To be clear, this was Brian Kelly's job interview.
He stared Friday into the expectant gaze of Notre Dame followers, a skeptical legion demanding their new football coach deliver them from apathy, and also to a Bowl Championship Series game if possible.
Kelly, wearing a green striped tie and a Notre Dame pin on his lapel, took a flamethrower to their doubt. He invoked Lindsey Nelson and watching television replays of Irish games as a kid. His father's 50th birthday gift was a pilgrimage to South Bend.
He talked about "RKGs" -- Right Kind of Guys -- and coaching "tough gentlemen." And he talked about a kiss from his daughter, Grace, and her personal blessing: "Dad, I'm so happy for you. I know this has been your dream."
"There is a football coach, and then there's the football coach at Notre Dame," Kelly said, reaching his crescendo, "because nobody, nobody does it like Notre Dame."
It was a command performance in Kelly's introduction as Notre Dame's 29th coach, 15th since Knute Rockne, and now he will be judged on whether he can produce 12 encores every fall.
"First and foremost, restoring [Notre Dame] to the traditions that we all know about, and those aren't 8-4 years -- those are national championship years," Kelly said. "It's about winning championships and being in the BCS and being nationally prominent. And that's a challenge. We have to get to work on that."
Kansas AD denies Harbaugh offer Athletic director Lew Perkins says he has not offered the vacant Kansas coaching job amid reports that the school is negotiating with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. The Kansas City Star reported that Harbaugh has talked with Perkins about the job and that Harbaugh probably would be Kansas' top choice. The Star also reported that East Carolina's Skip Holtz and Buffalo's Turner Gill have talked to Perkins and are still much in the running for the job.
