Brian Kelly’s Bold, Audacious Moves

Brian Kelly - Notre Dame Head Coach
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly on the field against the Stanford Cardinal during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Stanford defeated Notre Dame 27-20. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The ugly dust cloud from Alabama’s red elephants had barely settled when Brian Kelly started plotting some big changes to return the Irish to the National Championship quest, albeit it at a more successful clip.

When Diaco departed for UCONN after 2013, Kelly swiftly, even before the Rutgers Pinstripe Bowl, pulled the trigger and committed to an aggressive, attacking pro style, multiple defense. The move to the 4-3 and the hiring of Brian van Gorder were corollaries of that big bold decision.
The overarching scheme and aggression change was the architecture, Van Gorder the engineering and construction. Retooling is never seamless, and there is always a price to be paid. In college football it is exacerbated because players recruited for Defensive Scheme A may not be fit for Defensive Scheme B. In the unforgiving world of fans there is little patience for letting the Scheme A’s graduate and atrophy while more Scheme B’s are recruited and developed.

But changing circumstances require decisive action. And Notre Dame has often been on the audacious, cutting edge. Rockne himself learned this as a player when he and Dorais shocked Army with the passing attack honed on the sandy beaches of Sandusky, Ohio. Rock was audacious with the installation of the Notre Dame Box, whether inspired by the Rockettes or not. Leahy, a most loyal pupil of Rockne, audaciously replaced the box with the split T, while fans screamed bloody murder.. And Ara Raoul Parseghian was audacious in his swift embrace of the unlimited substitution rules while others dawdled.

The revered, ancient rhythm of forcing an opponent to make long drives and make a mistake to stop themselves became nearly obsolete with the shift to wide open spread defenses. When a Nick Saban/Kirby Smart defense, filled with Blue Chippers and Five Stars and liberally sprinkled with top JC’s sees its ppg allowed go from 8.2 ppg and 184 yards per game in ’09 to 18.4 ppg and 328 ypg in ’14, something is changing. In the last 15 games, the proud Crimson Tide defense has allowed more than 40 points THREE TIMES! They have, on too many occasions for the Crimson Tide faithful, been as porous as El Chapo Guzman’s jailers.

It is evident that, in the modern milieu of college football, something’s happening here, what it means ain’t exactly clear. But explosive, opportunistic, high powered offenses will not fade quietly into that dark night. Defensive escalation makes sense.

The bold defensive retooling process started in late ’13, saw its first phase of implementation in ’14 and the retooling was completed with the coaching staff changes on defense in 2015.

Supporters believe that 2015 will be the first effective year under the revamped defense guided by Brian Van Gorder, with 2014 merely a shakedown cruise, complicated by suspensions and injuries. Supporters contend that the first part of ’14’s defensive performance was the new reality, the second half an aberration.

Skeptics contend that the shift was a panic move, does not align with the personality and type of athletes naturally attracted to Notre Dame, and the added requirements of complexity and athleticism are bridges too far for Notre Dame’s well-being. These skeptics contend that the first part of ‘14’s defensive performance was an aberration, the second half the new reality.

For 2015 the changes made by Kelly were even more radical. The first, and less discussed, was the addition of the interns and analysts. Veteran. accomplished coaches like Bobby Elliott and Jeff Quinn were added as special projects and offensive analysts, respectively. Pryce Tracy was named as the full time Speical teams analyst.

This is a significant change in coaching room and meeting dynamics. The three unit analysts and Elliott’s position are not Tony Soprano’s “no show” jobs on the Esplanade in Seacaucus. They are there to contribute to the coaching acumen and sophistication on each unit.  Elliott’s first assignment was to research a solution to the challenges of making tactical defensive substitutions against hurry up spread offenses.  ut the more surprising change was the addition of Mike Sanford Jr. as offensive coordinator.  Kelly had never been more than one step away from playcalling, whether the offensive coordinator was Charley Molnar, Chuck Martin or Mike Denbrock.

Sanford was no mere friend, the son of a former coach of the program. A rising, almost shooting star, he did not leave his alma mater Boise to carry a clipboard on the Notre Dame sideline. The baton is meant to pass to Sanford, but it will take more than a minute.

