The pros:
He has a very high floor, and can build a program and get it to regular top 10 contention.
He is one of the best out there at finding underrated players, and turning them into very fine collegiate performers, and yes, even into NFL players.
The cons:
His ceiling doesn't extend much further than his floor. Beating the best of the best only happens once in a blue moon, at best, and only when circumstances are in his favor (Clemson 2020, during the regular season).
He has a very difficult time developing highly rated prospects.
He throws people under the bus, instead of taking responsibility.
He plays his favorites all too often, choosing to stick with the low ceiling safe choice. He won't hesitate to yank someone in favor of his RKG instead of giving that guy a second chance.
I'm not even including his temper, along with letting some of the better players rot on the bench, or how his loyalty to his cronies would keep terrible assistants on his staff (Longo, Van Gorder, etc).
He's a very good coach
Replies to: "He's a very good coach"
- “Brian Kelly reminds Notre Dame fans why they're happy he's far away from South Bend“ [NT]
[LINK]
- whatsamataU - 1:28pm 9/29/25
(23) [View All]
- He did not represent ND well. Matters more than wins - jrdjr84 - 9:39pm 9/29/25
- He went 54-9 his final five seasons here - Fisher01 - 3:55pm 9/29/25
- How many of those 54 were against ranked teams? [NT] - AlbanyIRISH - 7:27am 9/30/25
- Only took him until year 8 to get things rolling and still never beat a Top 15 in the post-season. [NT]
- Chrisb - 8:32pm 9/29/25
- Lots of lost opportunities during Kelly 1.0 - ndunabomber - 10:04pm 9/29/25
- #1 issue with BK, once he losses 1 game there typically more on the horizon... - Chrisb - 12:40pm 9/30/25
- Lots of lost opportunities during Kelly 1.0 - ndunabomber - 10:04pm 9/29/25
- Absolutely. I would rather have a beer with Marcus, but lest [NT]
- murph78 - 5:52pm 9/29/25
- Sorry, bad typing - lest we forget, Kelly did well here. [NT]
- murph78 - 5:53pm 9/29/25
- Applaud Kelly for what he did. It can’t be denied that he rebuilt a moribund program. - Sjnd5359 - 1:17pm 10/3/25
- Well? He was dragging down our all time win % his first 11 seasons. [NT]
- Chrisb - 8:33pm 9/29/25
- Before Kelly got here ND was making Tate Forcier a Heisman candidate [NT]
- Fisher01 - 11:35am 9/30/25
- So instead of Forcier, Kelly made Shoeless Joe Jackson or - IrishChristopher - 8:38am 10/1/25
- So because he did better than dumpster fire coaches that makes him really good? [NT] - Chrisb - 12:33pm 9/30/25
- What’s your take on CFP chances? Seems like Deja vu we were having this same discussion a year ago [NT]
- WoodstockIrish - 11:06am 9/30/25
- Right! So last year I thought if we won out we were definitely in, but this year - Chrisb - 12:31pm 9/30/25
- Well thought out - WoodstockIrish - 3:02pm 9/30/25
- My guess... - Chrisb - 10:34pm 9/30/25
- Sucks that USC lost and isn’t ranked - WoodstockIrish - 6:18pm 10/1/25
- My guess... - Chrisb - 10:34pm 9/30/25
- Well thought out - WoodstockIrish - 3:02pm 9/30/25
- Right! So last year I thought if we won out we were definitely in, but this year - Chrisb - 12:31pm 9/30/25
- Before Kelly got here ND was making Tate Forcier a Heisman candidate [NT]
- Fisher01 - 11:35am 9/30/25
- Sorry, bad typing - lest we forget, Kelly did well here. [NT]
- murph78 - 5:53pm 9/29/25
- He's a very good coach - ndunabomber - 5:23pm 9/29/25
- He's a slightly above average coach. Great win % vs inferior teams... - Chrisb - 8:38pm 9/29/25
- Didn't care for him one way or the other but he had a pretty good career at ND - NDQuebec - 4:45pm 9/29/25
- Yep, people forget what an actual bad coach looks like - Kelly was very good at his job [NT] - Fisher01 - 11:35am 9/30/25
- They were pretty hard on him this am on Ch 84 [NT] - irishone - 3:02pm 9/29/25