Brian Kelly Talks Day-To-Day Changes, Preparing Players For The NFL
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly made the media rounds Monday, including an interview with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
You can find the complete interview here, including questions about former quarterback DeShone Kizer.
Do you ever truly have a day away from football?
“I don’t think you’re ever away from it. When you’ve got 18- to 21-year-olds, you’re never that far away from it. Sometimes you close the office and you leave, but you never leave it behind. You’re always doing something. Especially at Notre Dame, if you’re not doing something with your team, you’re doing something relative to the university. That’s great, that’s part of what you sign up for when you’re the head coach at Notre Dame.”
What’s one way you’ve noticed a positive change to spending more time with the players?
“First of all you have to make the time for it. I’ve handed over the play-calling duties to Chip Long, who is very capable of being an outstanding play-caller for us this year. That’s the first thing. To do that obviously allows me to spend more time with our guys in the weight room, at breakfast, just being able to get around the locker room and sit down and talk to guys. To not have that schedule where you’re rushing after practice to break down the film and get the practice schedule set so you can get going on the next installation of an offensive play or protection.
"That’s what had to happen first is to delegate the responsibilities to allow me the opportunity to do those kind of things.”
With the 4-8 season, have you taken a step back and seen the silver lining and taken stock of the program?
“Absolutely. This is my 27th year being a head coach. Prior to last year I had one losing season. You have a way of doing things, you have a system in place and you kind of follow that year after year. Certainly you make tweaks along the way, but this is the first time where I’ve really taken a step back and made some substantial changes in the way I’m doing things on a day to day basis. They were clearly ones that were needed. They were ones that the players wanted me to be more involved with the entire team.
"From my perspective, after being in it as long as I have, you have to take it on yourself, you’re the one that needs to make the corrections, not the players. We went on that course, and over the last three months I can see a clear effect on our football team and the way they do things on a day to day basis.”
When a player is being recruited, how much of a focus is put on how that college will prepare them for the NFL?
“We talk about developing a kid holistically in terms of his experience at Notre Dame. When we say we’re going to develop you intellectually, socially, spiritual, we’re going to develop all the skills necessary for you to be successful in life, that in itself is preparing you for next job. Whether that’s in the NFL or on Wall Street.
"We talk more about it in terms of if you’re someone who wants to play in the NFL, and most kids want to, that’s their dream, so we assume that that’s the case with most of the kids we recruit to Notre Dame, that we’ll prepare you that when you get an opportunity to go to the NFL, you’re going to be able to take care of your business. You’re going to be on time, you’re going to be a great member of that organization. That’s our job really at Notre Dame, to develop everybody that comes through our doors to be a well-rounded citizen.”
How tough is it to balance individual players wanting to showcase NFL talents, and trying to win as many games as possible?
“We have to talk more in terms of process over production. If it’s just about production, Notre Dame’s not the right place for them. We talk about it in terms of you’re coming to Notre Dame for a reason. You’re going to get a degree which is going to set you up for the rest of your life, and you’re going to play on the grandest stage at Notre Dame. Everybody will see you. As long as there’s the balance there, and there has to be that balance of getting your education and playing at Notre Dame for championships, then we’re OK.
"It’s when that balance is out of wack is where we’ll have an issue. We vet that out in the recruiting process and make sure we don't take any kids that are here or coming to Notre Dame just because they’re waiting for that sophomore year to complete so they can go to the draft.”
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