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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Brian Kelly-A Bully on the Sidelines?

“No One Likes a Bully, Brian”

By Cody Phillips
For years I’ve watched Brian Kelly’s coaching star continue to rise.  In his final three seasons at Grand Valley State he had a 41-2 record, winning Division II National Championships in 2002 & 2003.  He then moved onto Central Michigan where in this third season, he coached the Chippewas to a 9-4 record, a MAC Championship, & a Motor City Bowl Invite.  Following the 2006 season, Kelly moved onto Cincinnati where I was able to see him battle West Virginia each year while in the Big East Conference.  He took Cincy to unprecedented heights, reeling off 12 straight victories in the 2009 regular season.  He finished his tenure at Cincinnati with a 34-6 record while leading them to the Orange Bowl & Sugar Bowl in consecutive seasons.  Without question, this man can coach.  When it comes to X’s and O’s few are his equal.  My blog today isn’t questioning his ability to coach, but rather pointing out his poor, if not preposterous, sideline behavior throughout his career.
Let me begin by saying, I realize football is a passionate game.  With the appalling money universities are paying Division I head & assistant coaches, it only raises the stakes and therefore the expectations from fans & alumni.  Football is not for the faint of heart...it is indeed a man’s game.  Violence comes with the territory.  I’m not against a coach grabbing a player by the face mask & giving him a stern talking to.  At times, many coaches view this method as the only way to get through to a player.  I would agree.  I also realize different coaches use different techniques to reach their players & each has been used throughout time to great success. Current New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick is viewed as a players coach & is arguably the greatest coach of the last 10 years in the NFL.  Bill Parcells, an NFL mainstay for multiple franchises, would never be accused of being a player’s coach.  He is as hard nosed as they come, often getting in heated confrontations on the sidelines with his players, yet he is a Hall of Fame coach in his own right.  Their are many contrasting yet successful approaches to coaching.  “Different strokes for Different folks.”  HOWEVER, the manner in which I’ve seen Brian Kelly dress down not only his players but his assistant coaches throughout the years comes across at the very least as extremely unprofessional...if not abusive.  
As I watched Kelly’s teams over the last 8 years, I always felt this was a disturbing pattern of behavior.  I remember watching him almost bring an assistant coach to tears on the sideline of a Cincinnati/WVU matchup on ESPN.  It was embarrassing.  
It all seemed to boil over during Notre Dame’s brutal 23-21 loss to USF in South Bend on Saturday.  Throughout the contest Kelly could be seen openly berating & screaming at his assistants & players.  I know this had to be a tough game for a Head Coach to swallow...so much expectation had been placed on the preseason #16 ranked Fighting Irish.  I can’t imagine how excruciatingly hard it must be to stand helplessly....watching all of your off-season hopes slowly fade with each mistake your Irish offense would make.  When you outgain an opponent 508-254 as the Irish did, you expect to win the football game.  Notre Dame’s downfall (as is so often true with any football game- no matter the level of competition) could be directly attributed to turnovers.  Notre Dame had 5 to USF’s 0.  To make matters worse, it appeared that the turnovers would occur at the most inopportune times, having fumbled or thrown away points on numerous red-zone opportunities.  
The most deplorable volcanic eruption from Kelly could be seen in his verbal assault on wide receiver, TJ Jones.  With the Irish going in for a sure score at the 5 yard line, QB Tommy Rees threw a crossing pattern to Jones.  The pass intended for Jones hit the receiver in the helmet and deflected in the air, resulting in an interception by South Florida's Michael Lanaris.  The play was unfortunate & Jones should have been looking back for the football as I’m sure he was taught, but the rage & tongue lashing that erupted from Kelly has no place in collegiate athletics.  I happen to be a great lip reader & the word’s “Are you F*$%ING kidding me?” were the first word’s that greeted Jones on the sideline.  After a 15 second barrage from Kelly, the young receiver tried to pull away only to have Kelly chase him down to continue the onslaught.  
Could you imagine the level of A$$ Chewing his wife must get when she burns the meatloaf...hahahaha  
I’m not naive to the fact this kind of interaction happens throughout college football on a weekly basis.  Bo Pelini, Nebraska’s current head coach, was fined & reprimanded by the university for a similar offense last year.  However, if you look around the collegiate landscape & think back to the outbursts you’ve witnessed...I can promise you none can compete with Kelly’s history of profanity laced tirades.  Notre Dame finally has won a BCS title for hiring the BullyingCoachingStandout as their Head Ball Coach.
College head coaches are in an extreme position of power, not only with the university as a whole but in each child’s life that they come in contact with.  For many, these men are seen as father figures.  I’m sure Brian Kelly does an enormous amount for each young man he’s coached.  I’m sure he’s instilled values in them that will last a lifetime, but on the sidelines during the heat of battle, he comes across as the little kid always whining in school when he doesn’t get his way.  His face was filled with such a level of hatred on Saturday that I feared he may have a heart attack...
If you don’t believe me, see it for yourself.  Your eyes won’t lie to you.  It will be easy to find Coach Brian Kelly, he’s on NBC every single weekend.  I figure he may tone it down for a week or two, but he is what he is & his actions will return.  You see it’s called a pattern of behavior for a reason.  You are a bully Brian Kelly...NO ONE LIKES A BULLY BRIAN!
An Excerpt From Today’s Chicago Sun Times Blog: 
Kelly vows to better control his emotions
By Neil Hayeson September 7, 2011 7:30 AM |
Controversy swirling around Brian Kelly doesn't relate to his team's 23-20 loss to South Florida on Saturday as much as his demeanor on the sideline.
The Notre Dame coach is being taken to task for expletive-laden sideline rants captured by NBC cameras during Saturday's twice storm-suspended game. The National Catholic Register asked whether Kelly should be fired while other Internet articles demanded as much after Kelly's face turned as purple as the skies above Notre Dame Stadium when quarterback Tommy Rees' pass to TJ Jones bounced off Jones' helmet and was intercepted at the South Florida 4-yard line in the third quarter of the season-opening loss.
Kelly berated Jones after he came to the sideline with words that didn't require a lip reader to interpret.  
Kelly said Tuesday that the loss was the most frustrating of his 28-year coaching career. When first asked about his sideline deportment by a Sun-Times reporter, Kelly seemed defensive: "Did I hit somebody? Did I strike somebody? Is that what you're referring to? I'm asking specifically what you're referring to," he said.
After the question was clarified, the second-year Notre Dame coach acknowledged that he needs to remain more composed.
"I was extremely frustrated with the game," Kelly said. "What I have to recognize is that I'm on TV all the time. [I need to] do a better job of understanding when that camera is on me. It seems like it's on more than I'm used to. So I'll have to do a better job of controlling my emotions."

Numbers Referenced in Blog on May 14th

In case you are wondering what this is...allow me to explain. We tend to associate numbers with athletes. We realize this is weird. For instance, when we golf and get a cart, we try to beat each other to come up with a player that wore the jersey number that matches our cart number. Mostly we try to think of the oldest or most off the wall player we can think of. Anyways, it’s definitely a lil odd, but we felt if we were going to do this blog, we were going to be genuine to who we are. Sports are our passion and this is one of our idiosyncrasies that we've decided to share.

*Ozzie Smith wore the #1 in his Hall of Fame baseball career playing for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals from 1978 to 1996. Nicknamed "The Wizard" for his defensive brilliance, Smith set major league records for career assists (8,375) and double plays (1,590) by a shortstop , as well as the NL record with 2,511 career games at the position. Smith won the NL Gold Glove Award 13 consecutive seasons (1980–1992) for his stellar play at shortstop. A 15-timeAll Star, he accumulated 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the NL Silver Slugger Award as the best-hitting shortstop in 1987.

*Bobby Orr wore #4 for the first 10 years of his NHL Hall of Fame career with the Boston Bruins and his last 2 with the Chicago Black Hawks. He won eight straight Norris trophies as the NHL’s best defensemen. He was the only defenseman to ever win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. He won three consecutive Hart Trophies as the league’s MVP, and will forever be remembered in the photograph of him flying through the air after scoring against the Blues in the 1970 Stanley Cup.

*Dave Krieg wore #17 during his entire 19 year journeyman career in the NFL. He made the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent and spent most of his career there from 1980-1991. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and the Houston Oilers.

Krieg played in 213 games, completed 58.5 percent of his passes (3,105 for 5,311) for 38,147 passing yards, 261 touchdowns, 199 interceptions and an 81.5 rating. He also had 417 rushing attempts for 1,261 yards and 13 touchdowns and 3 pass receptions for 10 yards in his 19 year career.

*Reggie Miller wore #31 as a deadly sharpshooter for the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three point field goal shooting over his 18 year NBA career, especially in clutch situations and most notably against the New York Knicks for which he earned the nickname "Knick Killer." He retired with the then-record in most career three-point field goals made. A five-time All Star selection, he led the league in free throw accuracy five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Miller is one of five Pacers to have his jersey retired by the team.