Sports

Former Notre Dame QB Mocks An Unemployed Brian Kelly During Job ‘Campaign’

#Brian Kelly
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© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / © Robert Franklin / USA TODAY NETWORK


Brian Kelly turned his back on Notre Dame to accept the head coaching job at LSU. He was fired four seasons later, leaving him unemployed.

In a recent interview, he teased the idea of returning to the sidelines. Former Irish QB Malik Zaire mocked his old coach for creating a preventable predicament.

Kelly’s exit from South Bend was widely criticized. He fled Notre Dame, seemingly in the middle of the night, to become an SEC leader.

Kelly ghosted his staff while informing his team of the surprise decision to leave via text. He then bolted for Baton Rouge after an extremely brief team meeting the following morning.

At the time, the Fighting Irish were in the College Football Playoff discussion. They’d later finish fifth in the final vote to just miss the four-team field.

Brian Kelly did not plan to leave Notre Dame.

In a recent interview with College Sports on Sirius XM, the coach opened up on his final moments in South Bend. He claims to have had no intentions of leaving. He was actually in the process of setting deeper roots in the area.

Kelly pointed to the construction of his Indiana “dream home.” LSU’s $10 million per year were more than enough to make him forget about a future with the Irish.

He left for Baton Rouge ahead of the 2022 season. While he would reach the SEC title game in Year 1, his overall success did not meet the Tigers‘ expectations.

LSU fired its coach.

Brian Kelly won 10 games in each of his first two seasons. That total slipped to nine wins in Year 3. He was let go before completing Year 4.

In all, he compiled a 34-14 record at LSU. He never matched the success experienced at Notre Dame, where he won 10 games or more seven times and appeared in a national championship.

During four of those seasons in South Bend, he coached quarterback Malik Zaire. The passer played for the Fighting Irish from 2013-16. He transferred to Florida after losing the starting job.

He’s trolled his former head coach in the past. During the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, the team’s first game without Kelly at the helm, he commented on the offense.

He couldn’t waste another opportunity to throw a jab this week.

Brian Kelly teased a return to coaching.

“These next 2-3 weeks, I’m going to be visiting some places for spring ball and get a chance to see some things relative to the football side, the operational side, and some things… with NIL and transfer calendar,” he said.

“(I want to) get a sense of where I can grow, and where I can be better… If the right situation comes about and I am ready, I am certainly going to entertain that.”

He also spoke on his LSU firing while reeling off a laundry list of past accomplishments. Zaire viewed it as a job pitch to the next school willing to bring him in.

Brian Kelly is a polarizing figure in college football. He’s burned bridges with past fanbases, but his track record is impressive, nonetheless.

He appears to be mulling a return to coaching while cashing unemployment paychecks from LSU. It may be just a matter of time before we see him back on the sidelines.