Not a fan of how Kelly left ND! The players deserved better!

I understand with social media that keeping a new coaching hire a secret is virtually impossible. I liked that he texted all the players that evening to give them the heads up, but I thought he really dropped the ball when he met when the players in person. According to several reports, Kelly stood in front of the players and said his goodbye and then left without shaking one player's hand or even giving one player a hug. That doesn't sit well with me. These young men went to war with him for weeks, got up early in the morning to workout/run almost year round and practiced in the sweltering heat and he didn't have time to give them a hug or a handshake. That's total BS to me. I'm glad he's our new coach, but those players deserved better. How would you feel if he did that to our players? If he did it to those players, who's to say he won't do it to our players, either? Classless move!

 

Bullshit.

There is zero difference in how Kelly left Notre Dame than how just about every coach that leaves a school for a better job.

How is what Kelly did substantially different than how Riley left Oklahoma? Its not, but the media and all the butt hurt Golden Domers want you to think it is and you are swallowing what they are spoon feeding you hook, line, and sinker.

To the best of my knowledge, Riley did not meet with his players. He just hopped on a plane at 4:30 AM to take his family to check out the new multi million dollar home USC bought him. The fact that Kelly met with his players to look them in the eye and tell them in person is actually a classy move and not the classless move you describe it to be.

The ND players got way more from Kelly than Riley gave the Oklahoma players.

Just out of curiosity, where is the video of Napier meeting with the players at ULL? I'd like to see that video.

Does it exist?

 

Kelly is a Tiger now he needed to get here quickly hire a staff and recruit. No easy way to leave to drag it out is worse.

 

The players will be fine. It's the ND fans that got butt-hurt. Players know this can happen and understand it and know what it is. It's just the nature of the beast. They didn't play football all their lives and not accept that these things happen.

 

I suspect LSU said the clock is ticking….

 

Exactly...there is no right or easy way to end a 12 year relationship. Notre Dame got dumped and they are trying to make this that they are somehow the victims.

The other thing that pisses me off about the coverage of this non-story is the implicit bias in the reporting: "How dare Kelly leave the vaunted, blue blood, superior Notre Dame program to accept the head coaching job of that inferior school LSU and go be with those people?"

Again, show me the video where any coach who took a new job this year was actually man enough to go face to face with the players they coached to tell them that he loved them but decided that this was a challenge he could not pass up.

There are not any because they probably did not happen. But because Kelly had the balls to do what should be perceived as the "right thing" and there is video of that, he is instead castigated for being "classless".

Want more proof of the bias involved here? Go look at any website that has "coaching hire grades". For example CBS has USC hiring a guy who was too much of a pussy to play in the SEC (and did not meet with his players - at least that has been reported) as an "A+" hire. Kelly - who has 100+ more wins than Riley and ran to the SEC to compete - is only an "A" grade.

Still don't think bias is at play in this non-story?

 

He had a private jet waiting for him. If you were to poll the players I'm sure the vast majority wouldn't have a problem with the way he handled it.

 

Boo Hoo, coaches do this shit all the time. Miles did it to okie lite, Lincoln did it to ou, the gnome gave us a shitty Xmas present. You roll with the punches

 

The other thing that I thought was pure class was the answer Kelly gave in his introductory press conference at LSU when asked if he was going to go after any Notre Dame recruits.

Kelly flat out said no and that his 1st priority was to secure the recruiting class LSU already had. There was incredible wisdom in that response. There was incredible class in that he did not take the bait.

 

Please detail to me how Kelly should have left his situation in a better fashion and done his old employer justice while justifiably prioritizing his new employer?

Don't just complain. Provide a better avenue of resolution.