Written by Paul Skrbina at Chicago Tribune.com
The numbers don’t lie, even if Brian Kelly doesn’t want to face the truth publicly, ugly as it is.
Let’s start with the number four. That’s how many games, out of its last five, Notre Dame has lost.
The cumulative score of those five games: 178-178.
The Irish’s lone victory during that stretch, against Nevada, was sandwiched between defeats to Stanford, Ohio State, Texas and Michigan State.
No wonder Kelly answered thusly — and wryly — when asked how he has dealt with defensive deficiencies in the past.
“Scored more points,” he said.
Here’s another number: $1.1 million. That was the sum of Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s paychecks two years ago.
Who knows what the next tax documents the school releases will reveal. Either way, VanGorder is one the highest-paid assistant coaches in the country.
His defense doesn’t exactly reflect the investment the program has made in VanGorder, who spent some time in the NFL and has a history with Kelly dating to their days together at Grand Valley State.
Cameras caught Kelly in a heated exchange with VanGorder on Saturday during a 36-28 loss to Michigan State. And Kelly seemed on the verge of expressing his frustration afterward.
“Colleagues,” Kelly said when asked to describe their relationship. “Colleagues in it together to get the most out of our players.”
He doubled down over the next few days and endorsed VanGorder publicly. Blamed missed tackles and poor fundamentals and youth and, well, everything but VanGorder.
I’m guessing, though, Kelly has shared his dissatisfaction with him privately. Fair enough.
“Yeah, without question,” Kelly said of whether VanGorder is the right man for the job. “That’s not even part of the conversation. It’s really about the fundamentals of defense. This is not rocket science. … There’s not a question about scheme. There’s not a question about who’s leading it with Brian.”
The question is, how long will he continue to lead it?
Kelly said Tuesday that VanGorder “is coaching his butt off.”
VanGorder’s defense, oft-criticized for being too complicated to learn in the limited time college players have to learn it, better get off its behind, though.
It’s not like there hasn’t been talent. Last year the unit had two All-Americans — Jaylon Smith and Sheldon Day — and KeiVarae Russell. All were NFL draft picks.
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