Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Kelly worried some college football fans with a flirtation with the NFL. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach was interested in potentially making the jump but he is going to stay with his team.
BREAKING Brian Kelly will be staying at Notre Dame, a source just told CBS.
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS)
This does not shock anyone. Kelly will get a raise and an extension from the school so everyone will end up happy. It may have hurt the team a tiny bit in recruiting but that can be glossed over. The team is looking like a contender again, which means recruits will not be hard to come by.
However, part of me thinks Kelly was at one point really thinking about making the jump. Once you make the title game at ND, the expectations jump up a lot. He will be expected to do this almost every year. They want to be back on top and they will not settle for anything less. A couple bad years strung together could spell a lot of trouble for him.
There is no word on his new deal with the school yet but that should come out in the next day or so. Expect him to have a contract that pays him in the upper ten of coaches. He will also have a contract that is going to have plenty of years on it.
Could Kelly revisit the NFL down the road? Of course. For now, he is going to be sticking in South Bend.
