University of Cincinnati football players are pissed that head coach Brian Kelly quit on them and took the job at Notre Dame. Kelly follows in the proud tradition of Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino, liars who swore there was nothing to rumors just days before bolting.
“The Tuesday before we played Pitt, he was telling us how much he loves it here, how he loves this team, how he loves coaching here and how much his family loves it here,” quarterback Tony Pike said.
“He went for the money,” Cincy WR Mardy Gilyard told the AP last night. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation that they let it go for that long. I feel like there’s a little lying going on there. I felt he’d known this the whole time. Everybody knows Notre Dame’s got the money. I kind of had a gut feeling he was going to stay because he told me he was going to be here.”
I had an immediate distaste last week when I watched Kelly behave like an ass at a press conference, refusing to answer questions about Notre Dame and blaming the media for the nerve to ask such questions. But there’s no way Notre Dame hires a guy unless they had already done some due diligence, which Kelly certainly knew about.
His now-former players are also upset that they were the last to hear that Kelly was leaving, even though he promised them they would be first. He also left them even though they still have one game to play, the Sugar Bowl against Florida.
I hate this about college sports that coaches preach integrity and loyalty and team, then have no problem lying through their teeth if it helps them climb the ladder. Unfortunately, players who came to Cincinnati thinking Kelly would be their coach can’t as easily go elsewhere. Kelly will make it much easier to root against Notre Dame to lose each week.
on Dec 11th, 2009 at 7:58 PM
University administrationsare notorious for cultures of duplicity, so coaches fit right in
on Dec 11th, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Kelly will make it much easier to root against Notre Dame to lose each week
I don’t really need more reasons, but that’ll work!
on Dec 11th, 2009 at 10:52 PM
You have not shown that Brian Kelly lied about his interest in Notre Dame, let alone proved that he is a “lying sack of shit” (I’ll fill in the rest of that phrase for you), and I can’t imagine that what he said about Cincinnati is a lie either. I bet he had a great time at Cincinnati winning all those games and I bet he loved being a coach there. He also thought he would have a great time at Notre Dame and considered it an upgrade, which of course it is.
I’m not sure what you would have had Kelly do differently. Admit that he is interested in Notre Dame before having locked down the job and piss off his players before even leaving? Not talk to the press at all? Stay at Cincinnati through the bowl game and lose his chance at his dream job?
The team was the “last” to hear only because it was leaked to the press early. The players also were misreading his statements and also have no reason to believe that he lied to them. They just said that he knew all along that he wanted to go to Notre Dame and that he said he loved it at Cincinnati. Again, saying that he enjoyed coaching at Cincinnati is not a lie and not blabbing to your players about wanting to go to another school is just smart. If the Bearcat players couldn’t see this move coming or understand Kelly’s motivations, they are idiots.
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 12:31 AM
“I’m not sure what you would have had Kelly do differently. Admit that he is interested in Notre Dame before having locked down the job and piss off his players before even leaving?”
Um, yeah. Be honest with them and upfront about being interested in Notre Dame; presented that way, they would have understood. It’s what he would have demanded of them.
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 1:08 AM
Cincinnati’s players are (or at least fashion themselves as) big-time college athletes. They should know how the game is played both on and off the field. Look at the recent coaching history at their school–this isn’t rocket science. If Kelly had openly talked about going to Notre Dame, the issue would have consumed him whether he took the job or not. If things had not panned out, it would have hurt recruiting at Cincinnati for both him and his staff by raising public questions about his loyalty to the program. It would have been a massive slap in the face to a university he respected (if he said no) or a massive slap in the face to Kelly (if they said no). Either way, his position would have been compromised at his current job.
Again, he did not lie. Nick Saban lied about not being interested in Alabama when he obviously was interested. Brian Kelly obviously was interested in Notre Dame and changed the subject to how much he loves coaching at Cincinnati whenever asked about it. This was done to protect himself, protect his players, and protect both his current and prospective employers.
