Sh**lock : Notre Dame must fire Kelly

[Shogun]

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...t-death-102910

There are some mistakes coaches can’t survive. Brian Kelly made one Wednesday.

Before Notre Dame reaches a financial settlement with the family of Declan Sullivan, the 20-year-old videographer who died in a tragic practice accident, the school must sever ties with its first-year head football coach.

Kelly should not coach the Irish on Saturday when they take on Tulsa.

We don’t need a thorough and exhaustive investigation to recognize Kelly’s negligence. A coach’s most important job, particularly at the amateur level, is to take every reasonable precaution to ensure the safety of the young people under his control.

Kelly failed in the worst way possible.

In recent years, Notre Dame dismissed Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis for failing to win enough games. The school canned George O’Leary for exaggerating on his resume.

Those "crimes" pale in comparison to allowing student managers to go up in 50-foot-tall lifts to film practice in hazardous wind conditions.

Mitigating circumstances do not matter. Notre Dame’s video coordinator should not be held responsible. Declan Sullivan, who tweeted before and during practice the weather conditions were terrifying and life threatening, certainly isn’t to blame.

The head football coach has final say over everything that transpires on the practice field. Everything. That’s why Ohio State’s Jim Tressel moved the Buckeyes’ practice inside on Tuesday when wind gusts made conditions unsafe.

“I don’t know if we’ll be inside or out,” Tressel told Ohio reporters 24 hours before the Notre Dame tragedy. “It looks a little nasty. I worry about our cameramen, their well-being up there 50 feet in the air.”

That’s the proper mindset of a head football coach. He’s paranoid about everything.

On Tuesday, Kelly and the Irish practiced indoors because of tornado warnings. On Wednesday, Kelly chose to take the Irish out into the elements. Coaches love to say, “If we’re going to play in the North Pole, we’re going to practice in the North Pole.”

That’s fine for the players. Student videographers don’t film games from 50-foot lifts on Saturdays. Not to mention lifts of the kind that aren’t recommended for use in winds above 25 mph.

Kelly’s negligence is inexcusable. He ignored the risks. Notre Dame should treat Kelly like a drunk driver whose negligent behavior killed a passenger or another driver. An apology and a financial settlement are not enough.

Please do not read this as a demonization of Brian Kelly.

Having been young and stupid, I know how people make the mistake of drinking and driving. When I read about a drunk-driving tragedy, I have sympathy for all parties involved.

Having played college football and worked with coaches most of my life, I know how Kelly made this mistake. His team is soft. He wanted to test his players mentally and physically in difficult conditions and he wanted to grade the test on tape.

I get it. And I get that he’s experiencing terrible emotional pain.

But there are some mistakes coaches just can’t make without suffering stiff repercussions. This is one.

This is worse than a recruiting violation or a sex scandal or even academic fraud. This is a 20-year-old kid who lost his life when he absolutely didn’t have to. This is a fundamental failure.

Notre Dame and athletic director Jack Swarbrick have no choice but to remove Kelly from his position. On Thursday, during a news conference, Swarbrick seemed most interested in making sure he retained his job and minimizing the public-relations damage.

Swarbrick made it clear that he was at practice less than four or five minutes before the lift holding Sullivan fell over. Swarbrick told reporters that he was on a conference call before he walked over to practice — the inference being he wasn’t there long enough to tell Sullivan to come down from the lift.

Swarbrick then suggested the winds gusted with an unprecedented ferocity, leading to the accident that killed Sullivan.

“Things started flying by me that otherwise had been stationary for all of practice,” Swarbrick said. “Gatorade containers, towels, etc. I noticed the netting on the goal posts start to bend dramatically, and I heard a crash.”

How does Swarbrick know what was “stationary for all of practice” if he only arrived four or five minutes before the crash? And given the weather reports for that part of northern Indiana on Wednesday, it’s ridiculous for Swarbrick to suggest the 50-mph wind gusts were surprising.

Notre Dame might need a new coach and AD.

I really don't know what to make of this whole mess. I don't think you can difinitively put the blame on Kelly, or any one person. Its sad to see this happen and the kid was tweeting about how afraid he was. What the hell.

[dirk digler]

I may agree with Whitlock on this. If Jim Tressel can recognize this then there is no reason Brian Kelly couldn't or didn't.

