Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly stands alone in the Fighting Irish record books. Following Saturday’s 41-13 victory over Wisconsin, Kelly now has the most wins as head coach in school history with 106. The win breaks a tie between Kelly and legendary coach Knute Rockne whose 105 victories were the high water mark for the past 91 years.
While most of the college football world took a moment to recognize the feat, as far as the NCAA is concerned, Kelly still has some work to do in order to eclipse Rockne’s record. That’s because the NCAA stripped Notre Dame of 21 victories from 2012-2013 as a result of “academic misconduct”. Meaning in the eyes of the NCAA, Kelly only has 85 victories in South Bend.
For the rest of the football world, the Fighting Irish are 106-39 during Kelly’s 12 seasons as head coach. They’ve also earned two College Football Playoff appearances and a loss to Alabama in the National Championship game in January 2013. Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2010, Kelly also spent time coaching at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati.
Kelly was given a contract extension last year which will see him remain head coach through 2024. Notre Dame takes on Cincinnati on Oct. 2nd in what’s likely to be a clash of two top 10 programs.