Cincinnati Head Coach Brian Kelly (official thread)

[osugrad21]

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CMU'S KELLY TAKES CINCINNATI JOB

CINCINNATI ? Brian Kelly accepted the head coaching job at Cincinnati on Sunday, three days after he led Central Michigan to the Mid-American Conference football championship.
Kelly replaces Mark Dantonio, who left to coach at Michigan State after three seasons in Cincinnati. Earlier Sunday, the Bearcats agreed to play in the inaugural International Bowl on Jan. 6 in Toronto against Western Michigan.
Pat Narduzzi, who was the defensive coordinator under Dantonio, has been getting the Bearcats ready for their fifth bowl appearance in the last seven seasons.
Cincinnati is 7-5 and 4-3 in the Big East, coming off a regular season that included an upset of then-unbeaten Rutgers.
Kelly's Central Michigan team beat Ohio 31-10 in the MAC title game on Thursday, the school's first championship since 1994.
The Chippewas went 9-4 and will play Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26, their first bowl appearance since 1994.
During his three seasons at Central Michigan, Kelly has turned the Chippewas into one of the MAC's top offensive teams.
Central Michigan ranks 19th in passing in Division 1-A and 27th in scoring.
Kelly won back-to-back Division II national titles at Grand Valley State in 2002-03.
He coached 13 seasons at Grand Valley before moving to Central Michigan.

[osugrad21]

Cincy

UC hires new coach
Central Michigan's Kelly will take over in Clifton
BY BILL KOCH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
University of Cincinnati football fans who have clamored for an offensive-minded head coach are finally getting their wish.
UC announced Sunday night that Brian Kelly, head coach at Central Michigan for the last three years, will be introduced today at a 4 p.m. news conference as the Bearcats' new head coach, replacing Mark Dantonio, who left a week ago for Michigan State.
"It's going to be nice to be able to do some different things on offense," said UC sophomore quarterback Dustin Grutza. "Both our offense and defense are going to change. We have to be ready to embrace it and do the best we can."
Grutza said he didn't know much about Kelly, but said he had heard that UC officials were seeking an offensive-minded coach.
"Sometimes, I did feel like we were conservative," Grutza said. "I wanted to get the ball out and do more with the offense, but I knew our coaches' philosophies. When they were here we were just following their philosophy.
"I think an aggressive style might be a little more exciting. I think it will be a good thing for us."
During Kelly's three years at Central Michigan, the Chippewas went 19-16. This season they were 8-4 before beating Ohio, 31-10, Thursday in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
They're scheduled to play Middle Tennessee in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26.
UC athletic director Mike Thomas interviewed Kelly on Sunday in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
"From the first time that I had a chance to meet him, I was taken by his personality and his drive for success," Thomas said Sunday. "From coaching two national championship teams at Grand Valley State, to winning the MAC championship in only his third year at Central Michigan, Brian has been a winner everywhere he has coached."
Kelly, 44, met with his Central Michigan players at 5 p.m. to tell them that he was leaving for UC. At about the same time, Dantonio was at the UC football banquet saying a final goodbye to his players.
The hiring of Kelly frees interim head coach Pat Narduzzi to move immediately to Michigan State to be defensive coordinator. It was unclear Sunday who would coach UC on Jan. 6 in the International Bowl.
In 2004, Kelly took over a Central Michigan program that had won three or fewer games in three of the previous four seasons.
The Chippewas went 4-7 his first year and 6-5 in 2005, their first winning season since 1998. The Chippewas averaged 29.5 points per game during the regular season this year.
Central Michigan players say the Bearcats will enjoy playing for Kelly.
"He's got everything you need for a championship," said defensive back Calvin Hissong. "It's just if the kids are ready to follow him. It's sad to see him go but I can see why he's moving up because he's got the blueprint to a championship, as long as he's got the right kind of guys to follow that blueprint."
Linebacker Red Keith said the first things people notice when they meet Kelly are his competitiveness and his confidence.
"He's very exciting to play for," Keith said. "He's going to bring the best out of you. He brought a plan in here and he convinced us to trust him that he had the right plans for us to be successful. We trusted him that he could lead us to the success we wanted to have. He's a great leader."
Kelly, who was a candidate for the Iowa State and Michigan State jobs, won two NCAA Division II national titles at Grand Valley State and was 118-35-2 in 13 seasons there before going to Central Michigan, his first Division I-A coaching job.
He was 41-2 in his last three seasons at Grand Valley State and at one point won 32 straight games.

