Brian Kelly

HUNTSVILLE, AL - Citing a spirit of service, that exemplifies what he feels Notre Dame is all about, head football coach Brian Kelly made a $5,000 donation to the Notre Dame Club of northern Alabama Tuesday, to benefit tornado relief efforts. “It’s about service. It’s about community,” Kelly said. “What has happened here and everybody rallying together and looking out for each other is what Notre Dame is all about.” Kelly also took time to survey the damage of the recent tornado disaster.

NOTRE DAME - Brian Kelly named three coaches to his staff on Tuesday, all on the defensive side of the ball. Mike Denbrock, who coached at Notre Dame from 2002-04 under Ty Willingham, will coach Notre Dame's tight ends, former Cincinnati assistant head coach Mike Elston will work with the Irish defensive line and former Grand Valley State head coach Chuck Martin will oversee Notre Dame's defensive backs. "I¹m excited to welcome Mike Denbrock, Mike Elston and Chuck Martin to the Notre Dame coaching staff," Kelly said.

Here is a transcript of Brian Kelly's post-game press conference following the team's defeat of Utah. COACH KELLY:  Today, obviously, for our football team was a moment that you really can't explain unless you're with us all the time, and that moment is shared between players and coaches.  We were able to do that in the locker room after the game. I bring that up only because as you know, and it's been talked about quite a bit, you know, our seniors were playing in their last game.

Brian Kelly's first two years at Notre Dame were good enough to buy him an additional two years. The university announced today that the've excersied an option in Kelly's contract for two more years, signing the coach trhough the 2016 season. “While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years,” University of Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said.

Allendale, Mich. -- The Kelly Family Sports Center was unveiled today in a building dedication ceremony on the campus of Grand Valley State University. The Kelly Family Sports Center, formerly known as the Laker Turf Building, opened for opera- tion in the fall of 2008. Brian Kelly, the current head football coach at Notre Dame, was the head football coach at Grand Valley State for 13 years (1991-2003), leading the Lakers to a 118-35-2 mark with two NCAA DII Football National Championships (2002 and 2003)

A new season of Notre Dame football is here! Click the following links to watch all four parts of our season preview: Part 1 Part 2, includes 1-on-1 interview with Brian Kelly Part 3 Part 4

Louis Nix sauntered up to the podium following the Blue-Gold game, a place usually reserved for head coach Brian Kelly and the Irish QB, a fact not lost on Lou. "Yeah, official quarterback spot", Nix joked.  "I made it. " Nix's quarterbacking debut...and likely finale came in the one memorable moment of Saturday's spring game.  After winning a bet with Kelly, Nix checked in under center for a two point conversion, and carried the ball across the goal line to the loudest ovation of the day. "I just wanted to run somebody over and show Coach I could do it and hopefully we establish an 'Irish Chocolate' package for the future.

Brian Kelly delivered a pretty accurate assessment of his team after the Blue-Gold game Saturday, and the statement rings particularly true for his quarterbacks. "We've got enough players to compete, but we've got to go a long way. " Saturday's public scrimmage gave us plenty of reasons to be excited, but enough reasons to be worried as well.  Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix each led impressive scoring drives...but both also threw head scratching interceptions.  To quote Kelly, "We've seen this movie before.

Before looking forward to Saturday's showdown with the Sooners, it's appropriate to look back one last time on how the Irish have arrived at 7-0. Notre Dame's last two victories were anything but pretty. They had to overcome mistakes and late deficits, to win over Stanford and BYU. And in both wins, the Irish exhibited something we haven't seen in awhile. Toughness. "The pride and tradition of Notre Dame football will not be left to the weak or timid or non-committed," head coach Brian Kelly preaches.  "That's in our locker room.

NOTRE DAME - Notre Dame is sitting in the seat the every team in the nation envies right now.  Ranked #1, late in season, in control of their own destiny. Over the past 14 years, since the BCS as we know it began, twelve of the 14 teams who sat in the #1 spot with two weeks to go, have played for the national championship. It's a good sign for Notre Dame as they prepare for USC.  But not the only sign. "Notre Dame has a unique tradition:  On Grace Hall they have #1 illuminated at night.  You'd have to be livin' in Elkhart to not see it, and our guys don't live in Elkhart", Brian Kelly said Tuesday.

