I Have No Idea Why Brian Kelly Left for LSU

Just when I thought it couldn't get any wilder, LSU goes out and hires Brian Kelly to be their new head coach. I thought Lincoln Riley to USC was wild, but this is a whole other level of nuts. I am still kind of in shock. I was going to write about the movie I watched this weekend, but this is so crazy that I have to designate another blog for another coaching change. Let’s do it?

I have never, in my lifetime of watching college football, seen a coaching carousel like this. We are talking about big name coaches going to big time programs. Like I said before, this one is nutso. I have been thinking about this move, talking to my dad about it, reading other articles about it, and I am still at a total loss. I despise Brian Kelly. I loathe him. He is a slimy snake oil salesman. I have not liked him since he left Cincinnati to take the head job at Notre Dame. He is arrogant and selfish and a total asshole. But he has proven to be a capable college football coach. Notre Dame is relevant again. He coached them to the BCS title game and has made the CFP. He has had a Heisman finalist. Notre Dame is perennially ranked inside the top 25 every year. While I dislike him and that team, they are good. I cannot lie about that. And Kelly has the Irish on the cusp of the playoff this year. If things break their way this weekend they can find themselves back this season. But Kelly just up and left. He took the LSU job without telling any of his staff according to the reports

I have read. He moved on because he wanted to. He didn't care about his team, his staff, the university, the AD, this was all about Brian Kelly getting paid and taking on a new challenge that only he wanted to do. And like I said with Riley, take the money when you can get it. I do not bemoan that at all. But I do not like the way either coach went about the business of getting paid. This was a first for Riley, but this seems to be the move for Kelly. He left Central Michigan for Cincinnati without informing most of the people around him. Then after building Cincinnati into a contender, he had them in the Sugar Bowl, he left without even coaching them in that game. He was gone. One day he was there, and the next, he's a ghost. Now he has done the same thing at Notre Dame. He took this LSU job seemingly in the middle of the night. And he just accepted it. He told no one. He took it and made some half hearted statements to his former players and changed all of his social media bios to inform everyone he was the new coach for LSU.

I was, and still am, astonished. But maybe I shouldn't be. This is his move. This is what he does. He is selfish. He only cares about Brian Kelly, and what is best for Brian Kelly. He is an egomaniac. But unlike Riley at USC, I think it is going to be real tough sledding for Kelly at USC. He had a cherry gig at Notre Dame. They are an independent program and they get to pick all twelve teams they play every year. They have no conference title game. They have no built in teams they play every year. They get to pick who they want to play, when they want to play them and where they want to play them. For people to call USC or Stanford or Michigan a "rival" for Notre Dame, I don't buy that. They do not play those teams every season. The university of Ohio State and Michigan play every year. USC and UCLA play every year. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State play every year. Notre Dame gets to pick when they want to play their "rivals". They also have their very own television network that funnels in millions of dollars to the program. Again, a cherry gig. LSU does not have those same things. They play in the SEC. They play Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, year in and year out. They also recruit against those teams every year. The stadiums are massive and filled every weekend and have rowdy super fanatics. Brian Kelly is in for a world of pain the first time he has to travel to Bryant Denny Stadium or The Swamp or Georgia. Sure, LSU has Death Valley, but Clemson's Death Valley is much more intimidating. And SEC fans are way more passionate than Notre Dame fans. They don't want to wait for a title contender. They won't deal with a random 4-8 or 6-6 season. They want gratification every year. Ed Orgeron, who is also an ass, won a title two years ago. He was fired this year after two, I say again, two less than better seasons. Who is to say that their fanbase and alumni won't do the same if Kelly doesn't yield instant results? I wouldn't put it past them.

Again, this is still very wild. This is very out there. This one makes way less sense to me than what Lincoln Riley did. If anything, all it proved to me is how truly selfish Brian Kelly the person really is. I do not know if this will work out, but he does have 15 million reasons to fall back on if it doesn't. I am still stunned.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Bob Stoops Retirement Comes with a lot of Unanswered Questions

There is a new sign on Bob Stoops Old Office

Because Ty is the most boss of all internet writers he refuses to stop creating awesome content, even when he is on a family vacation. His loquaciousness will be blunted while he enjoys his undisclosed tropical getaway. Each piece will be some quick thoughts on some current things going on, nothing political of course.

