Good for the Cincinnati Bearcat Players!

It was announced this week that popular and very successful Head Coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats was hitting the road and taking the fame and money that Notre Dame was offering.  Brian Kelly spoke in a press conference on Friday about how he was excited for his new gig:

"you don't win on Saturdays with X's and O's; you win because you've been working on it all during the week....At the end of the day, this is about winning football games, and the head coach is responsible for that....There is a football coach and then there's the football coach at Notre Dame, because nobody, nobody does it like Notre Dame"

The Bearcat players he was leaving behind weren't nearly as excited.  Nor should they be.  This is exactly what is wrong with major college athletics.  Players are recruited, stalked, and convinced to come to a school that will give them an education, an opportunity to play football games, and a promise for help to develop as athletes and human beings. 

Then, after they have made the decision to attend a University, after such promises made by a respected head coach, the coach loses all these principles and morals of loyalty and honesty and bolts immediately for the highest dollar. 

Cincinnati players were not bashful on how they felt when their "coach" bolted for Notre Dame's booster dollars.  Cincinnati Bearcat tight-end said after finding out:

"We don't really care what he has to say anymore.  He can go talk to his Notre Dame team. We're ready to move forward with whoever wants to move forward with us. He's not on the boat anymore, so we've got to continue on."

Standout wide-receiver Mardy Gilyard, who was in the banquet for about a full minute, felt the same way. 

"I didn't want to hear it, I'm fairly disgusted with the situation -- him letting it last this long. ... Everybody and their mamma knew what was going on. I feel like he did our team an injustice. Hopefully he'll pack his things up and get to South Bend in a hurry."

Finally, senior defensive lineman Alex Daniels, who walked out of the meeting right behind Gilyard, wanted Cincinnati Bearcat fans to know that the players weren't going anywhere:

"We want to make sure (people) still come out and support us, because we were the ones out there playing every play, every snap. He was just the one calling the plays."

I say good for the Bearcat players.  They should be upset on how they were mis-treated by the man they were told to trust.  Who does Brian Kelly think he is anyway, walking out on the people that should mean the most to him?  What is he going to tell future recruits that ask him if he will be around in 4 years to see them graduate?  Will he leave on his own?  Or will the Irish board members boot him after he can't get it done much like the 3 previous guys that thought Notre Dame was their "dream job?" 

No matter what, Brian Kelly is making a mistake, and I hope it comes back to bite him at some point in the next 5 years. 

Go Bearcats.  I'll be rooting for them against the Gators.