“I don’t know if we’ll be inside or out,” Tressel told Ohio reporters 24 hours before the Notre Dame tragedy. “It looks a little nasty. I worry about our cameramen, their well-being up there 50 feet in the air.”

[Coogs]

I'm probably going to catch crap about this one, but I tend to have to agree with Whitlock on this one. Doesn't really matter who sent the kid up there. A little common sense by the HC... who is in charge of the football operation... would have said to walk over to the film guys and said "I think we should sit this one out today, come on down." Now I realize tail lights burn brighter, but...

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Spott

Kelly is definitely a douchebag for what he did to Cincinnati last year, but I don't know if this is his fault. You would think recording from the stands would be good enough instead of getting on a lift that high.

Notre Dame rarely practices inside their stadium so filming from the stands isn't an option. They have an outstanding outdoor practice field, but there are no stands around it.

I graduated from ND in 95', so my view may be a little skewed, but this looks like a tragic accident that could have been avoided. I don't think you can blame one person for this tragedy. Kelly, his staff, ND administration, and the kid himself all should share in the blame.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Notre Dame rarely practices inside their stadium so filming from the stands isn't an option. They have an outstanding outdoor practice field, but there are no stands around it.

I graduated from ND in 95', so my view may be a little skewed, but this looks like a tragic accident that could have been avoided. I don't think you can blame one person for this tragedy. Kelly, his staff, ND administration, and the kid himself all should share in the blame.

It's pretty hard to blame the kid, if he had been properly trained in how to use the lift he never would've went up in those conditions.

[Psyko Tek]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

It's pretty hard to blame the kid, if he had been properly trained in how to use the lift he never would've went up in those conditions.

we are talking a 20 yr old male
probably said
oh hell yes, let's see jackass do this


at 20 I probably would have

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

It's pretty hard to blame the kid, if he had been properly trained in how to use the lift he never would've went up in those conditions.

I'm in no way trying to make the kid look bad, but if you tweet "I guess I've lived long enough" and "Holy #hit, holy #hit, this is terrifying" don't you think you would come down on your own. If I though my life was in danger, I'm fairly certain my survival instincts would take over and I would say fug it and get out of there.

I feel sorry for his family and friends, but I don't agree that Kelly needs to lose his job over this. Whitlock has a personal vendetta against Notre Dame because they fired a black coach. He's as see through as saran wrap.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Kelly, his staff, ND administration, and the kid himself all should share in the blame.

While I agree with this, ultimately someone has to take the responsibility for all the things that go on everyday within the football program at any university. My guess is that responsibility stops at the front door of the HC at every single program. In this case that would be Kelly.

I feel bad for everyone involved, but it is what it is.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I may agree with Whitlock on this. If Jim Tressel can recognize this then there is no reason Brian Kelly couldn't or didn't.

Tressel's quote is the most damning statement there could be. Without that quote, I wouldn't know what to think. Having read that quote, BK needs to resign. The student was under the coach's direction. A reasonable person could have been expected to have foreseen the risk. I wouldn't be opposed to criminal charges.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Tressel's quote is the most damning statement there could be. Without that quote, I wouldn't know what to think. Having read that quote, BK needs to resign. The student was under the coach's direction. A reasonable person could have been expected to have foreseen the risk. I wouldn't be opposed to criminal charges.

Yep that is exactly how I felt when I read that quote.

[lazepoo]

I'm dubious we'll see criminal charges, but there's no doubt in my mind there's a civil suit in ND's future.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

I'm in no way trying to make the kid look bad, but if you tweet "I guess I've lived long enough" and "Holy #hit, holy #hit, this is terrifying" don't you think you would come down on your own. If I though my life was in danger, I'm fairly certain my survival instincts would take over and I would say fug it and get out of there.

I feel sorry for his family and friends, but I don't agree that Kelly needs to lose his job over this. Whitlock has a personal vendetta against Notre Dame because they fired a black coach. He's as see through as saran wrap.

I wasn't aware of the tweets. Who knows how serious he was but he should've never been allowed to go up in the first place.

[Shogun]

I would be willing to bet it comes down to the AD and Brian Kelly making one huge apology, the University financially settling with the family ( I also find it very odd almost immediately the school and family were talking about this ) OSHA slapping them with some huge fine and their people overseeing changes made to make sure that something like this never happens again. Something along those lines.

[GloryDayz]

I think Mangino will work for peanuts...