Kelly mum on ND, Guidugli wants answers

One day after Charlie Weis was shown the door at Notre Dame, Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly can’t escape questions regarding his future.

Despite the ever-turning rumor mill, the UC head coach maintains that his focus is solely on his fifth-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats and their showdown in Pittsburgh Saturday, Dec. 5.

“We are focused on Pittsburgh,” Kelly said. “All that other stuff is going to have to wait for
another time.”

Heading toward his team’s final game of the regular season, Kelly said the job opening in South Bend has been less of a distraction for him and his staff than finding tickets for families on Senior Day and sending players home for Thanksgiving last week. Kelly also says the rumors aren’t providing distraction to his players.

“It doesn’t bother them. They want to play football. They want to win a championship,” Kelly said. “They don’t care about this stuff.”

But one does care.

Junior tight end Ben Guidugli said discussions on Kelly’s future have been in circulation around the UC locker room for weeks, but the players won’t let it distract them as they prepare for a chance to repeat as Big East champions.

“Whatever is going on with that, we’re not going to let that effect what we’re trying to do on Saturday,” Guidugli said.

Kelly hasn’t given a clear answer on his level of interest in the Notre Dame job; it’s a subject he has yet to discuss with his team.

“He hasn’t addressed it,” Guidugli said. “I guess that doesn’t help the issue when there’s a lot of speculation and he’s not telling us anything one way or the other.”

Whatever Kelly’s thoughts might be, Guidugli would appreciate the coach giving the team some sort of answer.

“I would rather him tell us what’s going on either way, just be honest about it,” Guidugli said. “Not saying something is saying a lot.”

Senior linebacker Andre Revels is just fine with Kelly keeping quiet among the Notre Dame rumors. Seeing Kelly’s name being tossed around as a possible candidate isn’t bothering him.

“It’s not going to help us win any games, and that’s the main goal,” Revels said. “We’re not worried about what the TV’s talking about. We’re worried about what Pittsburgh’s going to do on Saturday and what we’re going to do about it.”

Revels doesn’t like the thought of players being too concerned with Kelly, the Notre Dame rumors and his lack of talk on the matter.

“If that’s a concern of any player on this team, they need to go ahead and get off this team,” Revels said. “Because we need to focus on Pittsburgh and get
this win.”