With news of Brian Kelly’s sudden and stunning departure from Notre Dame, capped off by a three-minute goodbye to his players at 7 a.m. before promptly leaving without taking questions, many have resurfaced old stories of Kelly’s earlier coaching days, when many considered him to operate more like a tyrant than the more laid-back persona he has publicly taken on in recent years.
One of the top stories to come back into the spotlight involved Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who was a graduate assistant for Kelly at Central Michigan, along with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. The 2019 story by ESPN began by detailing a story of Saleh and LaFleur being forced to shovel snow and park cars at a holiday party at Kelly’s house.
Social media used the story to reinforce the critical views on Kelly that are currently circulating, but Saleh told reporters on Wednesday that the story, and the ensuing reaction, was not an accurate representation of Kelly as a boss or a person.
“I feel terrible, because that whole thing was taken out of context,” Saleh said. “When you’re coming up in this profession, part of that article was to tell a funny story of Matt and I as GAs. Part of being a GA, every single coach in this profession, there’s a right of passage…and that was a funny story and not indicative or an indictment of how Brian treated us. Brian is a phenomenal man. He really is.”
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Saleh took the blame for the story painting Kelly in a certain light, but maintained that it is not an accurate light. He also told reporters that he tried to work for Kelly again in South Bend after Kelly took the head coaching job with the Irish.
“That was one of those deals that was supposed to be a funny story that people took in a negative light,” Saleh said. “Shame on me, I should have worded it better. But there’s a reason why Matt went back and worked for him. There’s a reason why I tried to go back and work for him. He’s a really good man. He treats people the right way.”
As for any other criticism Kelly is currently taking for bolting for LSU with Notre Dame still in the College Football Playoff mix, Saleh doesn’t believe that is warranted either.
“I know people are probably upset with him now, but there’s never a right way to do things of that nature,” Saleh said. “He’s taking a shot on himself. I’m always one of his biggest fans, and I feel awful that it was taken in that light.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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