Brian Kelly (American football coach)

Brian Keith Kelly (born October 25, 1961) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a position he has held since December 2009. Kelly was previously head coach at Grand Valley State University (1991–2003), Central Michigan University (2004–2006), and University of Cincinnati (2006–2009).

Early years
Kelly was born in Everett, Massachusetts, and was raised in an Irish American Catholic family in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He attended St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts. His father was a Boston politician. He was a four-year letter winner at Assumption College as a linebacker. After graduating from Assumption in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in political science he served as linebackers coach, defensive coordinator, and softball coach from 1983 - 1986.

Grand Valley State
Kelly joined the Grand Valley State University staff in 1987 as a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach for Tom Beck and became the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 1989. Kelly took over as head coach in 1991. In his final three seasons the Lakers went 41–2, at one point winning 20 consecutive games. The Lakers went 14–0 in 2002 en route to their first national title and went 14–1 in 2003 when they claimed their second National Championship. Kelly was named the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year after each of these championship years.

In his 13 years as head coach at Grand Valley State, the Lakers won five conference titles and made six Division II Playoff appearances. Only in 1999 did Grand Valley State finish lower than third in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference under Kelly.

The 2001 team set 77 NCAA, GLIAC, and school records, including setting the all-time Division II scoring record, averaging 58.4 points per game.

His record in 13 years at Grand Valley State was 118–35–2.

Central Michigan
Kelly became the 24th head coach at Central Michigan University after the departure of Mike DeBord following the 2003 season. Kelly inherited a team with limited success. Central Michigan had won more than 3 games only once in the previous four seasons. CMU finished with a 4–7 record in 2004. In Kelly's second year at Central Michigan he coached the team to a 6–5 record, the first winning season in seven years for the Chippewas. In his third season, the Chippewas posted a 9–4 record under Kelly en route to winning the MAC Championship and qualifying for the Motor City Bowl. At the end of the 2006 season, Kelly left to accept the Cincinnati coaching vacancy three days after CMU won the 2006 MAC Championship. He did not coach CMU in their bowl game. Kelly's record at Central Michigan in three seasons was 19–16.

Cincinnati
Kelly was named Cincinnati's head coach on December 3, 2006, following the departure of Mark Dantonio. In an unusual move, Cincinnati elected not to appoint an interim coach and asked Kelly to assume his duties immediately by coaching the Bearcats in their bowl game. Central Michigan was also preparing for a bowl appearance, so while Kelly was in Cincinnati preparing the Bearcats, much of his staff remained at Central Michigan to coach the Chippewas. Following Central Michigan's 31–14 win in the Motor City Bowl on December 26, most of his staff joined him in Cincinnati, where they went on to coach Cincinnati to a 27–24 victory over Western Michigan University in that year's International Bowl on January 6. Cincinnati's victory gave Kelly the unique distinction of having defeated the same team twice in a season as coach of two different teams (Central Michigan had defeated Western Michigan 31–7 earlier that season).

In his first full season, Kelly led Cincinnati to a competitive position in the Big East; the Bearcats' second ever 10-win season (its first since 1949); and a Top 25 ranking. On December 5, 2007, Kelly was named Big East Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to a 9–3 record. Coach Kelly later led the Bearcats to a 31–21 victory in the PapaJohns.com Bowl over Southern Miss.

In 2008, Kelly led Cincinnati to its first ever outright Big East title with key wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The Bearcats had never defeated either team in Big East conference play. Kelly also became the first coach to win all three of the Bearcats' traveling trophies— the Victory Bell (Miami [OH]), the Keg of Nails (Louisville), and the River City Rivalry Trophy (Pitt). The Bearcats played in the Orange Bowl versus the ACC champion, Virginia Tech on January 1, 2009 but lost 20–7.

After beginning the 2009 season unranked in all polls, Kelly's Bearcats reeled off 12 straight victories and finished the regular season undefeated. Going into the bowl season, they were ranked #3 in the BCS Standings and faced the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly did not coach the team in the loss to the Florida Gators because of his departure to Notre Dame.

Among the honors that Cincinnati football achieved in 2009 was the highest academic rating among teams in the top 10 of the current BCS standings, according to the 2009 Graduation Success Rates, released Wednesday, November 18, by the NCAA. Cincinnati, which was fifth in the BCS standings, checked in with a 75 percent NCAA graduation rate and a 71 percent federal government rate, the only team in the BCS top 10 to surpass the 70 percent plateau in both.

Kelly finished his tenure at Cincinnati with a 34–6 record.

Notre Dame


In December 2009, Kelly agreed to replace Charlie Weis as Notre Dame's head coach. On December 10, Kelly announced that he had taken the position at Notre Dame. He made the decision not to coach the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2010.

2010 season
In 2010, Brian Kelly beat Purdue 23–12 in his first game at Notre Dame but lost to Michigan 28–24 the following week and then the following week on a fake field goal in overtime against Michigan State 34–31. His team lost again at home against Stanford before beating Boston College to put the Irish at 2–3. On October 9, Kelly led the Fighting Irish to a 23–17 win over Pitt, snapping Notre Dame's 2-game losing streak to the Panthers taking the Irish to a 3–3 record on the season. Kelly led Notre Dame to a 44–20 win over Western Michigan to extend the Irish's winning streak to three games. The next week they faced Navy, losing 35–17 to drop to 4–4 overall.

When the Irish faced Tulsa, they were upset 28–27. They sent out second string QB Tommy Rees who threw an interception with 30 seconds left in the game as the Irish had driven to the Tulsa 28 yard line and a potential game-winning field goal attempt. Two weeks later Notre Dame played against No. 14 Utah, who was heavily favored. Utah was leading 3–0 early, but a special teams touchdown after a deflected punt and three Rees TD passes lifted the Notre Dame lead to 28–3. The victory over Utah gave Kelly a 5–5 record. Notre Dame followed that win up with a 27–3 victory over Army to make Kelly and Irish bowl eligible. In the final game of the season, Notre Dame snapped an 8 game losing streak against its rival USC, winning 20–16 on strong defense and despite 4 Irish turnovers. Kelly's first Irish team was invited to play in the Sun Bowl, where they beat Miami 33–17.

In October 2010, Kelly had a student worker Declan Sullivan film practice from a scissor lift during high winds. The winds blew over the lift, killing Sullivan. Notre Dame continued practice for an additional 25 minutes following the fall of the lift.

2011 season
In 2011, Notre Dame returned 21 of its 24 starters from the previous year and was thought to be in contention for a BCS bowl bid. However, in the opening game against South Florida, Notre Dame outgained its opponent 508–254 in yardage but lost 23–20 due to five turnovers (most within scoring range). The next week the Irish built a 24–7 lead against its rival Michigan, but lost yet again, 35–31, due to five turnovers.

The following week the Irish beat Michigan State 31–13; The one-sided victory over the Spartans was the first of four wins in a row, until the USC Trojans came to South Bend. The Irish were behind early in the game but were driving toward an apparent tie when Dayne Crist fumbled the snap on the Trojan three-yard line. The fumble was returned by the USC for a touchdown and Notre Dame never recovered. The Irish turned the ball over three times in the loss.

Notre Dame then went on its second four-game win streak until losing to Stanford 28–14 in the regular season finale. The Irish, at 8–4, secured a bid to the Champs Sports Bowl, where they played Florida State. Against Florida State, Notre Dame again built a lead (14–3, after three quarters), but lost 18–14 (with three turnovers) and ended the season with an 8–5 record.

2012 season
Notre Dame opened their 2012 season with a special season opener in Dublin, Ireland. There they beat Navy 50–10, as the new starting QB, Everett Golson, passed for 188 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Notre Dame won their week 2 game against Purdue at home, winning 20–17, on a field goal by sophomore Kyle Brindza. In week 3, Notre Dame defeated #10 Michigan State by a score of 20–3. In week 4, #11 Notre Dame defeated #18 Michigan by a score of 13–6, recovering 6 turnovers in the process. The Irish would go on to defeat Miami, #17 Stanford, and BYU before playing Oklahoma. At 7–0, Notre Dame traveled to Norman and defeated #8 Oklahoma 30–13, only the fifth home loss for the Sooners under Bob Stoops. On November 3, the Irish narrowly avoided an upset by beating Pittsburgh 29-26 in three overtimes. Notre Dame had rallied from a fourth quarter deficit of 14 points to tie the game late in regulation time. On November 10, 4 ranked Notre Dame traveled to Boston College and faced a team known for spoiling Notre Dame perfect seasons. Notre Dame won 21-6, not allowing Boston College to score a touchdown and improving to 10-0. On November 17, Notre Dame went undefeated at home for the first time since 1998 with a 38-0 victory over Wake Forest. On November 18, following the losses of #1 Kansas State and #2 Oregon, Notre Dame was voted the #1 team in the nation for the first time since 1993 and is #1 in the BCS rankings for the first time ever. With a 22-13 defeat of USC, Notre Dame finished the regular season 12-0. On December 5, 2012, Kelly was named coach of the year for a second time, the first since guiding Cincinnati to a 12-0 record back in 2009. On Monday, January 7, 2013, Kelly and the Fighting Irish lost, 42-14, to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. Kelly’s Irish finished the season ranked #3 in the USA Today Coaches poll and #4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Personal life
Kelly has a wife, Paqui, and three children, Patrick, Grace, and Kenzel.

Paqui, after surviving breast cancer, went on to start the Kelly Cares Foundation.

Awards and honors

 * Home Depot Coach of the Year (2009, 2012)
 * Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award (2012)
 * Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (2012)
 * Football Writers Association of America Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award (2012)
 * Big East Coach of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009)
 * Grand Valley State Athletics Hall of Fame (June 7, 2009)
 * Assumption College Alumni Athletics Hall of Fame (August 22, 2006)
 * American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year (2002)
 * American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year (2003)