Starting over: Brian Kelly arrives at Notre Dame, ready to coach with ‘passion and ‘purpose’

Brian Kelly arrives for work at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Brian Kelly was on campus Friday, ready to begin his restoration project at Notre Dame.

And at least one player can’t wait to work with his new coach.

“just met with coach kelly,” linebacker Brian Smith wrote on Twitter. “good guy. i wanna play now.”

Kelly met with his players for 25 minutes. He didn’t comment as he entered the building, walking over the words “Welcome home Coach Kelly” written in chalk on the sidewalk.

The 47-year-old former Cincinnati coach agreed to a five-year contract with Notre Dame on Thursday and was to be introduced at an afternoon news conference.

Kelly officially takes over Monday, starting the job he has always wanted. As a sign of his eagerness, his Twitter page got a complete makeover after the announcement. The background featured Notre Dame’s stadium, and the biography listed South Bend as his location along with a brief statement.

“Thrilled to be the coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish,” the bio said. “Committed to stirring People with PASSION and PURPOSE.”

He won’t have a difficult time stirring the Irish faithful. The question is whether he can succeed where his predecessors failed, returning Notre Dame to BCS prominence and keeping those fans on his side.

He headed to South Bend with slightly less job security than previous coaches. The last three Notre Dame coaches started with six-year deals — Weis, Tyrone Willingham and George O’Leary, who resigned five days after his hiring. The last coach to get a five-year deal was Bob Davie, who took the job after the 1996 season.

Notre Dame has gone 16-21 over the past three seasons and is losing two of its best offensive players. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen and his favorite receiver, Golden Tate, announced Monday they will enter the NFL draft.