College-Football Notebook: Kelly introduced by Irish; Meyer fills staff vacancy

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL WIRE REPORT
Published: December 12, 2009

■ Brian Kelly has his dream job. Now he has to figure out how to return Notre Dame to national prominence.

Kelly, formerly the Cincinnati coach, was introduced yesterday as the coach at Notre Dame, which hasn't won the national title in 21 years. He said he knows there are challenges and that he's ready for them.

"When I refer to the challenge, it's strictly getting to that high bar that's been set at Notre Dame," said Kelly, who signed a five-year contract.

"We've got challenges, but we'll go to work on those right away."

Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick said that Kelly was the first candidate he spoke to and the only one who was offered the job.

Kelly, 47, will officially take over Monday, starting the job he has always wanted.

Kelly grew up in Chelsea, Mass., and went to Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, where he played linebacker.

He was the head coach at Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan, where he won back-to-back national titles.

He built Central Michigan into a winning program in three years, and then in 2006 took over at Cincinnati and built the Bearcats into a Big East powerhouse.

■ Coach Urban Meyer of Florida moved quickly to fill one of his staff vacancies, hiring assistant Zach Azzanni of Central Michigan as his receivers coach yesterday.

Azzanni replaces Billy Gonzales, who resigned to become the passing-game coordinator at LSU.

Azzanni worked for Meyer at Bowling Green (2001-02) and remained there four years after Meyer left for Utah in 2003. Azzanni returned to his alma mater, Central Michigan, as the receivers coach in 2007 and spent the past three seasons there.

Gonzales' departure came the same week that defensive coordinator Charlie Strong accepted the head-coaching job at Louisville.

Strong will stick around to coach in the Sugar Bowl, but Meyer is still looking for a defensive-coordinator position.

It was unclear why Gonzales left, but Meyer has now lost seven assistants since the end of the 2007 season, and only two left for head-coaching positions.

■ Illinois fired almost half of Ron Zook's staff yesterday but said that Zook will keep his job despite a 3-9 season -- the second straight losing year for the Illini.

First-year offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, quarterbacks coach Kurt Beathard, receivers coach Jim Pry and special-teams coach Mike Woodford were all fired.

"Obviously we are not happy with the way the past two seasons have gone, but we believe in this program, and its ability to rebound with the necessary decisions," Zook said in a prepared statement from the school.

Athletics Director Ron Guenther said in October, at halftime of a loss to Purdue, that Zook would not be fired. But he said other changes were coming.

Guenther has been silent since then, and an athletics department spokesman said yesterday that neither Zook nor Guenther would take questions from reporters.

■ Athletics director Lew Perkins said he has not offered the vacant Kansas coaching job amid reports that the school is negotiating with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

Perkins has been interviewing candidates to replace Mark Mangino, who resigned under pressure after an investigation into his treatment of players. Perkins is known to have talked to Buffalo coach Turner Gill and Mississippi coach Houston Nutt.

Perkins issued a statement yesterday insisting he would not comment on unsubstantiated reports.

He added, "Having said that, I will reiterate at this time that the process is ongoing. We have not offered the head coaching position to anyone."

■ Mike DuBose, a former head coach at Alabama, has been hired to coach the defensive line at Memphis under new coach Larry Porter.

DuBose, who coached the Crimson Tide from 1997 to 2000, announced his resignation as the head coach of Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday to take the position.

DuBose led Alabama to a first-place finish in the SEC's West Division in 1999 but was fired after a 3-8 season in 2000.