Notre Dame Is in the National Championship Game Because Brian Kelly Is Not Its Coach

The popular narrative out of Notre Dame right now is that the Fighting Irish would not be playing for the national championship Monday night if Brian Kelly was still their coach.

Notre Dame is playing for the national championship Monday night because two somewhat fortunate and very timely game-changing sequences occurred during their postseason playoff run.

The Irish beat Georgia in the quarterfinal round because they scored 17 points in a 54-second span to close out the first half and begin the second.

Thanks to a turnover, they got 10 points in the final 39 seconds of the first half on a field goal, followed quickly by a Georgia fumble that Oben recovered for the Irish, who turned it into an instant 12-yard touchdown pass with a few seconds left.

Conveniently, the Irish received the second-half kickoff — and promptly returned it 98 yards for a touchdown.

The following game against Penn State, Notre Dame was down 10-0 and was getting drummed late in the first half when the Irish finally put up a field goal.

Again, they got the second-half kickoff and marched 74 yards for a touchdown — 10-10, game on.

The Irish eventually won with a field goal with seven seconds remaining.

Neither probably would have happened if Kelly at been on the Notre Dame sideline.

If he had been, it’s likely that Notre Dame would have been kicking off to open the second halftime, negating the kind of double-dipping you can sometimes finagle with offensive possessions.

Other than defying a fashionable school tradition to way-too-often dress LSU like clowns for their chores, it’s been the biggest head-scratcher of the Kelly regime.

It’s infuriating.

To wit: Why, when LSU wins the pregame coin toss, does he most often choose to take the ball first?

LSU lost their last four coin tosses this season to finish 5-8 on their flips. On three of those wins Kelly chose to take the ball.

It’s infuriating.

The prudent move, of course, is to defer your choice to the second half— to receiver the second half kickoff.

It’s a no-brainer.

Most times it’s a small thing, usually not a big factor. But with the way coaches are always searching for the least bit of minutiae for any small edge, how could you pass up that one?

The football moons still have to line up and orbit just right. You still have to execute it. But if there’s any chance to get scores on consecutive possessions without your opponent getting a rebuttal, wouldn’t you take it?

Why do you think in the waning moments of the first half, particularly if a team is driving, the announcers always point out who gets the ball to start the second half?

The football orbits might be aligning, that’s why.

Of course, you still have to win the pregame toss to put the wheels in motion.

Admittedly, that’s still more of a coin flip.