Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will handle USC

Kelly is better than Helton

Brian Kelly is in his ninth year at Notre Dame, and doesn’t look to be on the hot seat by any means. Even after the 2016 year, where the Irish went 4-8, the administration knew that getting rid of Coach Kelly was not the right answer.

Coach Kelly’s balance between game management, Xs and Os, and running a college football program is among the best in the business. In our preseason college football head coaching rankings, Coach Kelly came in at No. 13. However, he has exceeded expectations. We knew this year’s Notre Dame team was going to be good, yet nearly nobody expected them to be undefeated this far into the season. Their success so far has been largely explained by Coach Kelly’s influence and leadership.

USC’s Clay Helton, on the other hand, has struggled significantly this year. In a season where the Pac-12 was wide open, Coach Helton has not been able to put his team in a position to succeed consistently. Because of this, many believe this will be Coach Helton’s last season with the Trojans.