Brian Kelly's words come back to bite him after Notre Dame advances to National Title Game
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to play for their first National Championship since they lost to Alabama in 2012 after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 27-24 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night. Head coach Marcus Freeman has led a remarkable season for the Fighting Irish after losing in week two to […]
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to play for their first National Championship since they lost to Alabama in 2012 after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 27-24 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night.
Head coach Marcus Freeman has led a remarkable season for the Fighting Irish after losing in week two to Northern Illinois in the biggest upset of the season. In leading Notre Dame to the National Championship Game, Freeman will be the first black head coach and first Asian head coach to coach in a Division 1 National Championship Game.
Brian Kelly's words on Notre Dame backfire
One reason Notre Dame is in the National Championship Game is the biggest head coaching hire after the 2021 season. Brian Kelly left Notre Dame after a successful tenure to take the job at LSU. It felt like the two parties were ready for a fresh start, and Kelly made it easy for the Fighting Irish.
He immediately embraces LSU, including using a fake cajun accent at an LSU basketball game. In April of 2022, Kelly revealed why he left Notre Dame, talking about how he wanted to win a National Championship.
Well, those words have certainly bit Kelly three years later. Now, the Tigers haven't been bad. They have a 29-11 record over the first three years under Kelly, but they haven't come close to sniffing the College Football Playoff.
To be fair to Kelly, the last three head coaches have won a National Championship with the Tigers, as the last one for Notre Dame was in 1988.
- 2003: Nick Saban
- 2007: Les Miles
- 2019: Ed Orgeron
Throwing shade at Notre Dame like that wasn't viewed highly in real time, and it looks worse now. Maybe Kelly really was the problem at Notre Dame, especially when you see the success that Freeman, who turned 39 years old on Thursday, has had.
On the other hand, when you look at LSU, are you confident that the Tigers are close to a National Championship? They finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, including three brutal losses in a row to Texas A&M, Alabama, and Florida when they were in line to make the College Football Playoff.
They also had a rough finish to the early signing period, losing multiple top recruits, including the number one overall recruit five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood. Now, they did secure a really good transfer portal class led by former Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren, but are they ready to take the next step? There are a lot of doubts there.
Who knows, maybe Kelly will use another fake accent to walk back his words..