Yesterday, in very shocking news, Bob Stoops suddenly retired. That makes 2 pretty famous coaches this week that have either walked away or "resigned" from high profile jobs. You can read my Thad Matta thoughts from earlier this week. But, this whole Bob Stoops thing really threw me for a loop.

Stoops had a very, very good team coming back from a decent season last year. Yeah, he lost Semaji Perine and Dede Westbrook, but they still have Baker Mayfield, a Heisman front runner, and it's Oklahoma, they are one of the "reload, not rebuild" teams I always talk about. Oklahoma was also, as they have been for about a decade now, the odds on favorites to win the Big 12, and possibly go to the College Football Playoff this season. They are to the Big 12 in football what Kansas is to basketball. If they do not win the Big 12, I am always shocked.

For Stoops to just walk away, at only 56 years old, after 18 years of some really good football, I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. Sure, his family has past heart issues, and the Oklahoma fan base can be rabid and unforgiving, and, no matter how good you may look in the preseason, there is always the Alabama monster out there, but why so sudden? Does he have heart issues? Is there a possible violation that we may not know about? Was he giving a Thad Matta ultimatum? Does he truly want to "live a life"? Or, is there some other high profile job he may be angling for in a year or 2, a la what Urban Meyer did after he left Florida due to "health concerns", only to take one year off and jump on the University of Ohio State board. I feel like it is the last question, but I will quickly answer the others first.

I do not think he has any type of health concerns. He has been at Oklahoma for almost 2 decades, so if he did truly have a health scare, we would have heard about it already. The violation thing, who knows. Every big time team bends the rules to get some of the best players in the country to constantly go there. I am not aware of any possible violations at Oklahoma, but they did have the whole Joe Mixon thing last year, so I wonder if there is more of that horrible stuff going on that they are trying to cover up. That would be truly awful. I do not think he was given an ultimatum because, as I have already stated, his team is stacked this year. They are going to be lights out on offense, and I feel like they will be much improved on defense. They are the clear cut favorites in the Big 12, and he has won 10 plus games 14 of his 18 years there. He's earned the right to leave when he wants. Oklahoma was nothing when Stoops took over and look at them now. There is no way he was told he has to win the title this year or he was going to be let go.

As far as the "live a life" thing that he said, I feel like this is the only life he knows. He comes from a family of coaches, and he has basically been around football as a player and a coach his entire life. I fully understand if he wants to go be with his family, but to say that now, going into a season where Oklahoma will be a real threat, I don't buy it. Also, his family seems to fully understand and not mind being the wife and kids of a coach. That is a taxing job, and they have stood by his side his whole career.

Now, the last question, the big question. Is there another, possibly higher profile job out there that he may want in a year or two, if that school doesn't vastly improve? I read it on 247sports.com, and I think it may be true, that if the Notre Dame job opens up, Stoops and the people there would want to hire him. I feel like it is setting up exactly like the Urban Meyer situation. I don't think Notre Dame will be any real threat, and I feel like the higher ups at Notre Dame have grown weary of Brian Kelly's demeanor and the way he grates on players and fans. The team has gotten worse every year since Alabama crushed them in the title game, and Kelly is throwing everyone under the bus, blaming anyone in earshot, except himself. I feel like they want Bob Stoops there real bad, and his sudden retirement sets that up very nicely. I also think Stoops kind of wants a big time job like Notre Dame as well. Oklahoma is great now, due to Stoops, but they are not historic, like Notre Dame. I feel like Stoops wants to go to a school like that to build up his personal resume. He is a great coach, and if he can go to Notre Dame and win as big there as he did at Oklahoma, he'd become legendary. That is where I feel like all this is headed.

Time will tell, but for Stoops to leave Oklahoma so abruptly, that just doesn't sit right with me. We'll see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is thinking about taking a detour to Norman after his vacation. Do they still need a coach? Oh, somebody has that job. Is the Buckeye job still available?

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Will the Latest Trouble at Notre Dame Finally Get Brian Kelly Fired?

