Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly Tries To Embrace The ‘New Normal’

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick made it clear this week that fan-less college football games aren’t an appealing option to him, even amid this worldwide pandemic

“I don’t see a model where we play, at least any extended number of games, in facilities where we don’t have fans,” Swarbrick told ESPN. “College football is about the cheerleaders and the band and the campus environment on game day.” 

Wednesday, one day after his boss’ public comments, Brian Kelly was asked for his response during a video conference.with media.  

“Those are really above my pay grade, in a sense,” said Kelly, entering his 11th season as Notre Dame’s football coach. “I don’t mean that to be a flippant remark. I’ve really been focused much more on the day to day and trying to create a structured environment for our football team.

“Jack, those are his topics that he really has to focus on. Jack knows much more about the economics of this. All I can tell you is it’s going to be a new normal.”

At a time when he should be putting in the game plan for the annual Blue-Gold Game that caps spring practice, Kelly instead finds himself holding one video conference after another to keep things moving forward for his program. 

There are daily briefings from the school’s academic support staff as well as a staff nutritionist, team trainers and the strength and conditioning department. In between recruiting calls and texts, Kelly tries to make time for NFL scouts, coaches and front-office people to pump up the dozen former Fighting Irish starters he believes deserve a shot in the pros. 

Oh, there’s also some 2020 football preparations going on, with video meetings to go over personnel groupings and the installation of plays and schemes on both sides of the ball. 

Kelly and his coaches are trying to make the best of it, even as the status of summer workouts, the Aug. 29 season opener against Navy in Dublin and the 12-game regular-season schedule hang in the balance. 

On-campus classes won’t resume until July 6 at the soonest, the university has announced, so Kelly isn’t sure if or when there will be an opportunity for recruits to visit campus or for his team to have its usual extended summer conditioning program in advance of training camp in August. 

The next key date is May 15, which is when school leaders will convene to discuss the path forward based on where the pandemic stands at that point. Contingency plans for the Ireland trip are under discussion, with a relocation of the game to Annapolis or perhaps Baltimore certainly among those. 

“Jack has got a number of things on his plate right now,” Kelly said. “That is one of them. Navy is aware of it. We’re looking at all options at this time. We’d like to play the game in Ireland. Whether we can or not, that is still a topic that is being discussed. We’ll have some alternatives.” 

Definitive statements are nearly impossible to make at this stage of the fight against coronavirus. Kelly just feels fortunate to report that none of his players have tested positive for COVID-19 and that spirits overall remain high. 

“We’re going to have to adjust. What that looks like is probably going to be something different than what we know now.”

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly

If a return to action means ultimately playing games this fall with no fans in the stands or perhaps, as Swarbrick mused, just students and select attendees, Kelly will deal with that reality once it arrives. 

“We’re going to have to adjust,” Kelly said. “What that looks like is probably going to be something different than what we know now. I think we’re all prepared for it, but I don’t know all the implications of what it is that football looks like without fans and how that all works.”

So many unknowns remain. There is, however, at least one apparent certainty for college football. 

“We know that when we do get the green light to go back,” Kelly said, “it’s not going to be, ‘OK, everybody’s good. Don’t worry about the virus.’ We’re going to have to take precautions and do some things differently.”

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