Brian Kelly and Cincinnati Bearcats Bitter Break: Who's to Blame?

This matter is over.  Brian Kelly is the new head coach of Notre Dame. It's not worth another bit of energy feeling bad about the way things turned out.

Marty Gilyard, the great Cincinnati Bearcat wide receiver, the player who openly expressed "disgust" about his coach leaving, is starting to focus on the Sugar Bowl. He reassured the Bearcats fans that "they will get the job done."

Al Golden, the Temple head coach has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Kelly. Golden has taken Temple from despair four years ago to this year's record of 9—3.

He's one of a couple of names to emerge as possible replacements for the Cincinnati job—the program will go on.  Whoever takes over for Kelly will be walking into a full cupboard of excellent players.

The Bearcats players had nothing to do with the way this soap opera ended. They were loyal, committed, and played their hearts out for their school and their coach. 

They weren't just hurt by Kelly's abrupt disclosure, they were devastated. They took it hard. They wouldn't have felt so bad if they didn't treasure the relationship they had with Kelly.

Young people are resilient. They will get over this faster than most. Some day they will forgive Kelly and understand the forces that drove him. 

The university and the city of Cincinnati will have a harder time forgiving the man who went from "favorite son" to favorite enemy in the course of a day.

So who was responsible for the way things ended up for these kids?

Kelly chose not to make any public disclosures avowing his loyalty to the players and the university. He could have been up front about his intentions sooner.

He could have chosen not to get involved in any negotiations, coach the undefeated Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl, and return to coach them in 2010.

If his heart was set on Notre Dame, he could have been more open about the process and his desire. Kelly should have known once Charlie Weis got fired, his name was going to be all over the rumor mill.

Notre Dame, for all the tradition and values they profess to have, they chose to interrupt Cincinnati's season for their own selfish interests. 

They felt it was imperative to have a coach in place, and negotiated with Kelly or Kelly's agent while the Bearcats were in the midst of a national championship run. They could have delayed the process. They could have gone after another coach.

The University of Cincinnati has to take some blame. Once Kelly proved he was better than the average coach, they should have foreseen this situation. They could have been proactive and offered Kelly a contract he couldn't refuse.

The university could have made an effort to wrap Kelly up another three or four years.  They could have matched Notre Dame dollar for dollar.

The university could have rationalized a huge contract by realizing the huge revenues and publicity a championship football program would generate.

The party with the largest amount of blame—The NCAA!  This is an organization that prides itself on making players wait out a year if they transfer schools.  They treat  coaches like free spirits, allowing them to break old contracts and sign new ones, anytime they wish.

The NCAA could have followed the NBA, MLB and NFL and imposed penalties for what could fall under the category of tampering. They could easily restrict any negotiations between coaches and schools until the last bowl game is over.

The NCAA enforces "quiet times" for recruiting. They could do the same for coaching negotiations.