Quick Hitters: Rivals’ Exclusive Interview With Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly started off the Irish’s National Signing Day 2.0 press conference and spoke for a couple minutes before passing it off to his assistant coaches.
The local media didn’t get to ask Kelly any questions, but Rivals’ Mike Farrell had an exclusive interview with Irish’s leader about his 2021 recruiting class and several other notable topics.
Below is the video interview and a full transcript of what Kelly had to say.
On quarterback Tyler Buchner …
“There was some tweaking with the delivery; we’re not really concerned about that. You take a look at a number of quarterbacks in the NFL, and they have their own distinctive release points. It’s like the golf swing a little bit.
“What we’re interested in is that he has a great base, is athletic, he’s strong — so that’s what we’ve seen. In this offseason, he’s really done a great job with his body. We’re excited to have him here on campus for the spring; that’s really going to be great for us.”
On potential rust for Buchner, who didn’t have a senior season …
“I think it’ll be similar to what we saw with all of our guys who didn’t have spring ball. There was definitely rust, but these guys are such great athletes. It takes a little bit for them to get their timing back, but [Tyler] will be out here every day throwing with the receivers.
“These guys are so competitive that they’ll spend so much time and work through that in a matter of weeks.”
On Notre Dame’s receiver class …
“I think it gives us a variety. [Lorenzo] Styles is obviously a guy who can make you miss after the catch. Then you have size on the perimeter; [Deion] Colzie certainly gives you that kind of size on the outside. [Jayden] Thomas — those are the kind of versatile receivers that we were looking for inside and out. If you also look at Styles, he gives you versatility.
“He’s a dynamic punt returner as well. We were looking for that impact player who can come in and immediately have that kind of offensive production power.”
On tight ends Mitchell Evans and Cane Berrong …
“What we loved about Cane was his athletic ability. He didn’t have the same SPARQ [testing] numbers of a Tommy Tremble, but he is very similar in terms of how he plays the position — catches it, runs, physically, gritty as a player.
“With Mitchell, a lot of his film is at quarterback this year. He’s an outstanding athlete — long, athletic and then you can say, ‘Where does he end up?’ I recruited Travis Kelce as a quarterback out of Cleveland Heights, and he ends up as one of the best tight ends. So you take great prospects like that and let’s see where it goes. Who knows? He’s that kind of athlete.”
On running backs Logan Diggs and Audric Estime …
“Very good players and very different. Audric is physical, has a great burst and a presence about him that we really liked coming on in his senior year. He really started to show himself as a physical player in all facets, whereas Logan is shifty and athletic.
“No one is jumping like him; maybe Najee Harris has jumped over players like Logan. He can catch the ball coming out of the backfield, and when you’re the offensive player of the year in the state of Louisiana at a school like Rummel’s, that’s saying a lot about your athleticism.”
On Notre Dame’s offensive line class …
“You add Caleb [Johnson] to the mix, who is long and athletic. He gives us the size and length. [Blake] Fisher is massive. In terms of size and toughness, I think we really filled the bill there with who we are on the offensive line.
“There’s a high bar there ... There’s a pretty good run here, and we think this is going to be an extension of having some similar [NFL] players in the future.”
On Notre Dame’s defensive line class & who is the ‘natural’ pass rusher …
“I think you would say Devin [Aupiu] is a guy who immediately jumps at as you as a pass rusher. Will [Schweitzer] is long and developmental, but again, we were looking for guys we could develop. They’re in that mold of look – [Jeremiah] Owusu-Koromah didn’t play as a freshman but will be a first-rounder. ... We’re in that three-and-a-half-star range on these guys, and we need to develop them.
“Those are the guys who fit best here at Notre Dame on the defensive line. That’s really been our sweet spot for us in recruiting — looking for those kind of guys who have the athleticism that can go down and develop for a year or two and then bring them up and they’re ready to go.”
On linebacker Prince Kollie …
“We think Kollie is a special, special player. We think he has some of the traits that are on the high side of being ready. We don’t have many guys that are like him. He is a lot like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and has that twitchiness.
“He could come in and fight for some playing time right out of the gate. He is a guy who stands out in the class that has that kind of ability.”
