Let me preface this by stating that I am among the greatest Brian Kelly supporters you'll ever find. I am a Cincinnati native, and passionately followed my Bearcats as Coach Kelly was bringing them to the top of the Big East. With that said, I was extremely perplexed by an idea attributed to Coach Kelly in Christopher Lilly's Sept. 29 submission ("The Football Coaching Internship Continues"). In this article, Coach Kelly was noted to have said in the past that the high-flying, deep-ball-loving offense he ran in Cincinnati was used only out of necessity — you've gotta score points to put fans in the seats.
Essentially, he ran the offense that way because he felt like he had to. However, it wasn't exactly like he employed this style of offense at the expense of performance. In 2009, Cincinnati ranked No. 4 among FBS schools in points per game. His offense worked.
Now, once again, I believe Coach Kelly finds himself in a position where he must consider reverting to that same offense, though for very different reasons. Attendance will never be an issue here. Winning, on the other hand?
I am now talking directly to you, Coach Kelly. People are calling for your job. I know, it's not fair. You have won everywhere you have been in your career, and I am fairly confident South Bend has not simply sucked away your coaching skills. You deserve more time. Your recruiting is superb. With a couple more classes like the ones we have seen you are capable of assembling, our team will soon be one of the four or five most talented in the nation. However, I am sincerely hoping that you consider changing the way your offense is conducted. You have more talent here than you did in Cincinnati. That doesn't mean you can run a "safer" offense and still win — it means you can run your "hyper-aggressive" offense and win by more. I believe in you, Coach Kelly. I want you to stick around. I just want your career here to display what I know you to be capable of.
Jeremy Lamb
senior
Knott Hall
Oct. 24
