Brian Kelly Gives Interesting Answer When Asked If He’s Ever Had The Itch To Coach In The NFL

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After things got off to a bit of a bumpy start for Brian Kelly when he arrived at Notre Dame from Cincinnati in 2010, the 59-year-old head coach has helped keep Notre Dame more than relevant and has the Fighting Irish back into the national conversation. With his success over the years in South Bend, rumors of him leaving for the NFL haven’t been uncommon.

Kelly has Notre Dame at 8-0 this season and has the Fighting Irish in a prime position to make the College Football Playoff.

He joined Colin Cowherd for a segment on ‘The Herd’ on Tuesday and Cowherd asked Kelly whether or not he’s ever had the itch to try coaching in the NFL. Kelly gave an interesting answer while stating that he’s always looked at the possibility of coaching at the professional level.

“I’ve always looked at the possibility, but I’m at a point now at Notre Dame where I can control the roster,” Kelly explained to Cowherd. “I have a great understanding of what our process is here. They give me the opportunity to set this program up and make all the decisions as it relates to how this program runs on a day-to-day basis. You don’t get those opportunities in the NFL unless you’re Bill Belichick or Andy Reid.”

Notre Dame fans may not love hearing that answer, but from an unbiased perspective, you have to respect Kelly for not simply saying no or spewing nothing but coach speak about how he wants to retire at Notre Dame or something along those lines.

Kelly hasn’t been able to leap the tallest of hurdles of winning a national championship, but he’s been close and could have a shot at doing so this season as well.

He’s always seemed like someone that could be at Notre Dame for the rest of his career, or until things turn bad, but it certainly sounds like he’s at least entertaining the possibility of testing the waters in the NFL if the perfect position opened up.