Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly should be lock for National Coach of the Year

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly has had an unbelievable season and he should be a lock for National Coach of the Year.

About 365 days ago, Brian Kelly was enduring the worst season of his coaching career. Notre Dame was in college football’s gutter, going just 4-8 and missing a bowl game. For Notre Dame football, that’s the definition of unacceptable.

Heck, Kelly was drawing comparisons to Charlie Weis — coming in with hype and not being able to handle the pressure and eventually crumbling. The “Fire Kelly” train was picking up major steam and many didn’t know if he would finish the season in South Bend.

After the year, he pointed fingers at himself for the first time in a while. He admitted he needed to gain respect from his players and treat them more like family rather than employees. He had lost touch with the team and it showed with a dysfunctional season.

To begin 2017, he was on a short leash. One misstep and his job could have been in even more jeopardy. A couple of blowout wins against lesser opponents and a 20-19 loss to Georgia seemed to feel like a ship headed in the right direction, but Michigan State was a nice barometer of how far the Irish had really come. They lost that game against the Spartans at home in 2016.

Notre Dame pulled out a 38-18 victory and looked like a dominant team. But Michigan State had gone just 3-9 in 2016, so it wasn’t the most impressive win at the time. Fast forward about a month and the Spartans are ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll with a 7-2 overall record.

The Irish then went on to beat North Carolina, USC and NC State all in blowout fashion before beating Wake Forest to improve to 8-1 on the year. They have road games against Stanford and Miami approaching along with a home game against Navy. Winning out would ensure a playoff spot.

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If he hasn’t already locked it up, Kelly should be the absolute favorite for National Coach of the Year. Even with a loss in the final three games, a 10-2 record after going 4-8 with a New Year’s Six bowl would be one of the best turnarounds in college football.