I'm grateful for his finishing the rebuilding job that Weis started, and bringing us to top 10 contention on a consistent basis, but the fact that he couldn't get us over the hump means that he was simply a good, and yes, even very good, coach, is the limit of how far he could take us.
When I think of top tier ND coaches, I think of Knute, Frank, Ara, and Lou, and yes, even Dan Devine. Brian Kelly came somewhat close, but consistently failed to get us over the hump.
Besides, if you want to look at total wins, the vacated wins in Kelly's record puts him below Lou and Knute, and his percentage wins are nowhere near Ara's or Frank's.