Notre Dame's Kelly: Boycott on table if CFP doesn't have families
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly first stayed about the political fray.
Then the Fighting Irish coach on Friday sent a warning shock-wave throughout college football: No. 2-ranked Notre Dame -- the ONLY team this season in college football with a win against a No. 1-ranked team -- might sit out the College Football Playoffs if there's no guarantee families can watch their sons compete in person.
"Here's the only thing I'm going to say: They've got to make sure that whatever sites they play at, the parents are going to be watching their sons play," Kelly said when asked if both his team and Clemson should be CFP entrants regardless the outcome of Saturday's ACC title bout in Charlotte, N.C. "That's what they've got to figure out. So maybe they need to spend a little less time on who the top four teams are and figure out how to get parents into these games. Because it is an absolute shame and a sham if parents can't be watching their kids.
"My kids have been on campus since June. They haven't seen their families very much at all. They've had to fight through COVID. Some of them have had COVID. They can't be around their families for Christmas. I'm going to have them there for Christmas. I'm going to bring in families that aren't theirs during Christmas. And you're going to tell me we're going to have a playoff and maybe one site can have families and the other can't? Please. Somebody's got to wake up in that room and figure this out. Otherwise you just might as well call this the professional league because nothing speaks to this is just about having a playoff and we don't care about the student-athletes. I know I went off on a tangent, but I am so sick and tired of this playoff committee talking about having sites where you can't have parents in and their families. It's ridiculous. Sorry."
A follow-up question to Kelly on the ACC-organized championship Zoom with media from around the country then prompted Kelly to reveal Notre Dame has discussed all options -- talks that included the potential to not play, if the Irish players elected not to do so.
"I'm not sure we'll play in the playoffs if parents can't be there, to be honest with you," Kelly said. "Why would we play if you can't have families at the game? A bowl game? Yeah, we would opt out. If you can't have families at bowl games, why would you go to a bowl game if your family can't be part of it?
"What's the sense in playing a game in an area of the country where nobody can be part of it? It doesn't surprise me at all. There's so many sacrifices these kids have had to make. And to go to a bowl game where there's no real opportunities for them to do anything, right, they're going to stay on campus, they may show up at the bowl game 24, 48 hours prior to, so there's no real reward?
"Go home and see your families. Go home for Christmas. That's the reward really more than anything else, than playing in a bowl game. It's just different. It's not the bowl game's fault. I get it. We're in a pandemic. There's restrictions and things like that, but we've got to think about the student-athletes in this situation. Not having a chance to share this with their families after being away and sacrificing so much, you can see why they wouldn't want to play."
Kelly, whose team had one early-season delay to a COVID-19 outbreak within the roster that forced Notre Dame to postpone its Wake Forest game, which the league ultimately cancelled, emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic had forced everyone to make changes. But Kelly pointed out the hypocrisy that rested in asking student-athletes (and students in general) to change everything about their daily lives but not to more openly discuss changing the tradition of the system.
"We'll talk it over with our team. The players make, they drive this," Kelly said. "I don't drive it. I'm echoing their concerns. I'm not the guy out there making this up, because it's not about my family. It's about their family. I'm a voice for our team, and they're concerned.
"They're focused on the ACC Championship. That's where their focus is. They're not going to be speaking about these things. If in fact we're selected to be part of it, this will then be No. 1 on their radar. I'll have to then address it with our leaders as to how we feel about this. Certainly that will be the next topic we address after the ACC Championship game."
Should the Rose Bowl be eliminated if parents cannot be guaranteed the opportunity to see their sons compete?
"Absolutely," Kelly said. "Removed. Why can't it be the Rose Bowl in Las Vegas? Or can't it be the Rose Bowl in another town? I get it. Where's the flexibility for the student-athlete, is all I'm saying. The one thing these kids have been is incredibly flexible and on the other side, we can't be flexible? It's hard to imagine.
"We'll deal with it. If we're fortunate enough to be one of the four teams, it's going to be a topic. Our guys may come out of it and say, 'You know what, this is what we're going to do. We're not going to wear a Rose Bowl patch.' I don't know. All I know is it is a No. 1 topic for our guys if in fact they are selected."
Kelly said it's college football being overly tethered to its past.
"Ah, man. Tradition. We're worshiping the ashes of tradition," Kelly said. "That can be the only reason. Look, nobody's going to trade out this year for next year. Next year's going to be a revenue-producing year. So nobody wants to come in and say, 'All right, we'll take it.'
"I'm not in that meeting. I can't imagine what push has been applied, but they're not thinking about the student-athlete and that's the issue. Maybe there's deals that have already been cut behind the lines and I'm not aware. That they're going to get the parents in there and Coach Kelly should get off his soap box and shut up. Hopefully that's the case.
"I'm just making it clear that if our team is selected and we're fortunate enough, the next issue will be let's make sure the student-athletes get their families in to watch them play."
