“Everybody is interviewing”, Kelly said of the future of his coaching staff. “This certainly warrants it. Making the change in my estimation was the best way to get everybody back to the point where we can look forward to putting this defense back in a position to succeed”.
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“I’m under review as well”.
Although only four games into the season, fans are already guessing whether Brian Kelly will be replaced after the losing season, or if he will be given one more opportunity to prove himself as a coach. All players, coaches, everybody.
Changing his defensive coordinator was a start.
Immediately after the loss, Kelly blamed the defeat on his players, declaring that none of their starting jobs were safe and the team’s problem was its lack of passion.
The Blue Devils’ ability to make up for Edwards’ absence – he was injured on his first kickoff return of the day, after Notre Dame scored on its opening drive – was absolutely critical to their 38-35 win at Notre Dame on Saturday.
This goes for the offense too, Kelly said.
Student section chanting “Fire VanGorder”.
“You know, we won 10 games (in 2015) and were close to being in the playoffs”, Kelly said. It was a strategic move, he said, to get a “pulse” of the defense and discover what the concerns were that led to Notre Dame’s poor start to the season. This was not part of where I thought we’d be. “We did what I wanted today in terms of coaching”. Yet, there has been no word from Notre Dame about the potential of another head coach search.
Things pretty much hit rock bottom when they lost 38-35 to the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday in South Bend – as three-touchdown favorites – to fall to 1-3 (and 1-5 dating back to last year). Kelly talked specifically of changes coming to the defensive side of the ball, from the font line to the secondary.
Kelly’s remarks give Kizer an opportunity to show National Football League scouts how he can respond to being challenged, and there’s no doubt they’ll be watching closely.
“I need to see guys playing the game like kids, and not so mechanical and robotic”, he said. Unlike past coaches, Kelly is not one to place the blame of failure on others and takes full responsibility for his team’s performance. Brian Kelly just has to hope that Hudson is a miracle worker and Kizer keeps slinging it.
“They were all telling me that they had my back and that they knew I was going to get it done for them”, he said. “Ultimately we trust him, we love VanGorder, and we’re going to continue to follow his lead”.
“We saw that they played soft at corners”, Nash said.
“[Power running] was just an adjustment that our [offensive coordinator Zac Roper] made-bringing the tight ends in”, Wilson said.
While the damage wasn’t as bad when Duke went to the pass on that down, they still managed to complete eight of their nine passes.
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“I had time last night to evaluate our current situation and made what I felt to be the best decision for the program”, Kelly said. “To start 1 and 3, it’s very tough, especially at a program that’s so heavily with football, so I think it needed to be done”, said Notre Dame graduate student Matt Morozek.
