Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU has become one of the stupidest, most ham-fisted coaching departures in recent memory.
Granted, nobody really thinks Notre Dame has what it takes to win the natty this year, but still — it’s like being on the bubble of the playoffs, then quitting with one week to go.
I think most people would have respected that, however, consider the last time Kelly make a deep run to the National Championship in 2013 the Irish subsequently had their world DESTROYED by Alabama in a 42-14 beatdown that saw the Crimson Tide lead 28-0 at halftime.
We can debate the cowardice behind bailing on Notre Dame at this point, but there’s at least some logic behind it when it comes to recruiting.
Sure, he double backed with a Mike Tomlin quote about a $250 million cheque from the Fairy Godmother, but we know the intention there was to tell people “it’s not going to happen.” It should be noted that it didn’t take $250M, it took $95M over 10 years to pry him away.
So, Brian Kelly accepts the LSU job and the news leaks.
You have a guy in charge of an elite team with real playoff chances, who told the world he wasn’t leaving last week, now leaving without really letting anyone know.
I’ve waited in lines at Chipotle for over 11 minutes, and my biggest concern was whether there was still barbacoa available, not, I dunno, how my decision to leave my job would impact dozens of athletes during one of the most important runs of their college careers.
Nobody is saying the process of coaches leaving will ever be easy, but Kelly’s stupid, goofy, all-out ridiculous way of handling this didn’t tear off a bandaid, it pried open the wound and dumped a container of cajun seasoning in it.