As the dust gradually settles from the expected but still mildly surprising move of Brian Kelly from Cincinnati to Notre Dame, the search for Kelly’s successor has commenced.
While names such as East Carolina’s Skip Holtz and Central Michigan’s Butch Jones have been tossed around, there’s one coach already in place who wants to be given serious consideration for the opening — interim head coach Jeff Quinn.
Quinn is charged with getting his players ready for a January bowl game with Florida, and hopes to show in the weeks to come that he deserves a very real opportunity to take over the UC football program.
“This is a great situation,” Quinn said. “Maybe it wasn’t this way three years ago. Who wouldn’t want to coach the University of Cincinnati Bearcats? It’s going to be a very competitive situation. There’s really nothing to comment on until the process takes place. Anybody would be honored (to coach at UC). I would personally be honored.”
One of Quinn’s first acts as head coach will be to let his players get away from the campus, regroup with their families as they attempt to get over the sting of losing their coach.
“The first thing you have to do is cut them loose,” Quinn said of the UC players.
“We’re letting them off until Wednesday of next week and we’re bringing them back on Wednesday afternoon. I want them to get off campus, get back to their families and relax a little bit, let a lot of this stuff sink in a little bit. When they come back, they’re coming back for one reason only and that is to win another football game.”
If Quinn should not ultimately land the job — which seems to be somewhat of a long shot at this point in time — it’s very likely he would join Kelly in South Bend as the Irish’s new coordinator.
What a kiss ass! But hell, I would be too!