Clearly Quinn, Debrock and Sanford will be part of the “think tank” providing ideas, thoughts and feed back. Kelly wanted more input, more advice, a better “meeting room.” Quinn is no shrinking violet and with Denbrock, Quinn, Sanford and Kelly joining Hiestand, Booker and Denson, that will be an energized, experienced, SMART meeting room.

Supporters of the move say that Kelly’s most fluid offense was when Quinn was his offensive coordinator at Cincinnati. Kelly wanted a better offensive “cabinet” and staffed it with the best and the brightest.  Leveraging that move with Sanford, who is a contributor on his way to being the coordinator, creates a powerful brain trust and the Irish offense will not be out witted.

Skeptics demean Kelly as a control freak and predict an inevitable explosion with Sanford, possibly even compromising the recruiting-and retention-of Huntingburg phenom QB Hunter Johnson.  Whether the defensive and offensive supporters or skeptics are correct will be determined quickly.

Danton, one of the architects of the French revolution, coined the phrase “Audacity, audacity, audacity!” It was coopted by the fierce George Patton, and later by Pattonphile Bo Schembechler who loved to exhort his team with “Audacity, audacity, audacity.”

In the last two offseasons Kelly has made some audacious moves, on the field, in the coaches’ offices, in the offensive, defensive and special teams meetings rooms.  2015 will determine if the bold moves worked.  But, you know, if Kelly was right, it could be an intriguing year for Notre Dame football.

Go Irish!

You may also like

27 Comments

  1. That’s the great point Brian, nobody complains about BYU. And, frankly, nobody complained about ND until 2012. This year, though, all the big coaches are vocal. That LSU game shook some playoff hopefuls. Presuming the Irish are much better than that game…they have reason to be.

  2. Well, Brian, the reason the “supporters say/skeptics say” sections were included in the article were to limn the outer banks of both opinion and expected result. l

  3. The MO coach should double check his schedule. Missouri plays less power conference teams than ND does. Also, the Missouri scheduling department now takes advantage of the new SEC rule allowing them to play ND or BYU to count as their required non-conference power 5 game per season.

    While he’s at it glorifying MO’s schedule, he might notice there are a grand total of 3 teams on MO’s 2015 schedule with 8 or more wins last year (including BYU, the independent who is his team’s only non-conference “Power 5 Opponent” for the year). Yeah, the SEC’s good, but not so much in the East division, and MO does not play AL, Auburn, LSU, TX A&M, or Ole Miss. Not exactly a murderer’s row on Missouri’s schedule.

    Maybe he figures he’s got a mediocre schedule but has a brand name conference with few games against the teams that actually make the conference good, so it makes sense to ballyhoo conference affiliation over actual schedule, performance, and record.

  4. On a side note: all the recent bluster from big name coaches about ND joining a conference seems promising news to me. If ND wasn’t a playoff contender, they wouldn’t bother. Something tells me it’s a mix of fear, and frustration at increasing losses on the recruiting trail. The opposition complaining about the Irish has always been a great sign.

  5. Every off season we are inundated with articles praising whoever the coach is, whose new ______ scheme is going to make a big difference on the road to a national championship. Unlike past coaches, the 3* and 4* guys the current coach is getting are ideal for his scheme. He has a proven track record of success which is referenced (though when looking at it, it actually does not seem to portend anything like national title). I don’t care about a coach’s divison II pedigree, what they did in a non-BCS type program, or a SEC pedigree.

    A coach should just show he can lead the team to win, make fun and successful play calls, avoid painfullly stupid and game costing bad calls / mismanagement, not stick with starters who clearly will never make the grade, and show hard work in player development/recruiting.

  6. what sold me on Kelly was one quiet night watching Cincy play when Tony Pike went down. Zach Collaros came in and ran different plays and sequences and Cincy won easily. It was against South Florida, perhaps when they still had Leavitt, and they were unbeaten at the time.

    Different coaches inherit different stuff.

    Ara inherited Huarte, deep on the depth chart and Devore’s absurd line recruiting class, Page, Hardy, Regner, Seiler, Schnurr, Gmitter

    Weis inherited Quinn

    Kelly inherited Crist on crutches, phenom Tommy Rees just coming in.

    But that night in Tampa……..