[bigtenbadboy]

Sounds Like a good hire for UC. Brian Kelley was the head coach at Grand Valley when I played against them one year in the late 90's while at Ashland. Our only loss of the regular season.

[osugrad21]

Cincy

Kelly puts UC on offensive
Zimpher, Thomas get their man
BY BILL KOCH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER


The last two University of Cincinnati football coaches were defensive coordinators from nationally acclaimed programs - Rick Minter from Notre Dame and Mark Dantonio from Ohio State.
Both had their moments of success, but in the end Minter was fired after 10 years and Dantonio bolted for Michigan State after three.
This time, UC is trying a different route, trusting the program to an offensive-minded head coach from Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference.

Brian Kelly, 44, was handed the keys to the UC program during a press conference Monday afternoon at the Kingsgate Marriott hotel with the usual fanfare - the band played the fight song, UC president Nancy Zimpher issued her standard Bearcat welcome and applause rung out from the non- reporters in the crowd.
"Brian Kelly is a championship coach," Zimpher said, "and we expect our Bearcats to be winners and to become a perennial Top 25 football team. My job, Brian, is to raise expectations."
Kelly's job is to reach those expectations where so many others have failed.
If nothing else, he approaches the task with plenty of enthusiasm, his voice booming into the microphone as he made his first public comments as UC head coach, promising the packed stadiums and championships that have been elusive for this school.
"We will play for championships," Kelly said. "That's why I'm here, to play for Big East championships."
He has played for plenty of titles before. He won two NCAA Division II national titles as the head coach at Grand Valley (Mich.) State 2002 and 2003.
This year he won the MAC championship in his third year at Central Michigan.
It was his track record of winning - he has a 137-51-2 record in 16 seasons as a head coach - that pushed him to the top of athletic director Mike Thomas' list of candidates.
"He's won at every level and he has a blueprint for what it's going to take to win," Thomas said. "The other thing is how he relates to his kids. He has a lot of energy. We need to have a head coach who not only is the face of this program but projects a great deal of energy that can help people get excited about UC football."
Kelly has not yet signed a contract. Thomas said the details were still being finalized but that the length will be five years.
The new UC coach got off to a good start with Bearcat fans when he proclaimed that he likes to throw the football around the field and then proclaimed that the Bearcats will not take a back seat to national power Ohio State when it comes to recruiting.
For years, the Buckeyes have had their pick of the top local talent, but Kelly vowed that he wouldn't accept that status quo without a fight.
"This is our base," he said. "We must hold our base in the state of Ohio. We're going to make things interesting in this state. It's going to be a little bit crowded now. We're not going to get them all but we're going to be at every good football player's doorstep recruiting for the University of Cincinnati."
Asked if he were talking specifically about recruiting against Ohio State, Kelly said, "The last time I checked they were (Division) I-A and we were I-A.
"If you're going to feel as if you can't compete in the state of Ohio at the University of Cincinnati then I should have stayed in Mount Pleasant. Now I'm not going to tell you that I'm ready to tackle (Ohio State coach) Jim Tressel on the 50-yard line, but we are going to be in this state with a great deal of pride in what we have and we're going to compete."
Thomas said Kelly was on his short list from the beginning of a search that lasted less than a week.
"Once we got into the process, he rose to the top of the list," he said.

[BuckeyePride]

Just saw it on ESPN... Cincy will be losing one scholarship due to academics and there are chances that they could lose more

[ol104]

Is this due to APR or whatever that ratio is the NCAA will be using?

[jrandosu]

Almost positive that is for basketball.