As the year of 2021  comes to a close, the NCAA college football season also begins to finish up. Through a wild season of upsets, intense games, and ranking changes, teams are trying to make a last stand to end up in the top 4 playoff teams. With the rankings released this week from the official playoff committee, four have maintained their spot: undefeated Georgia at number one, Michigan at number two, Alabama at number 3, and also undefeated Cincinnati at number four. However, nothing is certainly locked in. With conference championships coming up, anything can happen, and may allow outside ranked teams such as number five Oklahoma State and number six Notre Dame, who both only have one loss. However, Notre Dame’s chances may be in jeopardy, as something big just happened this week: their head coach of 10 years, Brian Kelly, has abruptly left the team for LSU in the wake of their national championship run.

Head coaches leaving teams to pursue a better salary and team is not an uncommon thing, it happens more often than not. But leaving a historically successful programs where you’ve made your mark as the third winningest coach in college football history? And during a great season with a chance to play for a national championship? This was, at the very least, not expected by anyone. Even if Kelly had made up his mind, could he not have waited until the season finished to show respect for the great program that has treated him with great success over the years, and maybe even end his career at Notre Dame on a high note? Apparently, this thought had never crossed his mind, as he called the team to wake up for a 7am meeting to discuss this, and was seen leaving the meeting no more than three minutes later. Lafayette student and avid college football watcher Connor Rice said, “This was unacceptable and downright disrespectful.” Rice even went as far to suggest that “Kelly should be thrown in jail!” How could such a great coach who had appeared to form a great bond with the program and its players, nonetheless endure great success over the years, leave in such a sudden and disrespectful? Well, looking at where he went, you could form an explanation.

Louisiana State University, commonly known as LSU, is also notoriously a successful school. With impressive performances in the recent years in the powerful SEC, South Eastern Conference, LSU is an attractive school when it comes to looking for a head coaching job. Their late head coach, Ed Orgeron, left in 2021 after coming to an agreement with the school. In 2019, Orgeron lead the team to a perfect 15-0 season under star quarterback Joe Burrow. However, this current 2021 season, the tigers have a mediocre 6-6 record, going 3-5 in conference games. Longtime LSU football fan Noah Amor has the upmost confidence for the upcoming season. “We’re gonna win it all with this new head coach!” he said. Will Brian Kelly be able to turn this program into the powerhouse it once was?  His success at Notre Dame both on the field and off may provide some reasoning for a yes. He was able to recruit some of the top players in the country to a religious university with very high academic standards. Louisiana State University is not by any means a Notre Dame-type institution, so recruiting may be easier, and more marketable with SEC scholarships. Whether or not Kelly can use all this to build another legacy is questionable, so the world will have to wait and see. Brian Kelly was not alone in switching up on a program he dedicated so much to.

Across the country, another head coaching change has occurred. Lincoln Riley, the University of Oklahoma’s football coach of five years, has suddenly left to take the University of Southern California, or USC, football head coaching job. Like Kelly, this choice by Riley left many shocked as well as bitter at Oklahoma, as he left without finishing the season. Oklahoma was having a far better season than USC, however, they were going to leave the Big 12 and join the powerful South Eastern Conference, which may have been a reason why Riley left: Oklahoma won’t be able to compete with those types of teams. This is not the only reason; Southern California is a far nicer venue and gives Riley a much larger salary compared to what he was given at Oklahoma. You can’t help but notice, though, the timing of him leaving and Oklahoma leaving the SEC is not coincidental. So, as one coach joins the SEC in hopes of a new beginning, another one leaves to start a new legacy.