Brian "Body Kount" Kelly (HC Louisiana State)

[NateG]

Lost our DC. Lost the receivers coach. Urban looking for staff right now. Not moving tickets at all after everyone paid big bucks for Atlanta tix last week. Numerous players looking to go pro and not wanting to get hurt practicing too hard.

Man, this has a bad feel to it. Hope I'm wrong. I totally get the Bama mindset now. It is like the Sugar Bowl is a huge disappointment

I hope so too... even though I do feel a small bit bad for the kids at UC. Gotta finish squashing the bug down by the river.

I would just cling to the hope that Tim gets this team ready. They will not want to go out with him losing his last 2 games after being such a driving force for him. If he has to win it on his own, I could see it happen. Plus if I was on that defense with the way everyone was talking about them, Tony wouldn't have a head when I was done. (Is Dunlap coming back?)

 

[Oh8ch]

And why is it that a coach can jump ship with no repercussions, but the student athletes that committed to him and the institution can't do so as easily?

Because LOI stands for Letter of Indenture.

 

[Tlangs]

I wonder if he told Pryor before his old team...

GPA!

 

[OH10]

And Cincinnati is ever reminded (once again) of their perrilous place in the college football universe. Thanks for visiting.

 

[buckeyesin07]

Kelly told his players they'd be the first to know what his decision was going to be. He lied to them. They were the last to know.

You're assuming that it was Kelly's fault that there were multiple reports yesterday afternoon that he'd be the next ND coach. I'm not sure that's true.

Kelly, who woke up the local media to finally cover UC football, left town under the cover of Cincinnati police without a single comment to the local media.

So he owes it to the media to sit down and do a feature piece as he's leaving town? I'm not sure he owes anything to the local media--you're assuming that he wouldn't have gone 12-0 (and thus be headed to ND) without the local media's support. Again, I'm not sure that's true.

Kelly asked the fans to buy in. On the day that UC announced that they sold out its allotment of Sugar Bowl tickets, the coach has nothing to say to UC fans.

Again, I'm not sure what you want from him. I'd bet that Kelly could have answered questions and spoken to the UC fans until he was blue in the face and everyone would still be angry at him for leaving for UC. That's the issue here, not something else.

I guess I know how West Virginia fans felt after Dick-Rod did his alma mater like that.

Totally different situation--Kelly's not a UC grad, not to mention what transpired in and around RR's leaving Morgantown.

As shady as BK has handled this for the last 10 days, I really don't have anything negative to say.

. Your post is littered with negative things that you've said about Kelly. Indeed, you said something negative about him in that same sentence. That aside, I don't know what you expected him to do. UC fans, such as yourself, wanted him to stay. And I don't blame you--he's done a great job at UC. But he wanted something better for himself, apparently, and I don't see how you can fault a guy for that. Every one of us would probably do the same. ND's a better job than UC. UC fans are mad because he left, and they're attempting not to sound like whiners by claiming that they're in fact upset with how he left. I'm not buying it.

It sucks and I am not overly joyed by it. But I will keep hoping that eventually a good coach will find his way to Clifton who will not only win, but stay.

This is probably the best approach to take.

 

[jlb1705]

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.

 

[jwinslow]

So he owes it to the media to sit down and do a feature piece as he's leaving town?

A feature piece? No, but a simple press conference is the least he could do, 07. It's the stand-up thing to do, unless you have no class & respect for the town & program you are leaving.

 

[sandgk]

jlb - I agree with everything except the kids "can leave anytime they want too." In reality Clausen only gets to leave because he meets 3-years post HS and is NFL ready (OK, that last bit I just made up) Gibson is a similar story, going to the NFL as a Junior. If Clausen were a Frosh he would have to sit out a year should he wish to transfer. Leave outright and he likely nixes his chance at a pro pay-day.

 

[Oh8ch]

I misinterpreted from the reports last night that Kelly did not meet with his team. It appears that he did. That is all I was looking for.

Now I must find some other reason to hate him.

 

[jlb1705]

jlb - I agree with everything except the kids "can leave anytime they want too." In reality Clausen only gets to leave because he meets 3-years post HS and is NFL ready (OK, that last bit I just made up) Gibson is a similar story, going to the NFL as a Junior. If Clausen were a Frosh he would have to sit out a year should he wish to transfer. Leave outright and he likely nixes his chance at a pro pay-day.

You're right, but Claussen could have left before his third year and played in the CFL if he really wanted to. He could've transferred to an FCS school and played right away if he really wanted to. He decided to stay another year, try to have a good season and go for the brass ring instead.

Similarly, Brian Kelly could've left after last year not got as plum a gig as Notre Dame.

These people these people all have options, and they're not indentured. They make the decision that they feel is best for them based on the circumstances.

 

[itownbuckeye]

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.

It's kind of funny that UC is in the same city as Xavier as they are on their way to becoming the Xavier of college football. A nice mid-major program that is a stepping stone job for good coaches.

 

[NFBuck]

Now I must find some other reason to hate him.

I have a good one: he coaches Notre Dame.

 

[MaxBuck]

Given what ultimately seems to happen every time a D1 coach leaves one program for another, I'm not sure there is a "right way" to do it. Before we get on too high a horse about this, remember Coach Tressel came from a D1A program where the fans regarded his moving to Ohio State as a compliment.

 

[matcar]

A feature piece? No, but a simple press conference is the least he could do, 07. It's the stand-up thing to do, unless you have no class & respect for the town & program you are leaving.

Out of curiosity, because I don't remember...but what did JT do when he left YSU?

 

[jlb1705]

Jim Tressel's situation was quite different. The Ohio State job did not become vacant until after a New Year's Day bowl.