Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly: Team Execution Remark After FSU Win Was Meant to Be Joke

Notre Dame would have made enough headlines simply needing overtime to escape Florida State with a 41-38 overtime victory Sunday.

And then head coach Brian Kelly turned heads during his postgame interview.

"I'm in favor of execution," he said on the ESPN broadcast when talking about the game. "Maybe, maybe our entire team needs to be executed after tonight."

Kelly was apparently attempting to reference an old quote from former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John McKay.

Kelly clarified his comment after the game and told reporters, "It's an old John McKay quote. I was kidding. I was being tongue-in-cheek. ... It wasn't funny? I was making a joke about it. It was taken serious. Are you people crazy?"

As for the actual game, it appeared as if Notre Dame would cruise to a victory with an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter.

However, Florida State came storming back behind McKenzie Milton's inspired play. Milton entered the game in the fourth quarter after starting quarterback Jordan Travis' helmet came off on a play, and he directed two scoring drives to force overtime.

Milton was playing in his first game since the 2018 season when he was a member of Central Florida and suffered a gruesome knee injury.

The comeback wasn't enough, though, as Florida State's Ryan Fitzgerald missed a field goal in overtime while Notre Dame's Jonathan Doerer made his.