Brian Kelly (American football coach): Difference between revisions

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Brian Kelly (born October 25, 1961 in Everett, Massachusetts) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, a position he has held since the 2010 season. Kelly was previously head coach at the Grand Valley State University (1991–2003), Central Michigan University (2004–2006), and University of Cincinnati (2006–2009).

Early years

Kelly is a native of Chelsea, Massachusetts and was raised in a Irish American Catholic family.^[1] He attended St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts. His father was a Boston politician.^[2] He was a four-year letter winner at Assumption College as a linebacker. After graduating from Assumption in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in political science he served as linebackers coach, defensive coordinator, and softball coach from 1983–86 at Assumption.

Grand Valley State

Kelly joined the Grand Valley State University staff in 1987 as a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach for Coach Tom Beck and became the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 1989. Kelly took over as head coach in 1991. In his final three seasons the Lakers went 41–2, at one point winning 20 consecutive games. The Lakers went 14–0 in 2002 en route to their first national title and went 14–1 in 2003 when they claimed their second National Championship. Kelly was named the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year after each of these championship years.

In his 13 years as head coach at Grand Valley the Lakers won five conference titles and made six Division II Playoff appearances. Grand Valley State never finished lower than third in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference under Kelly.

The 2001 team set 77 NCAA, GLIAC, and school records, including setting the all-time Division II scoring record, averaging 58.4 points per game.

His record in 13 years at Grand Valley State University was 118–35–2.^[3]

Central Michigan

Kelly became the 24th head coach at Central Michigan University after the departure of Mike DeBord following the 2003 season.^[4] Kelly inherited a team with limited success. Central Michigan had won more than 3 games only once in the previous four seasons. CMU finished with a 4–7 record in 2004. In Kelly's second year at Central Michigan he coached the team to a 6–5 record, the first winning season in seven years for the Chippewas. In his third season, the Chippewas posted a 9–4 record under Kelly en route to winning the MAC Championship and qualifying for the Motor City Bowl. At the end of the 2006 season, Kelly left to accept the Cincinnati coaching vacancy three days after CMU won the 2006 MAC Championship. He did not coach CMU in their bowl game. Kelly's record at Central Michigan in three seasons was 19–16.

Cincinnati

Kelly was named Cincinnati's head coach on December 3, 2006, following the departure of Mark Dantonio. Both Cincinnati and Central Michigan were preparing for bowl appearances so while Kelly was in Cincinnati preparing the Bearcats, much of his staff remained at Central Michigan to coach the Chippewas. Following Central Michigan's 31–14 win in the Motor City Bowl, most of his staff joined him in Cincinnati, where they went on to coach Cincinnati to a 27–24 victory over Western Michigan University in that year's International Bowl.

In his first full season, Kelly led Cincinnati to a competitive position in the Big East; the Bearcats' second ever 10-win season (its first since 1949); and a Top 25 ranking. On December 5, 2007, Kelly was named Big East Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to a 9–3 record.^[5] Coach Kelly later led the Bearcats to a 31–21 victory in the PapaJohns.com Bowl over Southern Miss.

In 2008, Kelly led Cincinnati to its first ever outright Big East title with key wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The Bearcats had never defeated either team in Big East conference play. Kelly also became the first coach to win all three of the Bearcats' traveling trophies:^{[citation needed]} the Victory Bell (Miami, OH), the Keg of Nails (Louisville), and the River City Rivalry Trophy (Pitt). The Bearcats played in the Orange Bowl versus the ACC champion, Virginia Tech on January 1, 2009 but lost 20–7.

After beginning the 2009 season unranked in all polls, Kelly's Bearcats reeled off 12 straight victories and finished the regular season undefeated. Going into the bowl season, they were ranked #3 in the BCS Standings and faced the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly did not coach the team in their post-season appearance, a game lost New Year's Day 2010 to Florida 51–24.

Among the honors that Cincinnati football achieved in 2009 is the highest academic rating among teams in the top 10 of the current BCS standings, according to the latest Graduation Success Rates, released Wednesday by the NCAA.^{[citation needed]} Cincinnati, which is fifth in the BCS standings, checked in with a 75 percent NCAA graduation rate and a 71 percent federal government rate, the only team in the BCS top 10 to surpass the 70 percent plateau in both.^{[citation needed]}

Kelly finished his tenure at Cincinnati with a 34–6 record.

