Kelly made it official early Saturday evening, via prepared statement land, ending his flirtation with the NFL?s Philadelphia Eagles and announcing his return to the Irish for a fourth season.
?This decision (to return) was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country,? Kelly said. ?We still have a lot of work to do, and my staff and I are excited about the challenges ahead.?
The job Kelly walks back into may just have gotten a little harder. Maybe a lot harder.
He lost standout linebacker recruit Alex Anzalone to Florida during the five-day limbo period, enraged a large portion of his fan base and set himself up to have to fend off NFL rumors in the future when out on the recruiting trail.
?I wasn?t too worried that he was going anywhere,? said offensive tackle recruit Steve Elmer, one of five early enrollees in the now 22-man recruiting class who starts classes on Tuesday.
?The message he had been giving us the whole time ? ?Keep doing the right things long enough and eventually you?ll be successful.? ? we kind of got a glimpse of that this season. I just couldn?t see him leaving when he knows what the potential of this program is and the foundation he?s built.?
But when asked if he was worried this might not be the last time he has to go through this process, the former Midland, Mich., High School standout paused.
?I?m not really sure,? Elmer said. ?I don?t think I want to comment on that one.?
Swarbrick, Notre Dame?s athletic director and the man whose hiring of Kelly in December of 2009 to replace ousted coach Charlie Weis constituted his second coaching hire on the job, wasn?t flustered about the prospect of NFL teams showing interest in Kelly in the future.
?I think this was Brian?s first opportunity to explore this and to understand sort of the dynamics that might exist with a premier NFL franchise,? Swarbrick told the South Bend Tribune Saturday night. ?He now has that information and now understands it, so I don?t see this as a regular occurrence.
?That?s not to say sometime in his future he might not decide to go to the NFL, but I don?t see any sort of regular consideration of that.
?Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL,? Kelly added. ?However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame.?
Kelly is 28-11 in three seasons at ND, including a 12-1 mark this season that ended with a 42-14 rout by No. 2 Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game, Monday night in Miami Gardens, Fla. He interviewed with the Eagles in Miami on Tuesday ? one of seven candidates who have or will march through the Eagles? interview queue.
Contrary to published reports, Kelly never left the country in the days that followed, but he was on vacation, but he stayed in communication with his A.D. the whole time.
Swarbrick filled in the other blanks on the process, possible raises and extensions for Kelly and his staff, and the program?s future:
<b>On whether an extension and raise for Brian Kelly and raises for the assistant coaches are in the works: ?When I sat down with Brian in the first week of December as we always did, I told him that I wanted to redo his contract and make some adjustments to the assistants? contracts,? Swarbrick said, ?and I?ve been working on it since the first week of December.
?Yes it?s in the works, but it would be wrong to connect it to this week.?
Swarbrick added that it would be the same terms and the same money had the Eagles? offer never happened. He expected the resolution in ?weeks, not days.?
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