  7. Well shit David, while I do find it lazy; let’s bullet point it up…

    1. Kelly has coached every team he’s had to championships and/or undefeated seasons in remarkably brief periods of time. Cincinnati was a shitshow. But, 3 years later thay had an undefeated season, and lost to a Florida team many considered a championship caliber program. He did the same with a ND program that was rapidly sliding into obsolescence, and popularly becoming the laughingstock of storied programs. More though, if you had any understanding of offensive theory, you’d know how inventive his offenses are, and how brilliant he is at developing talent, and a flexible scheme to utilize what he’s got. Three years after a 6 – 6 season, five years after 3 – 9, he went undefeated in the regular season, restoring the Irish as a serious football program.

    2. Kelly had offers throughout the country, not unlike Urban Meyer after success at Utah. He didn’t have to choose ND, but he did…knowing it’s inherent difficulties.

    3. Manti Teo was a great linebacker. He was one great player surrounded by many other great players. Which is all common sense. You’re not angling to come out and claim that you blew the guy while he was committed to an imaginary girlfriend are you? Because if that’s what’s happening, I don’t want any part of it.

  8. beatha breath:

    1) “Brian Kelly is a brilliant coach”. These are wild allegations yet to be glimpsed or even sniffed at ND.

    2) “took an assignment not without its frustrations”. Perhaps. But it does have those small elements of enormous compensation, instant celebrity, and future NFL job potential that are greater than GV State and Cincinnati, so there’s that.

    3) Kelly owes Manti T’eo part of his last two years’ paychecks. Full stop.

    Clearly you’re the one who’s not serious, so thanks for the great humor.

  9. Another great article. Aside from lack of proven quality depth at quarterback, lack of the same across the board on special teams appears to be the one big weakness on this year’s team. New kicker, new punter, recent mediocre performances on returns all are concerns. Coach Kelly has indicated he will tend to gamble on fourth downs in no-man’s land (35-40 yard line) rather than punt or try a field goal. This can be a recipe for disaster, rather than giving the defense a chance to keep good field position. But, with this staff I’m pretty sure any decision made will be better than any I would make.

  10. Kelly is a brilliant coach, who took on an assignment that wasn’t without its frustrations. Meyer, Saban, et al. have excelled in positions defined by a “win at all costs” mentality. An infinitely easier proposition than winning consistent championships at ND. Nonetheless, he’s put together exceptional recruiting classes, and managed to develop elite play out of underrated talent at a level only matched by Harbaugh. He’s also slowly putting together one of the smartest coaching staffs in the NCAA.

    If they dominate Georgia Tech…the Irish will be en route to several years of contention runs.

    *manti teo led championship run? are you serious?

  11. “brandon” the coach (or coaches) tell the players what to do (it’s called coaching). If they say “I want you to field this punt as a fair catch no matter what”, the players either do it or get benched.

  12. Say what you will but making your opponent drive 80 plus while giving your Offense a shorter field by way of good kick returns is still mightily important

  13. Thanks, Ray, I worried that Buffalo Springfield would a bridge too far back.
    And you nailed it on the Zaire concern. Ebbs and flows? Well if you look at the three games that comprised the championship bracket last year, there were sure ebbs and flows.

    And we saw in tallahasee what a guy like Winston can do, when he engineered those three great third quarter drives.

    And, Hurls we have to go the mat on special teams. Short answer is that evolution has made special teams way less than 1/3 of the game. I’ll come back to that another day……..

  14. Brian Kelly’s greatest accomplishment to date was getting Manti T’eo to lead ND’s defense into the BCS Championship game, and taking the rest of the team with them.
    I am waiting to see something else worth remembering.

  15. Reference to for what its worth is classic. It is worth a playoff possibility by doing this rather than standing still(not stephen stills). Gives us a fighting chance to achieve our goals. Defense must be improved simply because the attrition cannot be as bad as last year. Offense, well if we get leads and keep them, Zaire will be fine, if we fall behind, can he bring us back is the big question.

  16. “Notre Dame has often been on the audacious, cutting edge. Rockne himself learned this as a player when he and Dorais shocked Army with the passing attack honed on the sandy beaches of Sandusky, Ohio. Rock was audacious with the installation of the Notre Dame Box, whether inspired by the Rockettes or not.”

    This really says it all.

  17. @jerseymick, very good point. BK’s gotta get off his ass and attend to the special teams. Ask NATIONAL CHAMPION coach Lou Holtz. “Special teams matter.” They’re a huge third of the game.

    @brandon, that’s a very funny image. “Keystone cop” comes to mind.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button