CINCINNATI — Coach Brian Kelly confirmed Monday he will meet with Notre Dame officials about their open job, leaving fourth-ranked Cincinnati with a lot of uncertainty heading into its first Sugar Bowl appearance.
Kelly met with his players Monday and confirmed his interest in the Notre Dame job on his Twitter feed.
“Just informed our team that Notre Dame has contacted me and I will listen to what they have to say,” he tweeted.
If Kelly succeeds the fired Charlie Weis, he’s going to have to try to turn around the program without two of the best players from a .500 team.
Quarterback Jimmy Clausen and his favorite receiver, Golden Tate, announced they will bypass their senior seasons and enter the NFL draft. They shared the team’s most valuable player award.
“I don’t think we could have done more than we did this past year,” Clausen said. “Golden has played great. I’ve done my part. I think this is just the best time for us to go out.”
The New York Times reported Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh also is being interviewed for the job as Weis’ successor. Harbaugh declined to talk about it, telling the newspaper: “Not now or not in the future will I talk about any other jobs or opportunities.”
Kelly said expects to decide his future by Saturday.
Asked if he’d definitely coach the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl, Kelly said: “No, there’s no guarantees in anything that you do. I’ve never given a guarantee whether I was going to make it home at the end of the day.”
Kansas, Gill to talk
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Turner Gill is generating interest in the Big 12 Conference again, only not at his former school Nebraska, but Kansas.
The University at Buffalo athletic department confirmed the school had granted Kansas permission to interview Gill regarding its vacant coaching position.
Kansas is searching for a replacement for Mark Mangino, who resigned last week in the wake of an investigation into his treatment of players.
Gill, a former quarterback at Nebraska and Heisman Trophy finalist, went 20-30 in four seasons at Buffalo, and is credited with bringing respect to a program that had been a laughingstock since 1999. The Bulls went 5-7 this season.
Footnotes.
The University of Virginia hired former Richmond coach Mike London to replace Al Groh, who was fired after nine seasons and a 59-53 record. London, 49, becomes just the 10th black coach at the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
• Southern University fired coach Pete Richardson, who went 134-62 in 17 seasons.
• Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck had surgery on a finger on his right hand and could miss the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl against Oklahoma.
The Associated Press
