Dec. 31--One Kelly out doesn't necessarily mean another Kelly wants in.
When Eagles coach Chip Kelly was fired Tuesday, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly's name inevitably popped up in the rumor mill.
But the Irish coach Wednesday insisted his interest in the NFL isn't piqued, but rather has peaked.
"I'm not curious anymore about how I would do in the NFL," Brian Kelly said. "It's always about, 'Would I want to do that? Would I want to put myself in that position?' That's the issue. I'm not curious."
There would be one exception, Kelly said: Complete control.
He has it in South Bend, Ind., where he's the voice of every aspect of the program.
It's an opportunity rarely afforded to NFL coaches.
"How would you give up control of all the things you have at Notre Dame to do that, unless they gave you full autonomy and control of an organization?" Kelly asked. "I don't think that's happening any time soon for Brian Kelly."
The Brian Kelly who handles contracts, who approved of the season-long Showtime series to invade his team's personal space all season, who recruits and has veto power on most decisions.
"I'm the owner, the GM," he said. "I'm the football coach. Very rarely do you have those scenarios in the NFL. ... If you're going to make that move to the NFL, you have to understand what you're getting into."
Kelly, in his 25th year as a coach, leads active college coaches with 226 victories. He interviewed with the Eagles before Chip Kelly was hired.
Brian Kelly was fresh off a national championship game appearance then.
Now he's focused on Friday's Fiesta Bowl, on Ohio State.
"We measured ourselves in 2012, found out we were a little short," Kelly said of the 42-14 loss to Alabama. "Now we get a chance to measure ourselves again. To me, that's the more important thing. We need to win the game, but we're still measuring where we are."
From the sound of it, that's where Brian Kelly plans to stay.