Louis Nix sauntered up to the podium following the Blue-Gold game, a place usually reserved for head coach Brian Kelly and the Irish QB, a fact not lost on Lou. "Yeah, official quarterback spot", Nix joked.  "I made it. " Nix's quarterbacking debut...and likely finale came in the one memorable moment of Saturday's spring game.  After winning a bet with Kelly, Nix checked in under center for a two point conversion, and carried the ball across the goal line to the loudest ovation of the day. "I just wanted to run somebody over and show Coach I could do it and hopefully we establish an 'Irish Chocolate' package for the future.

That's not a South Beach breeze you feel. It's Notre Dame Nation breathing a collective sigh of relief. Brian Kelly will stay at Notre Dame as the head football coach, the school announced late this afternoon.   Kelly had been in contact with the Philadelphia Eagles about their head coaching vacancy, and met with the team on Tuesday.   He said he pursued the NFL because, well, who wouldn't? "This week, I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach,” Kelly said in a statement.

ESPN is reporting league sources told them the Philadelphia Eagles have interviewed Brian Kelly for their coaching vacancy, and there was mutual interest after the interview. League sources told ESPN Kelly met with the Eagles on Tuesday, and agreed to return to talks when he returns from out of the country this weekend. CBS is reporting the Bears are also interested in Kelly. Watch WSBT News at 11 and stay with us online for updates. LINK: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8830219/brian-kelly-notre-dame-fighting-irish-interviews-philadelphia-eagles-coaching-vacancy-sources

Brian Kelly was hired three years ago on a snowy December day in South Bend. Now, he's got the Irish in the national title game. WSBT-TV's David McCoy, WSBT-Radio's Rick Carter and the South Bend Tribune's Al Lesar discuss why Kelly has been able to turn Notre Dame into a contender so quickly. They also discuss Kelly's #1 priority for building the program -- a blueprint modeled after Alabama -- to build a championship-caliber defense.

NOTRE DAME - Notre Dame is sitting in the seat the every team in the nation envies right now.  Ranked #1, late in season, in control of their own destiny. Over the past 14 years, since the BCS as we know it began, twelve of the 14 teams who sat in the #1 spot with two weeks to go, have played for the national championship. It's a good sign for Notre Dame as they prepare for USC.  But not the only sign. "Notre Dame has a unique tradition:  On Grace Hall they have #1 illuminated at night.  You'd have to be livin' in Elkhart to not see it, and our guys don't live in Elkhart", Brian Kelly said Tuesday.

When the dust settles, there may be only two undefeated teams left to play for the national championship.  In fact, there may be fewer than that.  But as it stands right now there are three, and Notre Dame appears to be on the outside looking in.  I never thought I'd see the day where an undefeated Irish team would be on the outskirts, but that's another column, (and hopefully not for another day). Brian Kelly's done a fantastic job of keeping his team grounded and focused throughout all the speculating and projecting of the past few weeks.  However, it's time for him to do more.

Before looking forward to Saturday's showdown with the Sooners, it's appropriate to look back one last time on how the Irish have arrived at 7-0. Notre Dame's last two victories were anything but pretty. They had to overcome mistakes and late deficits, to win over Stanford and BYU. And in both wins, the Irish exhibited something we haven't seen in awhile. Toughness. "The pride and tradition of Notre Dame football will not be left to the weak or timid or non-committed," head coach Brian Kelly preaches.  "That's in our locker room.

NOTRE DAME -  Notre Dame renews an old rivalry with Miami this Saturday when the two teams meet at Soldier Field in Chicago. Brian Kelly's team is in a good place right now:  Undefeated, and ranked in the Top Ten. Just like Notre Dame was for many of the classic games in this rivalry which were played in the late 1980s. The greatest of all those games came in 1988 at Notre Dame Stadium.  Notre Dame was 4th at the time.  Miami was number one.  And Lou Holtz's team shocked Jimmy Johnson's Hurricanes, on their way to winning the national championship.

                                        WSBT sports director Pete Byrne sat down with Brian Kelly for an exclusive interview before the Irish football team left for Ireland. Kelly discusses the  season opener against Navy with Pete, and looks ahead to his third season at Notre Dame.                                           Kelly shares the pluses and minuses of being the head coach at Notre Dame, and how close he thinks his team is to becoming a championship-caliber team.

One glance at Notre Dame's first practice is all it takes to see that Brian Kelly intends to be more involved this year.   He's not only the one deciding who becomes the starting quarterback.  He's also going to be intricately involved in how that guy gets there.   "I just need to be involved," Kelly said after Saturday's first practice.    "I need to coach.  I need to be in the trenches.  I need to be around our guys.  I need to be the effective leader.  Some are better sitting up in the tower and some are better being hands-on, and I'm better (being hands-on)