On the defensive back class and their length …
“Two things – we’re playing a lot more ‘on-body’ coverages. I’m hesitant to say man coverage, but we want to be much more ‘on-body.’ I think that’s kind of what you’re seeing in college, whether it’s quarters on-man or cover three on-man.
“You need some length to match up against offenses and playing against the 50-50 balls. You have to have athleticism and ability to play the ball. That’s what you’re seeing for our recruiting in our back end.”
On Notre Dame playing in the ACC for 2020 …
“Wonderful — great experience for us. It’s so difficult playing the independent schedule because you’re flying coast to coast and getting home at 4 or 5 in the morning ... To have 90-minute flight to Raleigh/Durham and getting home at a decent hour, that was really nice. We enjoyed being in the conference, but independent is who we’ve been historically and through our tradition.
“I’ll be honest, a lot of this is tied to what do the contracts in television look like for us down the road. Our NBC contract comes up in a couple of years; does any expansion happen? We have our ear to the ground. We’re listening and are going to react to what happens. We’re going to go back to independent, but we will be smart in making sure we look at everything as well.”
On ‘haters’ of Notre Dame regarding losing in the College Football Playoff …
“We won 10 games, went undefeated and lost in the conference championship to a pretty good Clemson football team. We beat them during the year; their backup quarterback is probably as good as the top five quarterbacks in the country. We have nothing to apologize for being in the playoffs.
“We played Alabama better than anyone in the country. We kept them to eight possessions and 31 points; no one else did that. We can’t really respond to what the haters have to say about it; we can respond to what we did on the field. We put a pretty good football team on the field and deserved to be on the field.”
On Notre Dame and hoping to have a top five class …
“I’ve been asked a lot about that. Top five to us – we weren’t quoting what [Rivals] considers to be top five. We have our own way of determining top five. I think four out of the last five years we’ve been top 10 per Rivals, 247 and ESPN — the way you guys put it together. But we have another way because we have to factor other things into that.
“We were talking about how we factored in what we considered to be a top five recruiting class and that means getting quality talent — guys we put on the field and show that at the end of the year.
“We were able to take the talent that we recruited and finished in the top five in the AP [poll] two out of the last three years. That’s what we were really talking about relative to recruiting talent — the kind of talent that gets you the kind of teams necessary to finish in the top five as it relates to polls and things of that nature.”
On Notre Dame’s academic restrictions and asking for leniency …
“It’s one of those things that’s a non-starter as it relates to this position at Notre Dame. I knew when I took the job that one of the things that wouldn’t change is who can succeed here academically and who can’t. You have to be committed to sitting in a classroom with all five-star academics. They are all five-stars; every single one of them.
“... If you’re a one-star athlete and you go to the five-star camp as an athlete, you’re going to get run out of town. It’s the same thing if you’re a one-star academically and go into a five-star academic environment, you’re going to get run out of town. I just flipped that scenario in terms of what we have to recruit to. If you’re a three-star academically, you better have the willing desire to work every day at Notre Dame. That’s why we recruit to a special kid that wants a degree from Notre Dame.
“Is it a level playing field? Yes and no. We get a special kid who we love here at Notre Dame and who we’d love to coach, and it’s our choice and business plan that we’ve shown we can get to the College Football Playoffs two out of the last three years. Look, that Alabama team, it could’ve beaten anybody. The two Alabama teams that I’ve played and the Clemson teams I’ve played, those teams were ridiculous.
“I don’t think I’m going to get a break the next time we get to the playoffs. I’m going to put a team together that keeps getting better and we’re going to have a chance to win a national championship. I’m dumb enough and Irish enough that I think I can do that.”
On players transferring from Notre Dame …
“Those kids who are transferring already have their degree. They’re going to get their degree in three years and then have two seasons of competition left. For the portal, we’re not worried about that. Those kids have done their job; they came to Notre Dame, got their degree and if they’re not getting the playing time they want, then they should go find a place where they want to go play.
“We give them all they can to find another landing spot. No one is leaving here early because they didn’t play; they came here knowing that they wanted to get a degree and play for a championship. After they get their degree, if they want to transfer and move on, we’ll help them 100 percent of the time.”
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