Fire, Intensity On Notre Dame Sidelines Begin With Brian Kelly
In the life of a football coach, winning pretty much cures all.
If you win with a calm demeanor on the sidelines like former Super Bowl champions Tom Landry, Bill Walsh or Tony Dungy, you are “a model of poise who keeps the players relaxed while maintaining a business-like approach.” It’s the type of person you want in the White House.
If you lose, though, with that stoic temperament, like a Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame (2002-04), you are a “dry, passionless, bump in the log who does not know how to motivate, wake up the echoes or shake down the thunder.” The lack of energy carries over to the players.
When you win while being a demonstrative, intimidating figure, be it a Bob Knight in basketball or Lou Holtz in football, “the fire rubs off on the rest of the team and they achieve beyond their capabilities.”
But when they lose, it’s “the players can’t execute because they’re so afraid of the coach and play tight, rather than loose and free.”
That’s the way it works. With a 1-3 start in his seventh year at Notre Dame, head coach Brian Kelly indicated that perhaps his more national-television-friendly camera face might need some tweaking, as will the defense that will be installed this week with his guidance. When he talks about the greater need to inject passion and high energy into the team’s current malaise, he includes himself.
“I think I've been a little too … maybe not as demonstrative,” Kelly said. “I think I've got to be more fiery on the sidelines, quite frankly. So I'm going to try to turn it up a little bit on the sidelines, because that's who I am.
‘I've been hands off a little bit. I just need to be who I am, and not be as hands off, and I've got to be more involved. So if I was too fiery, you guys will have even better stories over the next couple of weeks.’
While leading Cincinnati to back-to-back Big East titles and BCS bowls in 2008-09, Kelly developed a reputation as a fireball. It was especially evident in the 2009 showdown with Pitt, about 10 days before Kelly accepted the Notre Dame job, when his Bearcats rallied from a 31-10 deficit to eke out a victory and conclude a 12-0 regular season. Cameras constantly caught Kelly on the sidelines railing at assistants, players and officials. But when the comeback win was complete, he was hailed for his intensity.
It showed itself again during his first season at Notre Dame in 2010, but when the Irish started 4-5, Kelly’s demeanor was seen as “improper” at the school. Then in 2011 when the NBC cameras caught him in a purple rage during a 23-20 opening game loss to South Florida, Kelly admitted that he has to be more cognizant about how at Notre Dame a camera is always going to focus on him.
Consequently, he’s toned down his sideline demeanor a notch in recent years. That too might need to change if he is going to “be himself” and not put on a façade for the sake of image. Kelly is seeking a proper medium, including not attempting to manufacture fake energy.
“I can still be demonstrative… I just feel like they still have to see that passion from me as well,” Kelly said. “I don't have to be a lunatic on the sideline and throw chairs and do that kind of stuff. But they have to feel that from me as well. I think that's very important in this game of football.”
As long as one wins, like Nick Saban at Alabama, one can explode and rage on the sidelines against assistants or players or officials to his heart’s content. That way, he is known as “a fierce competitor and an old-school coach in a culture gone soft.”
But if he loses … then he becomes “a poor example to our youth.”
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