Advertisement
football Edit

How Brian Kelly Compares With Other Coaches With At Least 11 Years Tenure

The longer Brian Kelly stays at Notre Dame, the more obscure trivia his tenure can create.

Like, say, Temple has made five coaching hires since Kelly took the helm at Notre Dame in December 2009. Or, 93 of the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches began their current job in the 2016 season or later. Forty-eight will enter their first or second season in 2020. Recent carousels have operated at optimal mania.

But a few things don’t change. Kirk Ferentz’s buyout is still the size of the U.S.’s GDP. And Kelly, because of his longevity, is now one of 14 coaches who has held his current role for at least 11 seasons (including 2020).

Get a FREE 60-day trial using promo code Irish60

Advertisement
Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly
Kelly is one of 14 FBS coaches who will enter at least their 11th season at their current job. (Rick Kimball)

The list shrank by two this year, when Old Dominion’s Bobby Wilder stepped aside in December and Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio abruptly retired in February. Each coached at their respective schools for 13 years.

Here is a look at Kelly’s counterparts and where their programs find themselves. Kelly has a 13-7 record against them in his 10 seasons at Notre Dame, and is 92-37 overall.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Season: 23rd

Record: 162-104

Just as it was when Kelly was hired, Ferentz’s Iowa is still itself. Running the ball. Producing NFL offensive linemen. Playing sturdy defense. Punting on fourth-and-two from the opponent’s 34-yard line. It’s all added up to consistently winning eight to 10 games, contending for Big Ten West titles and making occasional New Year’s Six Bowl appearances. The Hawkeyes have a likely first-round pick in defensive end A.J. Epenesa, a five-star recruit in their 2017 class. They were 10-3 last season, their most wins since 2015.

Gary Patterson, TCU

Season: 21st

Record: 172-70

Patterson is the winningest coach in TCU history, but has endured two bumpy seasons with listless offenses buoyed by rocky quarterback play. The Horned Frogs missed a bowl for the first time since 2013, going 5-7 and riding the ups and downs of freshman quarterback Max Duggan. They have signed a top-five recruiting class in the Big 12 every year since 2015 and were third in 2018 and 2019. High-profile quarterbacks Shawn Robinson (2017) and Justin Rogers (2018) transferred out, though.

Kyle Wittingham, Utah

Season: 16th

Record: 131-64

What a brutal end for one of the most talented teams of Wittingham’s tenure. The Utes were a win away from a likely College Football Playoff spot, but were blown out by Oregon in the conference title game and dropped all the way out of the New Year’s Six with the lower number of at-large bids available this year. It was a tumble like an overmatched skier on a black diamond run at Alta.

Still, all Utah has done after taking its lumps as a Pac-12 newbie is make bowl games and outdo preseason projections. Last year’s Alamo Bowl appearance was the program’s sixth straight. It is the two-time reigning Pac-12 South champion. The Utes are set to have at least half their defense drafted in April. They’ve reloaded before despite recruiting classes that usually finish in the middle of the league.

Frank Solich, Ohio

Season: 16th

Record: 113-81

Solich is 75, and at this rate, no one’s going to be surprised if he’s coaching when he’s 80. If there’s a decline to come with his team’s performance, it hasn’t arrived yet. Ohio has been bowl eligible and avoided a losing Mid-American Conference every year since 2009. Last season’s seven wins were the fewest since 2014. The Bobcats are perennially one of the safest bets in all of college football to post winning records.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Season: 16th

Record: 129-64

Only eight teams have longer bowl streaks than Oklahoma State’s 14 straight trips to the postseason. Gundy has piloted Oklahoma State to a bowl in every year since a 4-7 debut season. He has overseen more 10-plus win seasons (six) than years with seven or fewer victories (five). The what-if of his tenure is the 2011 season, where an overtime loss at Iowa State on Thanksgiving weekend cost the Cowboys a spot in the BCS title game. It shouldn’t overshadow their consistency. They’ve been a top-three Big 12 program over the course of Gundy’s tenure despite never finishing higher than third in the conference in Rivals’ recruiting rankings. Since 2010, Oklahoma State has finished outside the top 20 in scoring offense twice.

Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee State

Season: 15th

Record: 91-86

In the first season after losing all-time leading passer Brent Stockstill (Rick’s son), the Blue Raiders endured their first losing season since 2010 and missed a bowl. After moving up from the Football Championship Subdivision in 1999, they suffered six straight losing years. Since Stockstill took over, he has overseen only four sub-.500 campaigns while leading MTSU to eight bowl games. MTSU hasn’t won its league since 2006, Stockstill’s debut year, but is a year removed from its first Conference USA division title.

Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern

Season: 15th

Record: 99-79

If there’s anyone on here most likely to be in the same spot for another 15 years, Fitzgerald feels like the safest bet. He has rebuffed interest from bigger programs and more recently, the Green Bay Packers. He’s comfortable — perhaps too comfortable — coaching his alma mater.

The Wildcats have won three straight bowl games, but everything crashed with a 3-9 season last year that featured one of the worst offenses in recent Big Ten history. After 12 years, Fitzgerald made an offensive coordinator change that was considered overdue.

Troy Calhoun, Air Force

Season: 14th

Record: 98-69

Calhoun entered 2019 with mounting pressure after consecutive 5-7 season. He finished with an 11-2 record and No. 22 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, the highest win total and AP finish of his tenure. The Falcons are 5-5 in bowl games under Calhoun, with three 10-win seasons.

Nick Saban, Alabama

Season: 14th

Record: 157-23

Not much needs explaining here. Saban arrived with a national title on his résumé, then went 7-6 in his first year and has won 10 games every season since with five championships.

Ken Niumatalolo, Navy

Season: 13th

Record: 98-60

Three years with decreasing win totals that bottomed in a three-win 2018 flipped around in one year: Navy went 11-2, ended a three-game skid to Army and finished No. 20 in the AP poll. Niumatalolo’s leash is long. He has three wins over Notre Dame, three 10-win seasons, and a 9-3 record versus Army. Those are the ingredients for remaining the head coach of Navy.

David Cutcliffe, Duke

Season: 13th

Record: 72-79

Duke had eight bowl appearances in its history and two from 1961-2011. The Blue Devils reached six last decade and won the ACC Coastal in 2013. Expectations aren’t exactly high at Duke, but Cutcliffe has overseen its best sustained period of success and recruited at a more competitive level for the ACC. The Blue Devils were 5-7 last year, though.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Season: 13th

Record: 130-31

With every Clemson playoff appearance or national title, Swinney’s ascent to the job becomes more absurd. A position coach handed a seven-week interim job in October 2008 built a machine that recruits and competes with the rest of college football’s elite.

Doc Holliday, Marshall

Season: 11th

Record: 78-51

Holliday is Marshall’s longest-tenured coach and has overseen a stable program with as many 10-win seasons (three) as losing ones. The highlight was a 13-1 Conference USA title season in 2014 that ended with the No. 23 ranking in the final AP poll. He has guided three straight bowl appearances after a wayward 3-9 season in 2016 ended with the governor of West Virginia conspiring to oust him.

----

Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement