Notre Dame Football: How’d Brian Kelly pull off incredible turnaround in 2017?
By Jacob Wilson
Despite falling off towards the end of the season, Notre Dame football’s Brian Kelly did a great job revitalizing a lackluster roster over the course of the 2017 season. Here’s how he did it.
It seems like forever ago that the Irish marched off the field following a humiliating 45-27 loss at the hands of rival USC, a loss that would put the nail in the coffin of a disastrous 4-8 season. However, that devastating loss came just over a year ago, highlighting just how impressive head coach Brian Kelly’s recent turnaround really was.
The Irish would finish this past season with a 10-3 record, far removed from that of their 2016 campaign. There are many pieces to the puzzle regarding what exactly was behind this season’s turnaround, but one thing is for certain: Kelly played a significant part.
Kelly has certainly seen his fair share of ups and downs with the Irish, and Notre Dame fans have had him on a fairly short leash ever since he walked onto campus. Whether this is justified or not is up to discussion, but it’s a common understanding that coaches in this program are held to exceptionally high standards.
Nevertheless, things looked bleak as Kelly headed into his eighth season as a Notre Dame head coach. With quarterback DeShone Kizer declaring for the draft and brand new systems on both sides of the ball, there wasn’t much confidence to be had for Notre Dame fans. However, Kelly led the charge for an Irish team that took on an underdog role for the majority of the season.
While Kelly deserves much of the credit, he also benefited from strong quarterback play and smooth transitions in the coordinator department. Brandon Wimbush, Kelly’s starting quarterback for the majority of this past season, impressed many as he would go on to make history as one of the best mobile quarterbacks in Notre Dame history.
Wimbush’s flash as a runner would be short-lived, but he played an instrumental part in laying the foundation for this past season’s rebound nonetheless. However, Chip Long and Mike Elko, the offensive and defensive coordinators under Kelly, were perhaps the biggest keys in this year’s bounce-back season.
Long, the former offensive coordinator for the Memphis Tigers, did a great job running an offense around the run-first Wimbush despite being more comfortable coaching pro-style quarterbacks. Elko, who held the same position for three years at Wake Forest, led the Irish defense to its best statistical season since the team’s national championship bid in 2012.
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While it’s not quite for certain exactly what clicked for the Irish this season, it is clear that Brian Kelly played an integral part in whatever that was. He certainly had some help, but fans should be grateful for Kelly’s contributions in 2017, even if he wasn’t able to deliver down the stretch. After a solid rebound, look for the Irish to have an even more successful 2018 despite recent changes in personnel.