Brian Kelly, Tennessee

[Franny]

Better know a candidate: Brian Kelly « Third Saturday in Blogtober

Better know a candidate: Brian Kelly

The awaited has arrived today as sources have confirmed that Phillip Fulmer has resigned as the head coach of the University of Tennessee football program. It comes with a metaphorical tear to the eye, as we all must realize the passion and love this guy had for Tennessee football. He lived, breathed, and gave his all for Tennessee football, and while some may think he overstayed his welcome, he brought home a championship and this organization and it’s fans should be proud to have had a man like that on Rocky Top for so long.

Now that things have settled there and it’s known by the nation, let’s get ready to have some fun with the candidates. We’ve released a series of posts on who we think is the best candidate for the job at Tennessee. You can read Ghost’s here or Oskie’s here. They’ve both released what fans have included as two of the top candidates for the job, along with my candidate now; Brian Kelly.

What’s he bring?

Looking at the man’s past alone can give you a glimpse of his past successes. He’s won everywhere he’s been and has an overall head coaching record of 148–54–2. That’s at schools like Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, or his latest and current job at Cincinnati.

The man has fire in him and has instituted a clean program everywhere he’s been. He’s proven he can change a school’s program around and can win the big game, with two D-II national championships on his resume.

Brian Kelly has the passion of football in him that makes him get the most out his players and get the fans to ball games. The Bearcats had averaged around 5,000 fans before the Brian Kelly regime, who most recently brought in ESPN as UC toppled South Florida.

Grand Valley State’s Chuck Martin had this to say about Kelly:

Whether it’s Grand Valley State or Central Michigan or Cincinnati, he has kids believing they can move mountains. His No. 1 strength is offense. His No. 2 strength is how good he is politically at getting people to believe in his program. He sells it door to door, which not a lot of coaches will do.

He also recalled this:

At Central Michigan, somebody asked him how long the rebuilding cycle would be. He said, ‘About 10 seconds.’

The UC student featured on ESPN can feel the change, saying this:

You feel like you’re at a big-time football school.

Cincinnati’s AD Mike Thomas had this to say about Kelly:

From the first time that I had a chance to meet him I was taken by his personality and his drive for success.

Background Information

He almost immediately transformed schools into successful ones, making Grand Valley State a consistent 8 or 9 win team before his last two wonderful seasons of 14-0 and 14-1 in which he brought home the national championships.

He coached an offense in 2001 that averaged an astounding 58.4 points per game. His 2002 team didn’t do so bad either, averaging 497.5 yards per game and 47 points per game during its undefeated 2002 national championship run.

Although his offenses can put up some points, he’s also a guru on the defensive side of the ball, playing linebacker at Assumption College before going on to coach at that position as well as be a defensive coordinator. His defense came up big in the 2003 national championship in which they held the opposing team to just three points. Kelly was the D-II coach of the year in both 2002 and 2003 and it wasn’t soon before he turned around another program, Central Michigan.

The Chippewas went on to win the Mid-American Conference in Kelly’s third season (2006) under the program as they took home nine wins. Success the school had not seen since 1994 which had been the last time they’d gone to a bowl and won the conference. The school had not seen a winning season since 1998 until Coach Kelly was able to bring them that in just his second season.

The Bearcats were able to pull him in. Brian Kelly was brought on and won the bowl game for Cincinnati in 2006, with much talk about another good season to follow. Kelly did not dissapoint as he was able to lead the Bearcats to their second ten win season in the history of the program, as Kelly was named Big East Coach of the Year.

Cincinnati’s recent success includes wins over ranked teams as well, as they’ve beaten four ranked teams since last year.

Why will he be successful?

If the stats above don’t speak to you enough, just watching the current Bearcats team will let you know what he brings. The Bearcats’ quarterback Ben Mauk lost his appeal for another season but they could rest easy with Dustin Grutza waiting to take control of the offense. That is until he went down to injury in the second game of the year, but they could try and play it out with Tony Pike, the next backup. Pike was playing well until bad luck struck the position for the Bearcats again when he went down with a broken arm against Akron, just two games after Grutza. The Bearcats then had to put their offense into the hands of a 19 year old freshman in Chazz Anderson. How have the Bearcats faired throughout all of this? They’ve come out with an impressive 6-2 record, with losses coming to both a ranked Oklahoma team and a now ranked Penn State team.

Now I don’t care what you say, this has to impress you. The guy has proven that his system works and will continue to work no matter who is under center. They’ve run three different guys out there so far, not forgetting Mauk who most likely would’ve started, and the success has remained unchanged. They’ve seen little dropoff in output from the different tandem of players who together average about 27 points per game, lower than last year’s 36.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Kelly, as he’s always crafted a great quarterback. He’s been mentors to quarterbacks like Curt Anes, a Harlon Hill Award winner, and Jeff Fox, Harlon Hill Award finalist while at Grand Valley State and at Central Michigan he coached freshman Dan LeFevour to 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns.

He has consistently run one of the best programs in his conference and often in the country. He’s had offenses that average more than 600 yards per game and his no huddle offense is a mix of styles. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has called it one of the most innovative offense schemes he has seen, while Kelly gives it the nickname of the “coast-to-coast offense.” This is his given nickname he’s says because:

I’ve stolen great stuff from one coast to another.

The question of how long a rebuild of the Tennessee program has also been questioned, but Kelly has proven that he can change things around in a hurry. If we do land Coach Brian Kelly and the current recruiting class that we have, then Tennessee will be a dominating force in college football soon again. I’ve watched what he can do and it’s done nothing but impress me.

[Woodmania]

I think giving up the safety in the closing minutes of tonight's game should disqualify him for any job promotions.

[bearcat428]

i'm not worried in the least.

but i hope tennis-ee asks michigan state fans their opinion of brian kelly

[Woodmania]

Originally Posted by bearcat428

but i hope tennis-ee asks michigan state fans their opinion of brian kelly

+1 Bearcat428

Well played, sir. Well played.