Looking Back: Why Brian Kelly Still Deserves Notre Dame Appreciation

Brian Kelly inherited a Notre Dame program that was in a dark place

After the failed runs of Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, and Charlie Weis, Brian Kelly inherited a Notre Dame program that needed to start over with a new foundation. Much of the early work Kelly did in South Bend was off the field and behind the scenes, battles fought that nobody in the public saw and therefore couldn't appreciate.

During this time period, Notre Dame was lagging behind other elite programs in facilities, assistant pay, access to a proper nutrition training table, strength and conditioning infrastructure, modern therapeutics of various kinds, and more.

Kelly had to address all of these major structural program deficiencies at the same time, while also navigating a roster that was nowhere near elite.

It took some time, but eventually Kelly was able to pull Notre Dame out of the dark ages and provide a stable and, at least, modern enough foundation from which to grow. I respect this early work, as much of it was tedious behind-the-scenes navigation of the complicated inner workings that go into dealing with a place like Notre Dame.

Brian Kelly pulled Marcus Freeman into the Notre Dame ecosystem

Even though it's been four years, let's not forget that Kelly is the person who thought enough of Marcus Freeman to bring him to South Bend to run his defense and recruit at a top level. Had Kelly never hired Freeman, who knows how different things would be today?

For as much fun as Irish fans, including myself, have had regarding his recent career speed bump, I do appreciate Kelly seeing the potential in Freeman and for getting him to South Bend.

Brian Kelly jump-started my career

Back in 2016, in the middle of Notre Dame's unforgivable and disastrous 4-8 season, I was so frustrated with the Irish that I decided to record myself ranting about the team and put the audio recordings on YouTube on a whim. At the time, I never thought about this being a career or money-making venture; this was simply fan self-therapy.

Fast forward many years, and creating daily Notre Dame content is now my full-time career, and as I've learned, is the only thing I'd ever be truly happy doing.

Had Kelly not failed so completely in 2016, my life would be on a much less fulfilling day-to-day journey. I now have an odd appreciation for him and that miserable season.

Overall, Brian Kelly's football legacy is complicated and convoluted, but he did leave Notre Dame in a better place than he found it, and that, I can appreciate.