There are a lot of good reasons why and many have already been stated here. So I’ll come at it from a little different angle, one that admittedly is based on a fan’s (namely me) gut feel and emotion. Brian Kelly’s teams just do not play a satisfying brand of football. Even in victory, they are seldom dominant. They are soft (especially on offense). They are sloppy. They are inconsistent. They lack an identity. They rely on finesse over physicality. And they never seem prepared for the big stage.
When I was young, Notre Dame games fueled a great emotion in me. There was tremendous joy and satisfaction in victory. The kind of satisfaction you feel when the good guy beats up the neighborhood bully. Even in defeat, I could be proud of the determination and toughness they displayed and rarely questioned their desire, motivation, or coaching.
But with Kelly’s teams there’s something missing, something empty. Maybe it’s just because I’m old and jaded, but I just never seem to walk away from a game feeling that the team really hit the sweet spot. In victory, there’s always a nagging “yeah, but...” feeling. You know, “yeah, but we only could rush for 49 yards against the 101st ranked rush defense,” or “yeah, but that stupid play call on the goal line nearly cost us, or, “yeah, but we were really lucky that field goal attempt went wide,” or “yeah, but, Virginia Tech (or Stanford, or Florida State, or Southern Cal) really sucks this year.” And in defeat, it’s usually just a feeling of complete embarrassment and humiliation.
If Brian Kelly was an elite coach, I’d be feeling a lot more satisfied about the results of this season and the state of Notre Dame football. If Brian Kelly was an elite coach, I wouldn’t be writing this today.