Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick Reaffirms Support for Brian Kelly
By Kyle Nishida
Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick once again dismissed any notion that head football coach Brian Kelly would be fired.
Kelly’s tenure with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was put into question after the Fighting Irish went 4-8 this season. Prior to this season, Notre Dame had always played in a bowl game and never finished with a record worse than 8-5.
Additionally, the NCAA slapped the program with a harsh punishment. The NCAA ordered the Fighting Irish to vacate their 21 wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Although the program is appealing the punishment, the infractions came under Kelly’s watch.
Despite the numerous disappointments this year, AD Swarbrick denied that drastic personnel changes need to be made this offseason.
"“Every player, every coach, myself, other administrators involved in the program, we all share the same view. There’s no way around that conclusion,” he said. “It’s not bad breaks, it’s not a play here or there. We didn’t do what we need to do. So we do start from that perspective. But I think there’s a danger in overreacting to any one piece of information that you get in the course of the evaluation of football programs.”"
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As for Kelly, there was some chatter he was sniffing around and taking a look at other head coaching opportunities. However, he definitively said he was coming back both after his team lost 45-27 to the USC Trojans and in a statement released by Notre Dame.
Still, there is a hint of skepticism that Kelly could change his mind and bolt for another program. Schools like the University of Oregon and the University of Houston are searching for new coaches.
Frankly, Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame has both positives and negatives. He has a 59-31 record as the Fighting Irish’s head coach, which includes six seasons with eight or more wins.
However, the off-field issues with Kelly are starting to pile up. The academic scandal is not the only blemish on his track record.
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Swarbrick’s support of Kelly does not mean the head coach is not on thin ice. Ultimately, Kelly could lose Swarbrick’s backing very quickly with a disappointing 2017 season and/or another major off-field scandal.