Notre Dame: Is it just a name?

There is a good time and a bad time to leave your job. The beginning of December would arguably be the worst time for anyone to leave a current job, especially if you didn't have another one to replace it. Some employers give out Christmas or holiday bonuses for the end of the year and quarter. Some employers give out a profit sharing bonus and deposit it into the employees' retirement accounts in January. Some actually do both. So, with the end of the year bonus near Christmas and/or the profit sharing deposit in January or February, a December leave of employment would make the least amount of sense, right? Plus, your replacement won't be able to get those perks while witnessing everyone around them talking about how much they got that year. If you have to leave your job, try to do it in the middle of January or a little later to avoid the hassles of losing out on some good things. With that said, some people will ignore the advice and get too hasty because the next job is just too good to pass up right now.

Knowing the title, and reading the first paragraph, most college football fans and lovers of the wildly popular Notre Dame Fighting Irish will know exactly who and what I'm talking about. Brian Kelly is the newest head coach of the Notre Dame football program. He is the next in line to restore the amazing glory days and history of this tradition-rich program. Great players from so long ago to the legends of the late 20th century to the most current superstar athletes that have fought the battles on the grid iron in South Bend, Indiana. To follow the likes of Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, and Lou Holtz, is a thrill and an honor that Brian Kelly probably hasn't quite grasped yet with the overwhelming expectations that immediately fall upon you in that position. Many have not had or maintained the desired success to find themselves outside wondering what else they could have done to make the football program great again. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have not had a championship since 1988 under Lou Holtz, and Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame alumni and entire Notre Dame family hope that he is the next to bring a championship to the university.

Brian Kelly didn't come out of nowhere to Notre Dame overnight. He started small, like most head coaches. His first head coaching job was at Grand Valley State where he coached from 1991-2003. In 2003 is when he took over for Central Michigan until 2006. He then took over at Cincinnati in 2006 to lead them to new heights of success winning 10 games, in his first full season, for the second time in school history and first since 1949. The following year they won 11 games in 2008. Then in 2009, starting the season unranked, Coach Kelly led the Bearcats to an undefeated season and nearly a shot for the national title. However, Brian Kelly agreed to take over for Notre Dame in late November and announced it on December 10th, 2009. He was heard saying that he was concerned about recruiting and needed to get started at Notre Dame right away and left the undefeated Bearcats to fend for themselves against a dangerous Florida Gators team in the Sugar Bowl. Cincinnati lost that game and it makes me wonder whether it was because they felt betrayed and lost - emotionally. Did they not have the heart or confidence to do it without their coach? Or there is the possibility that Florida would have beaten them no matter where Coach Kelly was. Did Brian Kelly leave his job too soon? Speaking of Florida, was Urban Meyer trying to even the playing field by announcing his retirement from football, then restating it as a temporary departure? Was he trying to avoid the Bearcats' excuse of "we were emotionally off because of our coach" because he "caused" his players to be emotionally off, too? Anyway....

The coaching confusion brings me to the main point I want to get at, should universities interrupt other schools during the post season before all the bowl games have been played? I understand schools wanting to discard their ineffective coaches as soon as possible to save money and wondering how long it will take for them to find an adequate replacement. It is a legitimate concern. However, the part that bothers me, is the interruption of a successful program and the current infrastructure of coaches and plays and players and trust and momentum and psyche of a whole team and sticking together until the season has ended. There should be an NCAA mandated rule that states that the universities should not attempt to "shop" for a new coach until that coach's team is completely done with its season and post season (bowl game). These coaches should not be approached or feel like they might get approached by any other university and its representatives until after the final whistle is blown in their bowl game, then they are free game.

I hated the whole Rich Rodriguez thing and this Brian Kelly thing. They left before Christmas and didn't stick through the good stuff of the end of season bonuses. Something else that bothers me is Brian Kelly using the recruiting concern as an excuse to depart so early. There are some schools that need that extra month or so to solidify a good recruiting class as the new head coach, but with Notre Dame? C'mon! Really? It's Notre Dame! The name does the recruiting for you. If you're a new coach? It's still Notre Dame! Notre Dame will not, I repeat, will not even interview a potential head coach unless they have had recent success in their current job. There is way too much pressure to succeed in football to think otherwise. As the first year head coach, you and your name are insignificant to the recruiting process. The high school athletes pay attention and know that the old coach is gone. They find out who the new coach is. They do their own research of where they were previously and how well they did. If they don't do those things then they are not good enough of a player to be recruited in the first place. The athletes are informed. If the kids are at a football proud high school, the coaches may be the ones informing the athletes of changes. It won't matter if you leave in early January, which is the better time to leave a job, right?

If anything, I believe that Brian Kelly made a mistake by leaving Cincinnati before the season was up. He bolted to concentrate on Notre Dame, but he may have affected the decision of a few top athletes that may look at Coach Kelly and saw a lack of dedication to his team, a lack of devotion and loyalty to his players that worked so hard for him all season long, just to leave them at their most important part of their year. These are your year-end bonuses and profit sharing bonuses because the kids will see you stick with your team until the end and they will want to do that for you, when the time comes. I'm not saying that the high caliber athletes will change their mind with those thoughts, but it may sway them a bit if someone more reliable and stable at another university is pursuing them. Coach Kelly may leave Notre Dame high and dry some day to seek more riches in the NFL. Coach Kelly should have stayed to finish the season at Cincinnati because HE is not the recruiter this year, Notre Dame is the recruiter this year. Most of all, schools should leave coaches alone while they are still performing their duties to prepare for a game. This should be addressed and changed. Coach Kelly, next time, stay until the profit sharing is in your retirement account; and, Notre Dame? is it just a name?