbled this week. With the media and world celebrating the Fighting Irish National Championship appearance this week - something Brian Kelly said they would never accomplish - his comments from years prior have resurfaced. He scrambled to cover up his mistakes and embarrassing quotes with these remarks that only worsened his image:
“I wasn’t leaving Notre Dame because I couldn’t win a championship”
“A lot of the guys there that are on both sides of the ball [for the current Notre Dame team], I recruited”
Kelly then went further, effectively blaming the media for “spinning” or “twisting” what he said when he was recorded saying exactly the opposite. Then, he doubled down by claiming he was responsible for recruiting a championship-level squad. Instead of taking his word for it, why not investigate which of the most impactful Notre Dame players were recruited by Marcus Freeman:
QB Riley Leonard - 2024 transfer recruit
RB Jeremiyah Love - 2023 high school recruit
CB Benjamin Morrison - 2021 high school recruit
WR Jordan Faison - 2022 high school recruit
WR Jaden Greathouse - 2022 high school recruit
DL Bryce Young - 2024 high school recruit
Other than being wrong about his recruitment of Notre Dame’s most critical talent, his logic is twisted beyond pretense. He said that Notre Dame couldn’t garner championship talent but then falsely claimed responsibility for the players that have led Notre Dame to this year’s championship. Yes, a select few key players at Notre Dame are a result of the Brian Kelly recruiting regime, but the majority are from Marcus Freeman. Taking it another step, one has to wonder why very few of Kelly’s Notre Dame players followed him to Baton Rouge. Notably, Mike Denbrock, a prominent offensive coordinator, followed Kelly to LSU in 2021 but returned to Notre Dame in 2024.
Despite having one of the best rookie NFL quarterbacks ever for two seasons - Jayden Daniels - and the apparent “alignment” of the LSU administration in his corner, Kelly has gone 3-6 against Top 25 teams and has not even played in a CFP game despite having a 12-team field this year. Under Marcus Freeman, the Irish have gone 5-1 in the post season. The only loss? The game Freeman coached with 33 days notice after Kelly’s surprise departure. Perhaps Notre Dame’s reputation of not being able to win the big games truly belongs to Coach Kelly.
Kelly’s predecessor at LSU, Ed Orgeron, was fired with a slightly better winning percentage (74%) vs. Kelly’s ( 73%). Orgeron won the 2019 title three years into his tenure which is where Biran Kelly sits now. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame’s new head coach, has a 79% win percentage and is headed to a national championship game with “inferior” talent and an administration that apparently could not support such a run.
Not only is Kelly burning any bridges back to South Bend, but it is likely setting up questions at his next coaching gig. Brian Kelly was indeed right that he could not win a national championship at Notre Dame, but the three years since have proven it had nothing to do with the football program. Kelly isn’t a championship-level coach.
