Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Coach Brian Kelly calls Notre Dame's nightmare season a 'poor job on my part'

Published Feb. 1, 2017 4:20 p.m. ET

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Stewart Mandel

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is quick to prescribe blame for last year’s nightmarish 4-8 season.

“Poor job on my part,” he told FOX Sports on Wednesday. “Poor job of leading our group. No other way to put it. We had a young, inexperienced football team that needed better leadership than me, and I didn’t provide it.”

Kelly addressed it in part with a radical makeover of his coaching staff, which included hiring new coordinators on both sides of the ball: Memphis’ Chip Long on offense and Wake Forest’s Mike Elko on defense — among five new assistants in total.

Long’s hiring is particularly intriguing because Kelly will be handing over play-calling duties he’s maintained himself in the past. Kelly honed in on Long’s particular style of offense in part because of how it meshes with Notre Dame’s arriving personnel. His two highest-rated players in the class of 2017 are both tight ends: Brock Wright (Rivals.com’s top-rated player at that position) and Cole Kmet.




Long coached tight ends as a GA at Arkansas under Bobby Petrino, at Illinois under Ron Zook and at Arizona State under Todd Graham before becoming Memphis’ OC last season.

“What I liked about Chip is his ability to use two tight ends in the spread offense,” said Kelly. “There are not a lot of coaches who are running the spread fast, high-tempo with two tight ends. Chip is, and that’s what I was looking for. … And he’s been doing it for a while.”

In general, Notre Dame might not need to rely right away on its 2017 class, as the Irish return all but a few starters on both sides of the ball. One glaring departure: Star QB DeShone Kizer, who left for the pros after just two seasons.

Brandon Wimbush, a touted recruit now entering his third season in the program, will be the clear-cut No. 1 guy entering camp. And Kelly lavishes him with praise.

“At first glance, it’s going to be a ‘wow’ skill set,” said Kelly. “I haven’t had a quarterback who has the arm talent he has, or the speed. But obviously that’s only one dimension. He’s got to have the leadership and he’s got to be able to make the plays under pressure, but he’s got all the skills.”

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