Kelly has wrecked the Notre Dame football train

As most of you probably know by now, Notre Dame football has been forced to vacate all their wins from 2012 and 2013 due to academic violations. This should all but assure that Brian Kelly gets fired either this week or this weekend.

First off, Notre Dame is in the midst of one of their worst seasons in about 5 years. They sit at 4-7 as I write this, and unless they somehow find a way to beat USC, they will be staying home during bowl season. You may have read that and thought that with 7 losses, they are ineligible for a bowl bid, but we did have some 5-7 teams make bowls last year because there are way too many bowl games. I don't think they have a chance to beat USC, so this whole point is basically moot, but you never know.

Kelly has thrown people under the bus all season long too, except for himself. This dreadful football year has been everyone's fault but his own. He has complained about his players, he has fired staff members, he has called out fans, as I said, it is everyone else's fault. Well, who is he going to blame now? Academic fraud starts at the top, and the top at Notre Dame is the head coach. He is the one that allowed these staffers to fudge the numbers and give, what he deemed, "important" players the grades they needed to play.

This is going to be a big, big mess for a university that has never really been in trouble like this. Sure, they have had bad seasons, right now as I already stated, but they have never been in this kind of trouble with the NCAA. The NCAA is a very flawed system, but this is one of the easier rules for the teams and players to follow. You need a certain GPA, and if you don't have the numbers, you cannot play. Simple as that. A lot of great players in multiple sports haven't gotten the grades and been forced to sit, or go to community college to get the grades. Well, Brian Kelly and his staff thought that they were above this, and this is going to hurt them very much in the long run. They are going to get sanctioned, there is no doubt in my mind.

I remember when Rich Rodriguez was at Michigan, and they got in trouble for over practicing. ESPN treated that like it was the end of the Michigan football program. They assumed it would be akin to what happened at SMU. I am very anxious to see how they treat this news. Academic fraud is way, way worse than some extra practices, but I feel like ESPN is in bed with Notre Dame, and most of the people there love Brian Kelly. I bet they will find any excuse to try and help Kelly and ND cover this up as best they can, but they won't succeed.

This is a big deal. You cannot give players fake grades. I know that it is a joke, but the student comes before the athlete. It always has, and it always will. The NCAA is definitely flawed in what they expect from "student-athletes", but they have never budged on the grades stuff. And, how hard is it really for these kids to go to class? School is easy, for most students. Hell, I did next to nothing in high school, and I graduated with a 2.6 GPA. All you really have to do is show up, study for the important tests, pass those, and you are good. But, Notre Dame felt they had the importance to not have these kids live up to that small expectation. People will blame the players and the staffers, but I blame Brian Kelly solely for this. He is the one who allowed this happen. He is the one who knew it was happening, didn't think he'd get caught, and let it continue to happen. He is the one that did not hold the accountable parties responsible for what they were doing. The kids are not to blame, and the staff is not to blame, Brian Kelly is to blame.

Notre Dame's season is going to end this Saturday after USC crushes them. Then, they will be investigated, and since they are a blue blood, they will be treated as such. They have already had to vacate the wins, but I see postseason bans possible, scholarships being taken away and a lot of mediocrity for the next 4 or 5 years. A lot of top flight recruits will stay away also because those kids want to play football well into January, and that will not be happening at ND anytime soon.

This horrible season for them just got a whole lot worse. Brian Kelly was already on the hot seat, but his previous seasons, mainly 2012, were his saving grace. Well, that is not the case anymore, since in the eyes of the NCAA, none of those games actually happened, just like the Fab five never went to the final Four, or Reggie Bush never won the Heisman, that is what Notre Dame's run to get blown out in the title game in 2012 is now, non existent. As I stated at the top, I do not see any way that Brian Kelly keeps this job, and this should be the final nail in his coffin. It is much deserved for that curmudgeon that never takes any responsibility, blames everyone else and thinks he is above the law. You are not above the law Brian Kelly, and you just got caught red handed. See you later.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The only thing that would make Ty happier right now is for a certain team that rhymes with molverines beats a team that rhymes with duck eyes. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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