Notre Dame

In December 2009, Kelly agreed to replace Charlie Weis as Notre Dame's head coach. On December 10, Kelly announced that he had taken the position at Notre Dame.^[6] He also made the decision to not coach the Bearcats in the 2010 Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2010. Brian Kelly beat Purdue 23-12 in his first game at Notre Dame, but lost to arch-rival Michigan 28-24 the following week and then proceeded to lose his next game the following week on a fake field goal overtime game against Michigan State 34-31. He then got another loss at home against Stanford before beating Boston College, to put the Irish at 2-3. On October 9th, Kelly lead the Fighting Irish to a 23-17 win over University of Pittsburgh, snapping Notre Dame's 2 game losing streak to the Panthers taking the Irish to a 3-3 record on the season.

Personal life

Kelly has a wife, Paqui, and three children, Patrick, Grace, and Kenzel.

Awards and honors

Home Depot National Coach of the Year 2009^[7]
Big East Coach of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009)^[8]
Grand Valley State Athletics Hall of Fame (June 7, 2009)^[9]
Assumption College Alumni Athletics Hall of Fame (August 22, 2006)^[10]
American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year (2003)^{[citation needed]}
American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year (2002)^{[citation needed]}

Head coaching record


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches^#	AP^°
Grand Valley State Lakers (Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference) (1991–1998)
1991	Grand Valley State	9–3	8–2	T–2nd	L Division II First Round
1992	Grand Valley State	8–3	8–2	T–1st
1993	Grand Valley State	6–3–2	6–2–2	3rd
1994	Grand Valley State	8–4	8–2	2nd	L Division II First Round
1995	Grand Valley State	8–3	8–2	2nd
1996	Grand Valley State	8–3	8–2	2nd
1997	Grand Valley State	9–2	9–1	T–1st
1998	Grand Valley State	9–3	9–1	1st	L Division II First Round
Grand Valley State Lakers (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1999–2003)
1999	Grand Valley State	5–5	5–4	7th
2000	Grand Valley State	7–4	7–3	3rd
2001	Grand Valley State	13–1	9–0	1st	L Division II Championship	2
2002	Grand Valley State	14–0	9–0	1st	W Division II Championship	1
2003	Grand Valley State	14–1	9–1	2nd	W Division II Championship	1
Grand Valley State:		118–35–2	103–22–2
Central Michigan Chippewas (Mid-American Conference) (2004–2006)
2004	Central Michigan	4–7	3–5	5th (West)
2005	Central Michigan	6–5	5–3	4th (West)
2006	Central Michigan	9–4*	7–1	1st (West)	Motor City*
Central Michigan:		19–16	15–9	*Motor City Bowl coached by Jeff Quinn
Cincinnati Bearcats (Big East Conference) (2006–2009)
2006	Cincinnati	1–0**	0–0**	**	W International
2007	Cincinnati	10–3	4–3	3rd	W Papajohns.com	20	17
2008	Cincinnati	11–3	6–1	1st	L Orange^†	17	17
2009	Cincinnati	12–0***	7–0	1st	Sugar***^†	4***	4***
Cincinnati:		34–6	17–4	First 12 games coached by Mark Dantonio *Sugar Bowl coached by Jeff Quinn
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Independent) (2010–present)
2010	Notre Dame	4–3
Notre Dame:		4–3
Total:		175–60–2
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
^†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. ^#Rankings from final Coaches Poll. ^°Rankings from final AP Poll.

