Cincinnati Gators

It appears someone other than Brian Kelly will be coaching the Bearcats when they face off against the Gators in the Sugar Bowl - Jan 1, 2010

Brian Kelly, the football coach who pushed the University of Cincinnati football team into the national spotlight in just three seasons, will take over the head coaching job at the University of Notre Dame.

A member of the UC board of trustees confirmed the news, which was first reported by the South Bend Tribune.

Kelly arrived at the team's banquet on Thursday around 5:45 p.m., escorted by two city police officers. He said "No word, we're here to celebrate our seniors."

UC players and members of the coaching staff said they had not been informed of any decision before the banquet and were waiting to hear more. Kelly was expected to talk at the end of tonight's banquet.

Receiver Mardy Gilyard said players were upset about the situation. He said he got the news from a friend who texted him about 10 minutes before Gilyard arrived for the banquet.

"I feel like there was a little lying in this thing, I feel like he’s known the whole time. I kind of had a gut feeling that he was going to stay because he told me he was going to be here. But it is what it is. He made a business decision," Gilyard said.

Gilyard said that Kelly told the players before the Dec. 5 Pittsburgh game that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“It ain't cool to lie. I’m hot about that. But I respect BK, and everything he did for the program here. We know whoever the coach is, the players know we’re going to take care of business (in the bowl game). We’re already looking ahead."

Kelly leaves a UC team that is currently 12-0 and preparing to face Florida in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl. There was no word on who will coach the team in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl vs. Florida.

Because he leaves before Jan. 10, 2010, Kelly's contract stipulates he must pay UC $1 million within one year.

Kelly takes over a storied program that has fallen on hard times lately and that is desperate to find a winning coach. The Irish have not won a national title since the 1988 season with former coach Lou Holtz at the helm.

Since Holtz retired, Notre Dame has gone through three coaches – Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis. None came close to giving Notre Dame a shot at the national title. Weis left with a .565 winning percentage after going 35-27 in five years. The two previous coaches, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie, had .583 winning marks.

Expectations will be high in South Bend, but Kelly quickly showed his ability to perform under pressure at UC. He was introduced in Clifton on Dec. 4, 2006, after former coach Mark Dantonio left for Michigan State. At that time, the mandate from athletic director Mike Thomas was clear.

“We expect our Bearcats to be winners and to become a perennial Top 25 football team.” Thomas said that day. “My job, Brian, is to raise expectations.”

Kelly’s response was typically straightforward – “we will play for championships” – and he wasted no time in putting his mark on the program. Kelly hired Colerain coach Kerry Coombs as an assistant two weeks later, and coached the Bearcats to a 27-24 victory over Western Michigan in the inaugural International Bowl.

In 2007, his first full season at UC, Kelly’s Bearcats went 10-3 with a victory in the Papajohns.com Bowl. The team finished 17th in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, the first time it was included in the final poll.

A year later, Kelly led UC to an 11-2 regular season mark and the Big East Championship. The team earned a berth in the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech, losing 20-7, and again finished 17th in the final AP poll.

The team is perfect on the field this season, but Kelly’s impact goes far beyond wins and losses. He significantly raised UC’s profile off the field, and gave hundreds of speeches and presentations around town every year.

Kelly also pushed UC’s administration to upgrade the school’s facilities. In November, the school announced it would borrow $9.7 million to start building practice fields on its main campus. UC is also looking to renovate and expand 35,000-seat Nippert Stadium, which currently cannot accommodate the crowds generated by the team’s success.

For UC fans, that success was often accompanied by unease about their coach’s future as his name has consistently been on the lists of schools with coaching vacancies the past two years. Last year he was linked to openings at Washington and Tennessee. Kelly always maintained he was happy in Clifton, but was also careful to never say never.

In November, after it became clear Weis would be fired at Notre Dame, Kelly said “this is the silly season. We’ve been having this conversation for the last two years. It will continue to happen while I’m at the University of Cincinnati, because nobody thinks that Cincinnati is a destination job.”

The speculation only intensified as Kelly’s team continued to win, and other potential Irish coaches – including Florida’s Urban Meyer and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops – repeatedly said they were happy at their respective schools.

SOURCE: CINCI ENQUIRER