I get it, he's the HC at Notre Dame now so he's dirt to all of us. And yes, maybe he should've talked to his players a little sooner in the process. But still why all the outrage - at least at this level? People who are invested in that program (other than H&G) act like they didn't see this coming in spite of what Kelly said. I saw this coming before the damn season even started.
So what if he lied to the kids? He's in a negotiation, and he's also trying to make a decision with his family. You have 85 kids in a room who want answers from you. If you tell them you're leaving they're gonna sit there on their cell phone and tap out "This is bullshit!" on Twitter right then and there. If you give a non-answer, they'll probably do the same damn thing. He did what he felt he had to do. I'm not saying he has the tact of a Jim Tressel, but I don't think that what he did was unprofessional relative to the way things work in college football either.
To me, this outrage just shows that UC fans (mostly) and players don't understand where that program resides in the college football landscape. If you go to UC or root for UC and you have any kind of success, that means your coach is probably going to leave. The only way you're going to get some one to stay is if you are mediocre, if you have a coach with unbreakable ties to the university and the community, or if you've sustained real success long enough to become an established power. For the latter, it sure as hell takes more than 12 games to do.
As for the comment about players not being able to leave like coaches, please spare us. They can leave anytime they want too. Jimmy Claussen just did it. Thad Gibson is about to do it too. Also, presumably all these kids are in this to get an education - and it's not as if when a student-athlete transfers they have to wait a year to start taking classes. They just have to wait a year (in some cases) to start playing ball again.
And everybody knows what the situation is when they sign up for it - your coach may leave. Two of your coaches may leave. You may leave your coach. That's life. A colleague of mine left a few weeks ago, and didn't bother to tell anyone until she had secured a new job. Now I'm doing her work plus mine until someone new comes on board. That new person may do the same thing themselves one day - or I may do it to them. Welcome to the real world.