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Bearcats must move toward future
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted December 11, 2009 1:51 PM ET
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist saw UC receiver Mardy Gilyard on TV and understood the passion and hurt in Gilyard's words about the departure of his coach.
Gilyard was the face of an angered Cincinnati that resonated 222 miles northwest to South Bend, Ind. It was the face of one of the best players in the country losing one of the best coaches in the country. The disappointment was understandable, even as Gilyard said Kelly's departure was understandable. Brian Kelly, who led UC to heights previously unimagined by the Bearcats, is now at a place where undefeated seasons aren't a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, but expected on a yearly basis.
"I understand, it's tough -- I don't know any of those guys, but I can understand the frustration they feel," Crist said. "At the same time, this is going to sound selfish, but I'm glad coach Kelly is here and I can't wait to get started."
Kyle Rudolph knows exactly what it's like to pick Notre Dame over UC -- he did it two years ago as a senior at Elder High School. Rudolph was recruited by Kelly, but chose the Fighting Irish over the Bearcats as well as Ohio State and just about every other school in the country.
"I was sitting in the press conference hearing all about the Cincinnati Bearcats, and when I grew up Cincinnati football wasn't a big thing, it was coach Huggins and Cincinnati basketball. And to see where he's gotten the program is phenomenal," Rudolph said. "I've heard all positive things from all the players I know on the team, I have some friends on the team, one of my best friends from home is a manager on the team, so he worked even more closely with coach Kelly than even the players did."
Those phone calls to 513 numbers were constant on Thursday and Friday, Rudolph said. He said he talked to his former Panther teammate, Craig Carey, both days.
"They're obviously frustrated, I might have been in the same situation, losing a great coach like that and still having one more game to play," Rudolph said.
Bearcats athletic director Mike Thomas said Thursday night he didn't even consider allowing Kelly to coach the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans against Florida. Instead, for now, Kelly's offensive coordinator, Jeff Quinn, is scheduled to coach the Bearcats. However, another coach could come in before that game and take over the helm, which is what Kelly did after Mark Dantonio departed following the 2006 regular season. Quinn coached Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl in 2006 as Kelly worked with the Bearcats in preparation for the International Bowl.
Kelly, who didn't speak to the media after telling his former team of his departure Thursday night, was introduced as Notre Dame's head coach on Friday.
"You would always want it to end with the best story, and the best story would be I get to coach in the Sugar Bowl. But I'm here at Notre Dame now, and this is where I want to be," Kelly said on Friday. "This is where I need to get to work immediately. So yeah, the story would be the coach stays with the team and finishes what he started. But in the calendar that we are in in college football, it just can't happen -- and you know that going in. You know that it's not going to be easy. We're trying to make it as easy as possible. I love those guys back there in Cincinnati. I'm always going to be a Bearcat fan unless we have to play them. But you know, we try to make that work, but it's sometimes just impossible."
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said he and Kelly met for the better part of an entire day on Wednesday in an undisclosed city that wasn't New York or Cincinnati or South Bend and officially offered Kelly the job at 8 p.m. Wednesday night. After spending the next day working on details, Kelly, according to Swarbrick, officially accepted the position late Thursday afternoon.
By then, reports had leaked that Kelly was the new head coach at Notre Dame and Kelly waited until the end of the team's year-end banquet to tell the team of his decision.
"I told them when I made a decision to talk to Notre Dame, they were the first to know, and then when I made the decision, I was the first to tell them," Kelly said. "I was the only source for them, but unfortunately in the day and age we live, there were stories out there, so they were certainly disappointed. In an ideal situation you want to finish what you started, but you can't do it. I'm here at Notre Dame now, excited about the challenge. I'll always be indebted to our football team and what they did for me."
As Thomas moves on to talk to candidates -- it was reported Friday that he'd already lined up an interview with Houston's Kevin Sumlin -- Swarbrick said the nature of the college football season lends itself to coaching hires in the gap between the end of the regular season and the bowl games. If the Bearcats hire Sumlin, it's likely to be before the Cougars' Armed Forces Bowl on New Year's Eve.
"I can't imagine there is a way (to change the process), I think we'd all be open to it because we understand the consequences on programs and young men, but it's driven by the intensity of football and its importance in college athletics," Swarbrick said. "Even if you changed recruiting windows, you'd still need to get your head coach on campus with his staff. The fundamental difference between a football head coach and every other head coach is that they're CEOs and they have a whole business under them with large staffs. We talked today about technical issues, video, and so a month delay in implementing that would be problematic."
As it is, this is the coaching season. East Carolina's Skip Holtz has a game on Jan. 2 against an SEC team, Butch Jones' Central Mcihigan squad plays in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6 and Al Golden will lead Temple to just the third bowl game in school history in Dec. 29 EagleBank Bowl -- if any of those candidates were to take the UC job, they'd also leave before their bowl game.
"I have enormous sympathy," Swarbrick said. "I felt sympathy for our kids when I made the decision I made at the end of the year and you do all you can for the young men you have direct access to, and I know Mike (Thomas) is doing the same at Cincinnati to make it as easy as you can for them."
Until then, there's no more uncertainty about one thing, Kelly is the coach at Notre Dame, not UC.
"I'm forever grateful to the players at the University of Cincinnati for what they gave me," Kelly said, describing Notre Dame as his "dream job." "They gave me this opportunity here at Notre Dame. Their work on the field gave me a great opportunity for my family, and for that I'm forever grateful."
In the circle of college football life, his departure will mean an opportunity for another coach, who will leave behind questions and hurt feelings of his own.
Categories: College, Featured Stories
Tags: Brian Kelly, Craig Carey, Dayne Crist, Jack Swarbrick, Kyle Rudolph, Mardy Gilyard
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