Brian Kelly Met With Notre Dame Players For Less Than Two Minutes After Taking LSU Job

Brian Kelly didn’t have much to say to his players after news broke that he was leaving Notre Dame to become the next head coach at LSU.

According to ESPN’s Adam Ritenberg, Kelly met with the team for 11 minutes, while The Athletic’s Pete Sampson later reported that the meeting was closer to two minutes and that Kelly didn’t stop to take any questions from his players.

After news broke on Monday evening that he would be taking the job at LSU, Kelly reportedly texted the team and setup a 7 a.m. meeting at the university’s football facility before leaving campus.

“Let me first apologize for the late night text and, more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in person that I will be leaving Notre Dame,” Kelly wrote to players on Monday. “Our program is elite because of your hard work and commitment and I know that will continue. I will share more in the morning when we meet.”

On Tuesday, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick also said Kelly did not give the university a chance to match LSU’s offer. 

“He did not discuss with me the conversations he had with other universities,” Swarbrick said. “We are always talking about the program’s needs. There was nothing identified at any time that was something we could not meet.”

Swarbrick also said the program won’t rush to appoint an interim coach and may try a different approach to a temporary coach since Kelly won’t be coaching the bowl game.