While Brian Kelly remains on the hot seat among Irish fans, the clear favorite to succeed him as head coach has just been taken off the market.
Among the front runners of candidates, college football nation has recognized P.J Fleck.
Gophers and P.J. Fleck agree to seven-year contract #Gophers https://t.co/L5tTvJCMOu pic.twitter.com/oUuDA6jLRu
— Pioneer Press (@PioneerPress) November 5, 2019
However, Irish fans will have to cross him off the list of immediate candidates to replace Kelly.
Top Candidate Off The Board
Fleck is highly regarded as he has led University of Minnesota to a perfect season to date ahead of the showdown against Penn State this weekend.
Local to the Midwest, Fleck graduated from Northern Illinois and grew up in Sugar Grove, IL. After some assistant roles, he was named the head coach of Western Michigan in 2012 and has quickly climbed the coaching ladder.
Subsequently, Fleck got his start in the MAC just like Kelly’s first division one head coaching job at Central Michigan.
Fleck is only 38 years old and has shown a great ability to connect with his players similar to that of Sean McVay of the Los Angles Rams.
Working With What You Got
Kelly is 58 years old, is under contract through 2021. In all likelihood with the loss of a top head coaching candidate like Fleck, Notre Dame will stick with their ten year head coach.
Notre Dame prepares to take on the Duke Blue Devils this weekend in a prime time match. If Kelly comes out flat again the fan base will continue to grow restless.
Many fans thought that the Virginia Tech game would be the final straw. Yet the Irish were able to win a game in the final moments. This simultaneously saved the jobs of the Irish head coach and perhaps the starting quarterback as well.
Sticking It Out
Let’s be honest – the road to the College Football Playoff demands perfection. With Notre Dame being an Independent, the Irish will always need to live up to that Golden Standard.
At the end of the day, Notre Dame fans have to come back down to earth. There is a reason root for Notre Dame.
The current college football landscape only produced four to five powerhouse teams and sadly Notre Dame has not shown the talent to be in the top tier of teams.
Still, Notre Dame is 28-6 over the past three seasons.
Final thought on Notre Dame today.
I’ve been covering this team for 19 years. And I’ve covered Notre Dame losing this exact game 20 times. Should that make you feel like the Irish are flying right now? No. But, Notre Dame is 28-6 the last three seasons. That’s something.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 3, 2019
Although, fans should not hang a hat on that for long. There is still plenty of work this program has to do, and it’s going to have to be done by Coach Kelly.
