Mr. November: Brian Kelly

Many post-1988 ND teams have faltered down the stretch. Even Lou Holtz had November miscues, notably in 1993. The Irish entered November 2002 8-0 and November 2009 7-2 before falling flat. Since winning the title game after the ’88 season, Notre Dame has a .648 winning percentage. In November, though, the mark shrinks to .603.

Brian Kelly’s track record suggests his Irish teams will reverse the trend. Kelly coached Cincinnati to a 10-1 November record in three seasons with the only loss coming against No. 5 WVU. Bringing in his Central Michigan numbers, Kelly has a .727 November win rate as a Division I coach in comparison to his .707 overall D-I mark.

Those six seasons are evidence that Kelly will increase ND’s annual November wins. While our yearly goal involves not one month but an entire season of perfection, Kelly’s success rate in college football’s most crucial month shows he is capable of turning around one of the program’s biggest problems since the late 80s.