Channeling His Inner ‘Rock’

“I want tough gentlemen. I want football players that are mentally and physically tough that will play for four quarters, and I want gentlemen off the field that we all can be proud of. And we will do that here at Notre Dame.” –Coach Brian Kelly

“There is a football coach and then there’s the football coach at Notre Dame, because nobody, nobody does it like Notre Dame.”

Anybody out there wondering whether a football coach who played Division III football and has spent the last 19 seasons at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and the University of Cincinnati could really “get it” when it came to Notre Dame had their answer Friday afternoon.

Brian Kelly eschewed his “media consultant’s notes” and spoke from his heart — with clarity and passion — about his vision for Fighting Irish football.

At times, you could swear you saw a faint outline of Coach Rockne off to one side, nodding approvingly

“What I can tell you today is that our football players will continue to represent the model of Notre Dame,” the man with the perfect Irish name continued.  “I want tough gentlemen. I want football players that are mentally and physically tough that will play for four quarters, and I want gentlemen off the field that we all can be proud of. And we will do that here at Notre Dame.”

Tough gentlemen.

Perfect.  Just perfect.

Because a “tough gentleman” is a beast on the playing field.

And a “tough gentleman” gives his best effort – all day, every day.  Gets up and gets going.  Gets his work done – whether it’s for calculus or cover-two. Treats others with respect. Knows the world doesn’t revolve around him.

A “tough gentleman” is a great teammate. Doesn’t sulk on the bad days, just resolves to keep improving.  And he sees the big picture – including life after football.

Rock would love it.

And what does a Brian Kelly coached team look like?

“Attention to detail is absolutely crucial in this process of winning, and so when I talk about working on winning, I mean you do that from the first day you step on this campus if you want to win,” he said.

“You don’t win on Saturdays with Xs and Os. You win on Saturdays because you’ve been working on it all week, and so it’s that attention to detail. It’s morale, it’s camaraderie, it’s one voice.”

One could add: determination, discipline, chemistry, confidence, teamwork…mission.

One of Kelly’s most pointed answers came to the question of what he felt he had inherited in terms of talent.

“Does it matter? I mean, it really doesn’t matter. These young men want to win, and that’s why I’m here at Notre Dame. I want to be around men that are committed…We’re going to develop our players, and they’re going to play their very best for us.

“That to me has always been the most important principle. Let’s go; don’t tell me what you don’t have; I don’t want to know about it. Tell me what you can do to help us win. And that’s the way we’ll hit this thing running.”

Doesn’t that fit with what so many Notre Dame fans have been feeling?  That there’s plenty of talent on the roster, it has shown itself at times.  But there just has been something missing – that special feeling of energy….spirit…heart…resiliency.  However one wants to define it, it’s been absent.

And Kelly is smart enough to know that.

He channeled another great coach in a different sport when he talked about RKGs.

“Yes, we’ve got challenges, just like anybody else. But we’ll go to work on it right away, and we’ll do that by continuing to recruit what I call the RKGs, the right kind of guys, those that match the mission of this University,” he said.

Yes – that’s it, that’s it exactly.  It’s the visionary Herb Brooks, 30 years ago, picking the U. S. Olympic hockey team.  “I don’t want the best players, I want the right players.”

And that kind of worked out OK, didn’t it?

Added Kelly:  “We’ll continue to look towards player development as being the key and the cornerstone of our success. We’re going to develop our players intellectually, we’re going to develop them socially, spiritually, we’re going to develop their skill and make sure that they understand that they physically need to continue to grow.

“I’ll guarantee our players’ development, and that to me has been my background.”

Player development.  Personal growth. It’s the ultimate goal, whether at Assumption College or Grand Valley State or…Notre Dame.

Good luck, Coach.