I don’t know what world you live in, but I have never seen anyone look for jobs like you are expecting Brian Kelly to look for a job. Nobody can reasonably be expected to publicly telegraph to competitors and colleagues every position they want that’s on a higher rung than the one they have now, especially when it involves moving to a competitor. But hey, righteous indignation about the faults of others is fun, right?
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 3:18 AM
If a kid gets angry where he is playing and wants to transfer he has to sit out a year. it seems to me that the coaches who recruit this kids should have to meet the same standard. if they are under contract to an institution and want to bolt for another job- fine. so long as they sit a year out in between. college football should be about the kids. if that is ok for them, it should be for the egomaniacal millionaires who coach them . as an aside- i always look for another reason to hate Notre Dame and now I have it!!! FY, Kelly!!
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 12:58 PM
And a non-issue. I think boomer has it right – I wonder whether everybody here who ever looked for another job said so publicly while he was working at his current job. I think greg’s last sentence sums up why anybody is even talking about this.
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 4:42 PM
It’s a bad situation but I agree with kattt11. When you have a better job opportunity with a competitor, it’s not like you tell your current boss or employees how you’re interviewing at other places. The reality is that if Kelly wants to compete for a national championship, he cant do it at Cincinnati! He went unbeaten and they still had almost no shot to get to the BCS title game. The Big East is barely a BCS conference but if an ND team goes unbeaten during ANY year, they will automatically be in the title game. There’s a ton of politics in college sports, and this story reflects that. College sports ultimately favors coaches over players in every aspect of the game/business and there are numerous double standards (getting paid, endorsements, code of conduct, transfers).
on Dec 12th, 2009 at 8:20 PM
The biggest reason Cincy isn’t playing for a national title is that there were 2 other bcs schools in front of them that were also undefeated. Not to mention TCU and Boise State as well.
I know ND is a big job on the ladder, but when the heck have they been true national title contenders in November? I’m not sold on the idea of ND being as big of a job as its reputation suggests. They’ve been all hype and no substance since the Lou Holtz days, and that isn’t changing anytime soon….I wish Kelly luck, he’s gonna need it.
on Dec 13th, 2009 at 1:56 PM
That’s why I was so happy when Harbaugh said he was not a candidate for Notre Dame or Kansas and looks forward to remaining the head coach at Stanford. He will no doubt leave at some point (I think for the NFL).
on Dec 13th, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Harbaugh will leave the minute there is a better job
on Dec 13th, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Harbaugh could head back to UMich if DickRod (aka Rich Rodriguez) doesn’t get his shit together. that is if the alumni and boosters aren’t still pissed that he brought attention to the football team’s academic weirdness.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 3:10 AM
Harbaugh is headed to UM if Rodriguez loses to Notre Dame next year
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 1:18 PM
A coach is a paid professional, but his work involves asking kids to trust four years of their lives to his hands and make a commitment on that basis.
So, yes, Kelly should have been honest with his ids and told them why he would be interested in a job like that, the regrets he would have about leaving the program, etc. That’s honest. That’s integrity. That gives the players time to digest it and put it in perspective. There would have been time to consider what would happen and be prepared for it.
The sad thing is that Kelly could not see the value of what he created and built upon. And to suddenly announce that this has always been a dream of his sounds so trite and artificial. There are coaches out there who through the years have said that Notre Dame was their dream job. Amazing that Kelly never mentioned it until the deed was done.
Who knows, perhaps the karma will work out as well as it did the last time a football coach from my hometown left to coach the Irish: Anyone remember Gerry faust from national high school champ Moeller?
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Jim, you are often a voice of reason on here but you whiffed on this one. Boomer is right.
In fact, Gilyard, the outspoken UC player, has apologized for his remarks.
http://thebuzzcincy.com/cincy/bobbyhilton/mardy-gilyard-regrets-brian-kelly-remarks-apologizes/