Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly Forgets Who He Is in Short-Yardage Situations

Notre Dame football's Brian Kelly forgets who he is nearly every time the Irish have a short-yardage situation.  Kelly has to realize he's coached college football's most historic program to be a spread offense.

The characteristics of Kelly's spread include multiple-receiver sets, a quarterback in the shotgun and offensive linemen who are good at pass blocking and zone blocking for the run.  By contrast, Kelly's spread does not include quarterbacks lined up under center or an offensive line that can drive its opponents off the ball.

Despite Kelly's offensive design for this Irish football team, he insists on placing his team in compromising positions when it's 3rd-and-short, 4th-and-short or a goal-line situation.  While nobody begrudges Kelly's right to call a running play in those situations, he has to make the call from a formation that plays to his offense's strengths.  The results support this conclusion.

In multiple games, Kelly's offense has been stuffed by the defense or lost the ball when he forces his quarterback to line up under center while expecting the line to drive the defense backwards.  At the goal line, Kelly's team has fumbled twice when lined up under center and were relegated to numerous field-goal attempts.  Against Michigan, the Irish were stuffed three critical times by lining up under center, instead of spreading out the Wolverine defense from a shotgun formation.

If Kelly wants to solve some of his biggest offensive issues at the goal line or obtain the short yardage he needs on third down, he must play to the strengths of his team.  He needs to keep the Irish in the shotgun—ALWAYS.  Doing so will allow his line to block the way they've practiced, opening holes for his tailbacks.  If the defense loads the box, Kelly's quarterback can easily audible to a pass.

Kelly often forgets his team's identity, however, and the Irish suffer.  Will Kelly make the necessary adjustments that are required to be productive in the red zone?