“I absolutely hate Brian Kelly he has literally no idea what he is doing out there. He’s an idiot, an imbecile and an ignorant person who looks like a potato,” shouted the girl standing behind me Saturday after a crushing loss to Michigan State.
This angry fan wasn’t alone. As I contemplated the defeat in the student section and walking out of the stadium, shouts of anger rang from countless Notre Dame students. These shouts contained many valid comments about game strategy, but they also contained many comments that were not so valid.
Personal attacks on coaches and players are extremely uncalled for. No matter how poorly you believe they performed during the game, talking about how much you hate these people and how they deserve terrible things to happen to them is inappropriate to say the least.
It’s one thing to discuss how you believe that there were poor play calls or that the defensive strategy isn’t working. It makes sense to say that this player blew his coverage or that it’s crazy how that player didn’t make a play on the ball. What doesn’t make sense is when people take what is simply a game to a level beyond that.
Calling Brian Kelly or Brian VanGorder awful human beings makes you sound like you know nothing about the game of football. Not only could you not come up with anything relevant to say, but you are attacking these men for simply trying their best to coach a game.
The number of people who say they could do a better job than Brian Kelly astounds me. Granted he isn’t perfect every time, but let’s be honest, he’s human. No one is perfect every time they do anything. Everyone makes mistakes in all of their occupations. Brian Kelly’s occupation just happens to be one of the most public and high pressure ones out there.
If these people truly believe they could do a better job than any one of those coaches and players on the field playing their best for us fans, I would love to see them try.
So next time you are frustrated with Notre Dame football, try to come up with something of substance to say. Personal attacks accomplish nothing except making you look like a fool.
