In an instant gratification culture where news can be "so three seconds ago," patience with a quality coach often can be in short supply. Brian Kelly can probably feel it in his sixth season at Notre Dame.
Generally, he has been classified as one of the top 10-15 college coaches in his field, even top 5 after the 12-0 regular season in 2012 which led to a berth into the BCS Championship and a shellacking from Alabama. Still, how many coaches can go 12-0 in the regular season at a school with virtually no football tradition like Kelly did at Cincinnati in 2009, and do the same three years later at another that had been reeling from inconsistency and instability?
Following that with 9-4 and 8-5 records the past two seasons has prompted some angst that Kelly has hit his plateau as the head coach, or "is a nine-win coach who can't get to the next level." Others will contend that he has some more double-digit win seasons ahead of him at Notre Dame, but then he will parlay them (or it) into an NFL contract. Maybe both schools of thought might prove accurate, or maybe not.
Nevertheless, the coach we thought Kelly was maybe most comparable to upon his arrival was Mack Brown, the University of Texas boss from 1998-2013 who had excelled at prior stops prior to getting a premier job (and will be a featured speaker at this month's Irish Coaching Clinic) and also had strong PR skills. In his first six seasons with the Longhorns, Brown was often lambasted for underachieving (no BCS Bowl in any of the first six) or losing by scores such as 63-14 or 65-13 to arch rival Oklahoma.
Yet Brown's best days were still ahead of him, as they hopefully are for Kelly. He can also look at three other current head coaches at Notre Dame who at one point looked like they had reached a plateau:
Bobby Clark
The head coach of the men's soccer team since 2001 led the Irish to the NCAA quarterfinals (Elite Eight) in 2007, a bench mark for the program, before losing.
In the next five years from 2008-12, Notre Dame either lost in the second round or the first, or didn't even get invited to the NCAA Tournament (2011). In 2012, it looked like the breakthrough would finally occur when the Irish earned the No. 1 seed, only to lose to eventual champion Indiana in the second round.
Had Clark reached his plateau? A year later the Irish won their first national title ever in the sport.
Mike Brey
In his first three seasons from 2001-03, Brey and the Irish were among a dozen programs that had won at least one NCAA Tournament game each of those three years. That was followed by three straight NIT bids, and some admitted self-evaluation from Brey himself on whether his time at Notre Dame had run its course.
Upon further review, he set the model to always try to build an older, veteran team, and recruit high basketball IQ players who stay all four or even five years. NCAA Tournament success has been sparse, but the infrastructure has led to consistent excellence in the regular season, including a No. 5 finish in 2011 with a 27-6 record and No. 8 this season at 29-5, with the school's first ever conference championship (ACC) coming one year after his first losing season in 14 years with the Irish.
We often joke that "the older we get, the better I was." In Brey's case, the older he's growing, the better he's getting.
Muffet McGraw
Upon being named the women's basketball coach in May, 1987, McGraw made it clear that the goal was to be in the Top 20 within three and no more than four years.
Notre Dame did briefly appear in the Top 25 her fourth year, but ended with consecutive losses to Santa Clara, Louisville and Northern Illinois in the WNIT. In year 5, the bottom fell out. Although the Irish had signed some All-Americans, including top-rated guard Michelle Marciniak, the ambitious McGraw and Co., overscheduled early en route to a 14-17 campaign. Marciniak then transferred to the premier program in the country, Tennessee, and the following year the Irish were only 15-12 in McGraw's sixth season.
It wasn't until McGraw's ninth year (1996) Notre Dame actually placed in the Top 25 - the same year it ended a 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents with its first NCAA Tournament victory, versus No. 15 Purdue.
Similar to former Northwestern head coach Ara Parseghian noting he learned the most during his 0-9 season at Northwestern in 1957, or Lou Holtz building a future champion during his 5-6 debut at Notre Dame in 1986, McGraw said her toughest times forged wisdom.
"I had a lot of on-the-job training and I learned a lot about recruiting after that losing season," she said. "It was not fun going through it, but certainly looking back on it I think it really helped me.
"A lot of it was it was more important to find the right fit with a recruit, the right chemistry with the team, more so than somebody that was talented. Notre Dame is a special place and it really takes special people to truly understand that. It was something that I had to learn too. We recruited some really good players, but it just didn't work and we didn't have the chemistry.
"And back then coaching was more of a dictatorship. The relationship with players is so important and I had to learn a lot the first few years on dealing with them."
Because the program was still in a fledgling stage, McGraw had a chance to grow with it.
"I was fortunate because when I came on board here I had a chance to make mistakes," she said. "I don't think coaches now … they're given three years to turn a program around. You just can't do it sometimes in that amount of time. I was fortunate that the administration was patient in helping guide me through some of those early ups and downs."
Likewise, the hope is with Kelly is the best years, however many are remaining, are still ahead of him while with the Irish.
