Ranking the top 25 Power Five college football coaches entering the 2019 season Theres also a link on the page for 26 and below.
Brian Kelly is firmly in the top ten of this list of best coaches. Do you Notre Dame fans feel that way about him? That he deserves to be there? Seems like there has been a love-hate-love kinda thing going on with ND fans and Kelly and yet his results have been well above average. Maybe it's top 3 or bust?
Not belonging to a conference means that the season's aim is always a National Championship. 5 ND coaches, from Rockne to Holtz have been able to attain that goal. Kelly faces challenges that his predecessors didn't. The number of Catholic high schools has significantly decreased. Most of the power schools get national coverage on cable tv. Demands from the administration for graduation rates makes recruiting more difficult. That being said, Kelly has done a good job. His post season record is less than stellar but overall he's kept ND in the mix.
Regarding Ryan Day at #45; What???? You mean some of the rankings are based more on the school than the actual coaching ability??? Scandalous.
I agree with what Gipper said. Kelly does not have the charismatic appeal of a Parseghian or a Holtz, but except for a couple of hiccups, he's done an admirable job with more academic eligibility restrictions on recruiting than most power conference schools. That said, ND always has had those restrictions but in the past (Holtz era and prior) has not let them get in the way of greatness on the field. Kelly has shown that good coaching can - to a point - overcome uncontrollable disadvantages. In a vastly changed college football landscape, he's achieved much more than his ill-fated predecessors starting with Bob Davie and moving forward.
If Kelly could achieve some measure of post season success he would surely move in to the top 3 or 4 coaches on this list. Until he does that he will not completely satisfy all of the ND fan base and the pollsters on this list. On ND as a tough place to recruit to..... it's a much much bigger draw than 90% of the schools out there in FBS..... and many schools with good academic reps i.e. most Big Ten schools etc. have to deal with tough academic requirements also.
Kelly is a love him or hate him coach. There are plenty of fans who despise him, they hate his offense, they feel he is a lazy recruiter, they feel he doesn't really want to be at ND that he wants to be in the NFL and much more. If you go to many of the ND boards and start a topic on Kelly being a great coach you'll find a lot of people who think you don't know what you are talking about. I don't believe even winning a NC will change that very much. Probably the only person more despised by a large group of the posters on NDNation is AD Jack Swarbrick.
So that seems like a tough fan base attitude for a coach that is ranked number 7 in America on this list. Getting clocked by Clemson last year doesn't help him at all..... and I understand that type of response thoroughly after watching Jim McElwain's Gators fall flat on their face at the end of the season two years in a row after winning the regular season SEC East. Not competing at the end with the elite teams leaves you with a sour offseason and less respect for your coaching. ( thanks for the correction AJ )
I think this is a very realistic evaluation. The environment has changed in a way that didn't benefit ND as much as a lot other Power 5 coaches. They might be better off in a conference in that sense but obviously neither their fans or administration want that and it's their call.