College Football: Ranking 10 best head coaches from past 5 seasons
By Ryan Kay
10. Brian Kelly (Notre Dame)
Brian Kelly’s resume is complicated for many reasons and in particular, the Fighting Irish not being in a conference hurts his coaching ranking based on the criteria for these rankings.
Even though Kelly has been successful as the Fighting Irish head coach, on paper it is not as impressive as you would think due to the fact that when you compare him to other coaches, he doesn’t have any division or conference titles due to Notre Dame being independent.
Kelly and Notre Dame have had 10 wins or more in four of their last five seasons. He made the College Football Playoff in 2018 and he and his program have won 23 games over the past two seasons. The only blemish on Kelly’s resume in the past five years was a very disappointing 2016 season when the Irish only won four games.
The three seasons prior to 2019 should be seen as successes for Kelly as he led his program to two bowl victories while having an overall record of 33-6.
If Notre Dame were to join a conference like the ACC in the future, Kelly would be able to compete for division and conference titles and move up in future coaching rankings such as those similar to this. However, it appears Notre Dame and its alumni really value their independence and they are satisfied with remaining independent in football moving forward.
Point breakdown for Kelly
- 0 National Championships: 0 points
- 1 College Football Playoff appearance: 40 points
- 2 bowl wins: 20 points
- 4 bowl appearances: 20 points
- 4 seasons with 10 or more wins: 20 points
Total coaching points: 100