Coach Brian Kelly may still be looking for that elusive national title, but that’s about the only feat he hasn’t accomplished in his three decades spent as a head coach.
After making four stops since 1991 — most recently a 12-year stint at Notre Dame (where he’s the all-time leader in wins) — Kelly is the third-winningest active head coach in the FBS ranks behind Nick Saban and Mack Brown.
Our colleagues at Cornhuskers Wire recently undertook the herculean task of power ranking all 65 current Power Five coaches, and it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Kelly stands near the top of that list at No. 7. That puts him at fourth in the SEC behind Saban, Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher.
All three of those coaches have national championships, so it’s understandable that Kelly will sit behind them until he can earn one of his own. The only coaches who rank higher than Kelly without titles are Ryan Day (No. 6) and Lincoln Riley (No. 4).
Kelly could have retired as arguably the greatest coach in Fighting Irish history, but he instead chose to take a risk and make the jump to the SEC, where he clearly feels he will have the resources to finally take a team all the way. LSU fans will hope that pays off, and given the fact that its last three coaches have all won national titles, Kelly has big shoes to fill.
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