Recently Notre Dame found their new hire for head football and the winner is…Brian Kelly. This was a shock for me to hear because of Brian Kelly is the coach at University of Cincinnati. Cincinnati had a great year this year going undefeated, winning the Big East and also receiving a bid to a BCS bowl game. Kelly and his Bearcats are scheduled to play in The Sugar bowl vs. Florida. I feel as if this move is a terrible choice as the Bearcats are practicing making game plans for this big game. This added a huge distraction that the underdogs do not need. Kelly’s transfer leaves his players in shock one of his players stated he was “fairly disgusted" and hoped Kelly would "pack his things up and get to South Bend in a hurry,” as reported by Matt Hinton at Rivals.com. The kids that are about to compete in a BCS game do not have a coach nor want to hear anything that their coach has to say. The team is going into this big game alone, and this should not happen because they did not go through the season alone. They were let down and left feeling like they are not good enough for their coach.
The issue that comes up season in and season out is that of coaches choosing new teams before they complete their seasons. Nick Saban is good example of these transfers. Another good example would be when Rich Rodriguez transferred from West Virginia to Michigan. The town of Morgantown was furious and has never forgiven Rich, a guy they trusted in and relied in to support his team. These transfers should never happen during the season and I dislike it when coaches do it to their teams. I also feel that the school that is looking to hire the coach should not contact the prospects until their season is over. Just because Notre Dame’s season is over does not mean everyone else is done. Wait until after season to make an announcement like this it is not fair for the teams, fans or school.
I agree and this makes another good case for a college playoff. I argue that if we had a playoff system in place Kelly would not have been so fast to leave the program, even for his beloved Irish.
ReplyDeleteI agree Megan. I also posted a similar blog about this topic of college coaches and colleges recruiting coaches mid season. I know the University of Cincinnati is furious about this move. I was down there for the Illinois game and that campus was devoted to keeping Brian Kelly there. He wanted new practice facilities and they are in the works of building huge new sports complexes that were to be completed in the next year. But even granting these wishes for Kelly wasn't enough. I have talked to my friends recently and there are furious. Kelly even stated that he wasn't leaving and had no reason to leave, yet he bails on his team during their greatest season in school history and perhaps biggest bowl game.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Megan. If he wants to go to Notre Dame, so be it, but don't abandon Cincinnati before the biggest game in their history. How disheartening!
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteI’m bearcats and an Irish fan and I don’t agree with this move. I think Kelly will be a great addition to the Irish but how could he leave his team in the middle of the year? This is the bearcats best season in a long time and this whole situation just doesn’t seem right at all. This is the college level not the professional. They shouldn’t be allowed to just fire coaches and take away from other teams in the middle of the season!