Notre Dame Football: What Will Brian Kelly Have to Do in 2012 to Keep His Job?
Being a head coach for a Division-I football team is a tough job that requires you to win now or you’ll be fired. However, being the head coach at Notre Dame is probably the toughest job in college football. It’s why, even after two successful years as the head coach of this Fighting Irish team, Brian Kelly must have a nine-to-ten win season to keep his position.
Kelly has done a great job in taking over for Charlie Weis as in two years he’s gone 16-8. This year he’s had this Notre Dame squad in the BCS standings with a chance at making a BCS bowl game if they can beat Stanford.
However, Kelly has come under a lot of scrutiny in his two years at Notre Dame. He came under fire when a student died during a Notre Dame practice. Kelly was looked at as someone that could have saved this student's life if he would have taken that day's practice indoors, since the weather conditions included high winds.
This year, Kelly has been reprimanded for his sideline behavior. Television cameras have caught the Notre Dame coach using profane language while losing his temper towards his players.
Even Kelly admitted that he was in the wrong with his profane outbursts on the sideline.
""I think I was extremely frustrated with the game," Kelly said Tuesday. "What I have to recognize is that I'm on TV all the time and do a better job of understanding when that camera is on me. And that camera is on me more than I'm used to. I'll have to do a better job of controlling my emotions."
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Kelly has drastically improved this Notre Dame team this year. They will have a better record than last year and have improved their overall offense from 54th last year to 33rd this year.
If Kelly does not show improvement in 2012, it will lead to rumblings inside of Notre Dame questioning whether he is fit to lead this Irish team. He doesn’t have to win the BCS National Championship or make a BCS bowl game.
However, what Kelly cannot do is regress with a season that has Notre Dame winning six or seven games.
For Kelly to keep the heat off of him he will have to win at least eight games next year.
