Brian Kelly agrees to 6-year deal through 2021 with Notre Dame
Notre Dame has agreed with coach Brian Kelly on a six-year contract through the 2021 season, the school announced Friday.
Kelly previously had been signed through 2017 but reworked his agreement with Notre Dame after guiding the Irish to a 10-3 record and a Fiesta Bowl appearance this past season. He is 55-23 in six seasons at Notre Dame and has reached bowl games every year with the Irish. Kelly, 54, has a career record of 226-80-3 in 25 years as a head coach, including 149 wins since 2001, more than all but two FBS coaches (Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer).
After FBS coaching stops at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, Kelly came to Notre Dame in December 2009. He's the first Notre Dame coach to record eight or more wins in each of his first six seasons. Notre Dame reached the BCS national championship game in 2012 after a 12-0 regular-season record, the school's first undefeated season since 1988, when it claimed its most recent national title.
Kelly ranks seventh among active NCAA FBS coaches in winning percentage (.737).
"I coach football because I believe there are few better avenues for impacting the lives of young men, and I am certain that there is no better place to do that than the University of Notre Dame," Kelly said in a prepared statement.
The deal is set to make Kelly the second-longest-serving Irish coach in history. Knute Rockne coached 13 seasons from 1918 to '30 before he died in a plane crash in Kansas at 43.
Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz all coached the Irish 11 seasons.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who hired Kelly after firing Charlie Weis following the 2009 season, said he is excited about the future of the program under Kelly.
"In the classroom, in the community and on the playing field, Brian has built the foundation of a great Notre Dame football program -- one that reflects this university's values and its unique relationship to the game of football," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
