Where you have it wrong is that Kelly needs to get over it. He’s crying about petty shit in the media and making excuses for his failures, and you know the dude is way too savvy politically. He knows his bitching is getting back to the University, the team, the fanbase, and the sport’s world. This is disrespectful to Notre Dame, which is why you are seeing a justified response to him acting like an asshole presently.
While I agree with you that the mystery comments about he’s a prick because he did this and that (but shhh it’s a secret) are a bad look, Kelly certainly isn’t demonstrating class by using Notre Dame and particularly the players as a springboard for his lazy-ass justfications.
That’s called bullshit, and self-inflicted character assassination.
Although Saban might be more of a prick, he doesn’t have to throw others under the bus to explain why he’s never won anything worth a statue.
Here’s where I have to do the shitty thing and be the contrarian…
I really don’t think Kelly is taking shots at ND intentionally, nor do I think he is using ND as a springboard to show why LSU is a better situation for himself and his championship aspirations.
I honestly think he probably believes it’s pretty savvy that he gets to talk to his buddy Russo at the AP, talk up LSU, and the only light shot he has to take at his former job is the idea that the lack of a chef means they aren’t aligned in how they each need to progress anymore… and I kind of agree with that stance, if that’s where he’s at.
He’s too politically smart to take legit shots at ND. It would be easy for him to get a bit more specific about the obstacles a coach faces at ND, and he could even do it without talking down about his prospective student athletes at LSU… but instead, he gives some easy, generic quotes about finding a situation that aligns with his desire to win a championship, and all he has to do is shit on ND’s training table in order to get his point across.
It honestly doesn’t offend me, and I think he’s actually handled the unprecedented situation of being THE guy to leave Notre Dame (of all places!) for another job without having been fired, with a lot of tact. It would be so easy for him to go a step too far in his criticisms, and take it to a place that could actually do some damage to his former employer and force ND-related people to answer tough questions in the media… but he hasn’t done that. And I think that’s a pretty okay thing.
Now, this doesn’t mean that half of what he says isn’t bullshit that is aimed at absolving his own big-game short comings, and talking around the fact that he left ND for more money and an easier road in recruiting and a better chance at catching lightning in a bottle… but I don’t think his “shots” at ND are the insults that people believe.
