Spend 12 years working closely with someone, and it’s hard not to pick up that person’s mannerisms, body language and resting disposition.
You get to know what’s normal — as well as what’s a departure from the norm. Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick saw the latter in his head football coach, Brian Kelly, this year.
“There’s a certain restlessness, and I could sense that in some conversations,” Swarbrick said Tuesday. “There was a Freudian slip or two along the way that grabbed my attention. Whether that was intentional or not, you felt like it was somebody who might be open to a different opportunity.”
Kelly approaching Swarbrick Monday night with the news he was departing for LSU, then, did not leave Swarbrick floored in the same manner it did fans and Notre Dame players.
“There had been enough in the weeks leading up that gave me a pretty strong sense that there might be other things that were attracting Brian,” Swarbrick said. “And of course, social media got very active during the day yesterday. Between the two things, I was not surprised.”
Swarbrick didn’t discuss the specifics of those indications and slips. He did, though, divulge there was no negotiation process. Kelly didn’t come to him with a chance to match or exceed LSU’s 10-year, $95 million contract offer, which Swarbrick “appreciated.” He described their Monday conversation as a rather transactional meeting.
“We talked and he indicated he was resigning to take another position,” Swarbrick said. “He thanked me for the opportunity the university had provided to him, thanked me for our friendship and I wished him all the best.”
All told, it paints the picture of someone wanting a change of scenery and a new challenge. The natural follow-up is wondering if Kelly’s desire for it and the restlessness comes from a place of feeling unsatisfied or unhappy with Notre Dame’s situation. It’s a question that will linger no matter what Swarbrick says otherwise. Swarbrick did his best to knock down the idea.
“We never had a conversation along those lines, which is why I think it was fundamentally a decision by Brian and his family,” Swarbrick said. “This wasn’t a matter of saying, ‘I need X or Y to remain at Notre Dame.’ There just weren’t any of those conversations. I would not have resisted to enter those conversations. Let me stress we’re always talking about improvements in the program.
“We have a capital improvement plan that spans the next three years. It’s not about not doing things to get better. We talked about what those would be and what those would look like. There wasn’t distance between us.”
Swarbrick compared Kelly’s move to Lincoln Riley’s out-of-nowhere hop from Oklahoma to USC, which was announced about 24 hours before news of Kelly and LSU’s impending deal leaked.
Riley went 55-10 in five seasons as Oklahoma’s head coach and reached the College Football Playoff three times. USC, as Notre Dame fans well know, has been mired in dysfunction and losing for much of the last decade. At the same time, the Trojans offer was a similar — if not higher — ceiling and a new challenge.
The same argument can be made about LSU regarding Notre Dame. The Tigers’ last three coaches, after all, have won a national title, with Ed Orgeron accomplishing the feat just two seasons ago. Swarbrick, though, is not under the impression Kelly left because he felt he hit Notre Dame’s ceiling.
“I don’t want to speak for Brian,” Swarbrick said. “He can answer that question. I think it’s fair for me to share he told the team today that it was just about another opportunity and the right time for his family to take on another opportunity and have another experience.
“There’s no sense in which I think it was motivated by a belief we couldn’t take the next step here. Brian has consistently reinforced to the team we are positioned to take the next step, and I believe that passionately.”
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