Brian Kelly Is Starting to Show Who He Is as a Coach, Its Not Pretty.

Before I talk about the game I want to point out some of my observations on Brian Kelly's character. After Rees got hurt, Dayne Crist came into the game against USC. Crist looked good and was playing very well, but then came the fumble and as we all know, it ended really bad for Crist and the team. Directly after the fumble I was shocked at how Brian Kelly reacted to Dayne as he walked back to the huddle.  

He just looked at him and looked away, he didn't call him over to talk about the play, Kelly just looked at Crist almost like he didn't know him. They highlighted his reaction on NBC. That was a big play and Crist has been through a lot, I've never seen a coach just look at a kid and look away like that.

I was on the fence about Brian Kelly until that moment, Coach Kelly is a bum. I wasn't upset about Kelly constantly losing his mind with his players yet, I wasn't happy about it either, but combined with this I'm done with him.

The game against USC this weekend resulted in a terrible loss. All of the games that the Irish have lost this season have been tough to take. But, this team is what it is and the idea that Notre Dame is a good team but "just makes to many mistakes" is misguided. They have major flaws and it all begins with coaching, starting with Brian Kelly.

Some will say Dayne Crist is the reason we lost the game versus USC and his bad first half against USF cost Notre Dame that game as well. Teams and players coming out flat the first week of the season is normal. In fact, teams playing half a step slower after a bye week happens often, too. Dayne made a big mistake, it was his fault, but it was his only mistake of the season. His play in the first game should not have gotten him benched; even some pro players are not sharp the first week in the NFL. 

Brian Kelly put in Tommy Rees, and Rees is a good player but he can not make all the throws. He has an arm that can beat Pitt, Purdue, and Air Force, but against MSU and USC, teams with talent, he looked mediocre.  

Rees does not even attempt some throws. It's a slant to the primary receiver, an out to the primary receiver, a lob to the primary receiver  or a check down to Eifert over the middle. I have never seen Rees drop back, move in the pocket, buy time, and drill one 30 yards down field to a receiver breaking open. You know why? Because he can't; but, Dayne Crist can.  

Rees severely limits Notre Dame's offense but it is not his fault he is in the game. Brian Kelly put Rees in because Kelly is gun shy in the mold of Marty Schottenhimer. He is so afraid of losing he gets tight and everything just falls apart. Look at Bob Diaco's defensive play calling against USC. It was all cautious "bend but don't brake" coverage, and it has Brian Kelly's stamp all over it.  

The main turning point in the game was when Notre Dame was driving down the field with Dayne Crist, and when they got to the goal line, Kelly called three basic plays meant to cut down the chance of making a turnover.

The first was a roll out that compacts the defense to one side of the field, inside the ten yard line where the field is already compacted, it gets 5 yards. Then he sends in Hendrix for a run play—I'm sure USC knew Hendrix would not be passing—he gets two yards. The third, a quarterback fake dive, tight end drag—I don't know what. It looked like a QB sneak to me. Anyway, Kelly said that was a pass play.  

Now I'm not surprised they fumbled. No Gray, no Wood and no Floyd, just a fumble.  

These three plays are a microcosm of how this team is being coached. It shows up in the entire story of the season so far, starting with Brian Kelly quickly pulling Crist for a lesser QB, to the defensive play calling, and all the turnovers. Just look at the way Kelly abandoned the run in the USC game. To show how erratic Kelly is, he said earlier in the week he runs the ball to win games. What happened against USC? Wood and Gray had 9 rushes combined—you tell me.

At the end of last year the Irish ran the ball, brought pressure, and won games. Kelly has a winning formula but he just forgets it for some reason. 

This is not to say Brian Kelly should be fired, it's still way to early for that. This is to look at how his team has performed. Some traits, like a lack of any confidence or a will to win are starting to surface.

Again, it all starts with Brian Kelly; he is erratic, so his team is erratic. This was the most important game of his tenure at Notre Dame, I think everyone would agree to that. Encompassed in this game was making a BCS run, playing against USC, beating a good team in primetime, turning a corner; a win would have been big.   

If Kelly can win out this year, all is forgotten. The Fighting Irish beat Stanford and the season will look a lot better. If Notre Dame goes 8-4 with another loss coming from Stanford, they would have lost to the four best teams they played this year. That's not good, especially for coach Kelly.