Brian Kelly Comments on Notre Dame AD's Statement on Future

Most head coaches would express gratitude at receiving a vote of confidence from their bosses. Not Notre Dame's Brian Kelly.

The Irish coach said Tuesday that he was "disappointed" their 2016 season had gotten to the point athletic director Jack Swarbrick needed to publicly support him, per Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com:

"

Well I was disappointed actually. But anytime that your athletic director has to come out and say that, as a head coach you're disappointed that any kind of comments like that have to be made. So I didn't ask him, that was his decision, but I clearly understand what he was doing. He was probably sick and tired of being sick and tired, too. But for me it's disappointing, certainly, that you have to make those comments.

"

A Top 10 team in the preseason polls, Notre Dame is 2-5 and losers of two straight heading into Saturday's game against Miami. The Irish have scored a combined 13 points in losses to N.C. State and Stanford despite having top NFL prospect DeShone Kizer starting at quarterback.

Swarbrick has maintained Kelly will return in 2017 despite mounting criticism from boosters and fans, per Fortuna:

"

Everybody associated with the program is disappointed—the players, first and foremost, the coaching staff, me—because we want to do better, we know we can do better, so there's great disappointment. Having said that, this is a pretty remarkable team in terms of its togetherness and its resiliency. They still come to every practice energized and focused. And as Brian has said repeatedly, they do everything we ask. They give us everything. So from that perspective, we want a different result.

"

Kelly is 57-27 overall at Notre Dame and has never lost more than five games in his six previous seasons. The Irish earned a Fiesta Bowl berth a year ago and were considered an outside contender for the College Football Playoff in 2016.

But an opening-week loss to Texas paved the way for what's been the most trying season of Kelly's coaching career. Each of the Irish's losses have come by one score—an anomaly—and Kelly has been visibly angered by his players' performance at times. His actions included harshly barking at players on the sidelines, though Swarbrick defended his coach's relationship with players behind the scenes.

"I guess I'd say I wish the perception matched the reality a little better," Swarbrick said. "I understand the perception, but we've got to work to alter that perception because it creates noise and gets in the way. But the reality couldn't be further from it."

Notre Dame plays four of its last five regular-season games at home, including two against ranked opponents. There is still time to turn things around enough that boosters won't be calling for Kelly's head. If the Irish can get to 6-6 and win their bowl game, that will get him a lot more leash.

But if things keep descending, Kelly may be begging for a vote of confidence at the end of the season rather than being disappointed by one.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.