Why Brian Kelly Views Imminent Big Milestone With Measured Perspective
Sometime in the 2021 season — potentially in the first month — a flood of tweets, press releases and articles will report the following news.
Brian Kelly has passed Knute Rockne for the most wins in Notre Dame history.
Kelly, the Fighting Irish’s 12th-year head coach, is just four victories shy of the milestone. Even a repeat of 2016’s face-plant season would push him past the marker.
Standing on the doorstep of becoming the program’s winningest coach is a testament to his impressive longevity in the chair, which wouldn’t be achieved without consistent success. Kelly’s résumé boasts five 10-win seasons and a 43-8 record since 2017. His program has reached a long-desired level of sustainability as he heads into rare air.
Among Notre Dame coaches, only Rockne (13 seasons) has a longer tenure. Kelly can pass him in that category if he stays through 2023. He signed an extension in December 2019 that runs through 2024.
“I’m proud of the longevity,” Kelly told BlueandGold.com. “That’s consistency of performance. I’m proud of the fact we’ve had that.”
Yet he looks at his upcoming achievement with perspective. To him, becoming the all-time winningest coach at a program rich in tradition does not make him its best-ever coach or better than the man he would pass.
“I may get more wins than Knute Rockne, but personally I don’t see that as a greater achievement,” Kelly said. “I’ve been coaching longer and have had more games. It’s a different sense for me. Some see it as a greater achievement. I don’t. I see it as longevity and consistency in performance more so than achievement.”
Rockne, of course, led Notre Dame to its first three claimed national titles and elevated the then-nascent program to the nationally relevant status it has claimed for much of the 91 years since his death.
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