Kelly hits all the right notes

Introductory press conferences are interesting beasts. We learn about things like ideals and goals, philosophies and mentors, and for the most part we all do our best to buy in. With a guy like Brian Kelly behind the microphone, it’s pretty easy to buy what he’s selling.

We’ll have plenty of time to discuss how Kelly’s offense will fit in South Bend, and how important Kelly’s choice of defensive coordinator will be, but for now, let’s enjoy how well Kelly played his introduction, which according to the folks at UND.com, was streamed online by 74,026 people.

On a human level, Kelly did a great job trying to diffuse the negativity that’s come from his decision to abandon the Cincinnati program before their bowl game. It couldn’t have been an easy decision, but Kelly was smart to immediately bring up the family aspect of the decision, taking the spotlight away from cut-throat business move. The introduction to his wife and three children was an especially nice touch to go along as a visual with this emotional story.

“You come home as a parent and you’re going to tell your kids that they’re moving and they love the friends and they love the community, and as we started to tell them, tears began to well up in their eyes, and Gracie came up to me, grabbed me, hugged me and said, ‘Dad, I’m so happy for you. I know this has been your dream. And I’m sad for me just for a little bit. Is that okay?’ And I kissed her and I said, ‘You know what, that’s what is so magical about this is that my kids know this was a dream for me.’”

Kelly also took his time at the podium to remind us all of yesteryear, back to times when the Irish were on top of college football, and scored bonus points not just with mention of names like Lou Holtz, Ara Parseghian, Joe Montana, and Father Hesburgh, but went to the next level for extra credit with hard-core Domers with a Lindsey Nelson name-drop.

Kelly was bold, but he wasn’t arrogant. He didn’t promise schematic advantages, but player development. He backed away from his background as an offensive mastermind, and smartly talked about how he’ll be intricately involved in all three aspects of the game. He came in with buzzwords like RKGs -- right kind of guys -- and assured us that he’d be ready, willing, and able to recruit the same type of great student-athletes that Notre Dame brought in under Charlie Weis.

Kelly didn’t shy away from the challenges that are “unique” to the Notre Dame job. And he was even smart enough to avoid lobbing a land-mine out there like “9-3 isn’t good enough,” although he certainly did come close by referencing 8-4 when he talked about the challenges that come along with coaching the Irish.

“First and foremost, restoring the traditions that we all know about and the history. Those aren’t the 8-and-4 years, those are the National Championship years. So any time you’re talking about restoring a program and the challenges, it’s not about winning the Conference Championship, it’s about winning championships and being in the BCS and being nationally prominent. That’s the challenge. We’ve got to get to work on that. When I refer to the challenge, it’s getting to that high bar that has been set at Notre Dame for Notre Dame football.”

I found one part of Kelly’s remarks to be a perfect example of the new coach’s attention to detail and his ability to handle the media scrutiny.

“My media consultant had all these notes for me, and I’m supposed to pay attention to all these notes that were drawn up for me, but there’s one thing that has driven me through my career, and that is that I speak from my heart. I’m passionate about it, and really want to talk to everybody out there about why I am so honored to be the head football coach here at Notre Dame.”

If you’re looking for a good reason to have hope in Brian Kelly, here’s your answer. He’s smart enough to have a media consultant, and he’s smart enough to let us all know that he’s got a consultant, but he doesn’t care -- he’s going to speak from the heart. Is it a bit cliched and contrived? Absolutely. But is it what Notre Dame fans need to hear? You bet.

Brian Kelly will be judged like all the coaches at Notre Dame before him: by how he does on the football field. But after a few hours on the job, any worries that people may have had of Kelly not being prepared for a job on the biggest stage in college football should have been alleviated.