Gunner Kiel to Notre Dame: Why He Could Make or Break Brian Kelly's Career

Brian Kelly hasn’t exactly thrilled Notre Dame fans with his team’s on-the-field production so far, as the Irish have gone just 8-5 in each of Kelly’s first two seasons in South Bend. However, Kelly has experienced tremendous recent success on the recruiting trail, and he could be about to reel in another top-rated recruit. 

Over the past 24 hours, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, the nation’s No. 1 quarterback prospect, Gunner Kiel, has decided to renege on his commitment to LSU, and he now instead plans to enroll at Notre Dame.

Kiel, who played for Indiana's Columbus East High School, has been one of the most sought after recruits in the 2012 class, but he’s also been one of the biggest enigmas. He’s already switched his commitment from Indiana to LSU, and he’s now reportedly once again decided to change his mind.

After Kiel failed to show up for meetings at LSU on Monday, many started to wonder what was going on. Now, according to multiple sources, including Notre Dame’s own newspaper, The Notre Dame Observer, it sounds as if the highly touted quarterback’s new destination will be South Bend after all.

Although there has been no official statement made by anyone at Notre Dame or anyone associated with the Kiel camp as of yet, signs seem to point to the Indiana native ultimately ending up in an Irish uniform.

If Kiel, who is rated as the No. 1 quarterback in the country by every major recruiting service, does choose Notre Dame, and actually goes through with the decision, it will be a major recruiting coup for Kelly, who has already put together one of the most highly rated recruiting classes of 2012.

It will also, however, put a lot of pressure on Kelly and his staff to mold Kiel into the type of college quarterback that many expect him to be.

Kelly has already failed to develop one former 5-star quarterback recruit, Dayne Crist, who transferred to Kansas back in December after being benched in Notre Dame’s shocking season-opening home loss to South Florida.

In fairness to Kelly, Crist was one of Charlie Weis’ holdovers, but still, since Kelly has failed to develop a quarterback that is anything more than serviceable up to this point in his tenure, Irish fans are now starting to get a little antsy and ornery.

After seeing Kelly uncover hidden gems like Dan LeFevour and Tony Pike at places like Central Michigan and Cincinnati, many Notre Dame fans thought that the coach would have no trouble developing an upper-echelon quarterback to run his spread offense in South Bend. But so far, it just hasn’t happened.

Sure, current starter Tommy Rees has been decent, but he’s not exactly going to make anyone forget about Joe Montana, or even Jimmy Clausen or Brady Quinn for that matter.

Expectations will be sky high for Kiel, who has already been tagged with the dreaded “next big thing” label, and it will be up to Kelly to turn him into a star.

These next two seasons are going to be crucial years for Kelly and his team, as eight-win campaigns just aren’t going to cut it for much longer.

If the rumors prove true, and Kiel does ultimately end up in South Bend, the pressure will be on Kelly to make the most of his potential. If he ends up squandering him like he did with Dayne Crist, many will continue to wonder if Kelly really is the offensive guru he was made out to be.

One thing’s for sure, though; With Kiel possibly in the mix, the quarterback situation at Notre Dame, which already included a possible three-way battle between Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson this offseason, may have just gotten a whole lot more interesting.