References

^ Keown, Tim (December 8, 2009). "Irish coach: the weirdest job in sports". ESPN.com.
^ Starkey, Joe (October 2, 2007). "Bearcats' success met with excitement in Cincinnati". ESPN.com.
^ Kelly Named Head Football Coach :: Press conference scheduled for Monday afternoon
^ CMU Chippewas Sports News - MLive.coms
^ http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120507aab.html
^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 29, 2010). "New Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly getting an Irish education". USA Today. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^ http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/gators/2009/12/cincinnatis-kelly-named-national-coach.shtml
^ http://www.bigeast.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=204846445
^ http://www.mlive.com/lakers/index.ssf/2009/06/brian_kelly_headlines_grand_va.html
^ http://www.assumptiongreyhounds.com/news/kelly-HOF(2006)

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tom Beck	Grand Valley State University Head Football Coach 1991–2003	Succeeded by Chuck Martin
Preceded by Mike DeBord	Central Michigan University Head Football Coach 2004–2006	Succeeded by Butch Jones
Preceded by Mark Dantonio	University of Cincinnati Head Football Coach 2006–2009	Succeeded by Butch Jones
Preceded by Charlie Weis	University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach 2010–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Template:Persondata

[1] Keown, Tim (December 8, 2009). "Irish coach: the weirdest job in sports". ESPN.com.

[ESPN100207-2] Starkey, Joe (October 2, 2007). "Bearcats' success met with excitement in Cincinnati". ESPN.com.

[3] Kelly Named Head Football Coach :: Press conference scheduled for Monday afternoon

[4] CMU Chippewas Sports News - MLive.coms

[5] ttp://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120507aab.html

[Whiteside-6] Whiteside, Kelly (August 29, 2010). "New Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly getting an Irish education". USA Today. Retrieved 8 September 2010.

[7] ttp://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/gators/2009/12/cincinnatis-kelly-named-national-coach.shtml

[8] ttp://www.bigeast.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=204846445

[9] ttp://www.mlive.com/lakers/index.ssf/2009/06/brian_kelly_headlines_grand_va.html

[10] ttp://www.assumptiongreyhounds.com/news/kelly-HOF(2006)

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@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 [[File:Brian Kelly - Martins - August 2010.JPG|thumb|[[Pepsi]] display setup in August of 2010 at the [[Martin's Super Markets| Martin's Supermarket]] in Granger (IN) in anticipation of Kelly's first home game with Notre Dame.]]
-In December 2009, Kelly agreed to replace [[Charlie Weis]] as [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football|Notre Dame]]'s head coach. On December 10, Kelly announced that he had taken the position at [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]].<ref name="Whiteside">{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/independent1a/2010-08-29-notre-dame-brian-kelly-preview_N.htm|title=New Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly getting an Irish education|last=Whiteside|first=Kelly|date=August 29, 2010|publisher=USA Today|accessdate=8 September 2010}}</ref> He also made the decision to not coach the Bearcats in the 2010 Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2010. Brian Kelly beat Purdue 23-12 in his first game at Notre Dame, but lost to arch-rival Michigan 28-24 the following week and then proceeded to lose his next game the following week on a fake field goal overtime game against Michigan State 34-31. He then got another loss at home against Stanford before beating Boston College, to put the Irish at 2-3. On October 9th Kelly lead the Fighting Irish to a 23-17 win over University of Pittsburgh, snapping Notre Dame's 2 game losing streak to the Panthers taking the Irish to a 3-3 record on the season.
+In December 2009, Kelly agreed to replace [[Charlie Weis]] as [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football|Notre Dame]]'s head coach. On December 10, Kelly announced that he had taken the position at [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]].<ref name="Whiteside">{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/independent1a/2010-08-29-notre-dame-brian-kelly-preview_N.htm|title=New Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly getting an Irish education|last=Whiteside|first=Kelly|date=August 29, 2010|publisher=USA Today|accessdate=8 September 2010}}</ref> He also made the decision to not coach the Bearcats in the 2010 Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2010. Brian Kelly beat Purdue 23-12 in his first game at Notre Dame, but lost to arch-rival Michigan 28-24 the following week and then proceeded to lose his next game the following week on a fake field goal overtime game against Michigan State 34-31. He then got another loss at home against Stanford before beating Boston College, to put the Irish at 2-3. On October 9th, Kelly lead the Fighting Irish to a 23-17 win over University of Pittsburgh, snapping Notre Dame's 2 game losing streak to the Panthers taking the Irish to a 3-3 record on the season.
 ==Personal life==