Kelly Passes Rockne With Resilience Rather than Brilliance. And That's Remarkable.
Before Brian Kelly notched his 106th win against Wisconsin on Saturday to pass Knute Rockne as Notre Dame’s winningest coach, he put this major milestone in perspective.
``I can tell you exactly where I sit in Notre Dame history,’’ Kelly told CBS Sports last week. ``The coach that won more games that hasn't won a national championship. That's where I'll sit.’’
There’s a lot of truth to that.
Which says as much about the state of college football as Kelly.
If that’s the measuring stick, there are a lot of great coaches who. . . aren’t great coaches.
Notre Dame, which looks down its nose at conferences, may still measure itself by national championships, which legendary leaders like Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian and Holtz collected.
But the Irish’s path to that singular achievement is much narrower than it used to be. For one, ND’s publicity advantage, which translated into a recruiting advantage, is greatly diminished. For another, there are many more schools today that have the ingredients that make them national championship contenders. And yes, there are several schools that have more reasons to win titles than the Irish, who do not lie in the fertile recruiting turf of places like Florida, Texas, California and a few others.
It’s not clear whether Kelly has failed to win a national title because of his own deficiencies or the changing landscape of college football.
To put things in perspective, while Kelly (106-39) has won more games under the Golden Dome than any other coach, he is, at .731, seventh among Notre Dame coaches who coached for more than two seasons, trailing Rockne (.881), Jesse Harper (.863), Frank Leahy (.855), Ara Parseghian (.836), Elmer Layden (.770), Lou Holtz (.765) and Dan Devine (.764). Kelly’s winning percentage in South Bend is actually lower than the school’s all-time winning percentage (.733).
Kelly also probably pales in comparison with his most esteemed contemporaries. A list of the greatest college coaches of his era might start with Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, any number of former Saban assistants and a few eccentrics before it got to Kelly.
But there is one place where you can throw out winning percentage and perception: What Kelly has done is keep Notre Dame in the hunt with consistently competitive teams—at a school where the advantages are increasingly offset by drawbacks.
Yes, ND has a leg up in many areas. It also has an administration that wants the school to be seen as more than a football factory. And Kelly operates in era where ND’s advantages are retreating while many other school’s reasons to win are growing.
And most of all, he has dealt with all of the unblinking pressures that come with being the Notre Dame coach.
``No one has handled the pressure at Notre Dame like you. Nobody.” Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin, a Kelly assistant at Grand Valley State in 2000-03 and Notre Dame in 2010-13, texted to his old boss last week, CBS Sports senior writer Dennis Dodd reported.
``When it comes to Notre Dame, you're either a Notre Dame fan or everybody roots against you,’’ Martin told Dodd. `You hear all the stories about all the great Notre Dame coaches and how it's so consuming. He's just handled it like nobody else.”
That is where Kelly is a national champion.
In a job that has throttled many capable coaches, and worn out some Irish legends, he has soldiered on. And done quite well. Naysayers or not, eclipsing Knute Rockne is a big achievement.