SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Brian Kelly will remain Notre Dame's football coach, the school announced Saturday, ending what his boss deemed a "heartfelt" examination of a jump to the NFL.
"This week, I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach," Kelly said in a statement released by the school.
"Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame."
Kelly interviewed with the Eagles on Tuesday, the day after the Irish's 42-14 loss to Alabama in the BCS championship game, but no word had emanated from South Bend on the status of the discussions until Saturday. And now that Kelly will remain aboard, the process will continue toward a restructuring of his deal with Notre Dame.
"This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country," Kelly said. "We still have a lot of work to do and my staff and I are excited about the challenges ahead."
In a phone conversation with the Tribune on Saturday, athletics director Jack Swarbrick laid out the timeline of the entire process: The Eagles first contacted Kelly, who had them contact Swarbrick, which they did the day after firing coach Andy Reid in late December.
Swarbrick asked that any conversations wait until after the BCS title game. Meanwhile, back in early December, Swarbrick had assured Kelly that a new deal was forthcoming.
"We talk about a host of things, and back then, we talked about assistant coach compensation and other things," Swarbrick said. "In that conversation, I said I want to restructure your deal, and let's start the process of doing that. We didn't spend any time on that during the preparation for the national championship. We had some preliminary discussions, and when the championship was over, we returned to it, and we'll continue to work on it."
But, in Swarbrick's mind, this was never a leverage play by Kelly -- simply because he viewed the interest of the Irish's head coach as real.
"The funny thing about a deal like this is, if you feel like somebody's using an opportunity for leverage, you're typically pretty comfortable they're not going anywhere, right?" Swarbrick said. "That was never the case here. So you know it's an earnest examination of the option. While I felt good about our conversations and the way he feels about Notre Dame, I also knew he was engaged in a heartfelt consideration about whether this was something he might want to do."
A league source said Kelly never received an offer from the Eagles. Which is logical, because the franchise had asked for a second meeting with Kelly to take place next week, if he desired it. No offer would have arrived before then.
It's a moot point now, though the franchise issued a statement about the pursuit of college coaches such as Kelly and Oregon's Chip Kelly and Penn State's Bill O'Brien before him.
"There is no question we spent a considerable amount of time and effort looking at who we thought were the best collegiate candidates for our head coaching job," the team statement read.
"We did so knowing that there was a remote chance that these coaches would leave their current posts. We understood that going into the process, but we wanted to leave no stone unturned while trying to find the best head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have no regrets about the effort we made in that direction and we will continue to proceed as planned in our search."
Swarbrick, meanwhile, does not begrudge Kelly's exploration.
"My coaches all know this: I think if you want to be anywhere else, Notre Dame is the wrong place for you," Swarbrick said. "You have to be able to explore and consider, because I want you to understand what the options are, I want you to be familiar with them, because I think that makes the bond at Notre Dame stronger. I have never refused anybody permission. I've always said, yeah, go ahead. But after you do that, if you have any reservations, you need to go."
And how does he know Kelly has no reservations?
"It's reaching the final decision, it's exploring the option, it's understanding it, it's comparing it to his situation and deciding what I believed he would all along – that he's a great fit here and he loves the place and he wants to build on what he started," Swarbrick said.
bchamilton@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribHamilton
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