Things are not going so smoothly in South Bend, Indiana this fall. Notre Dame dropped to 2-5 following a home loss to Stanford Saturday, putting the Irish on a steep uphill path to a postseason bid. For a team some considered a possible playoff candidate at the beginning of the year, it is fair to suggest the pressure is rising on head coach Brian Kelly to get something positive going for the Irish. Some have even gone so far as to suggest Kelly should be on a hot seat, if not a warm seat. While the idea of a coaching change at Notre Dame may still be a bit of a longshot, it hasn’t stopped some fans from suggesting it is time to make a chance and bring in Les Miles.
It just so happens Notre Dame defensive lineman Jerry Tillery took notice of some of those ideas on Twitter and started liking them on his account. Tillery’s account showed he liked a small handful of tweets from earlier this month suggesting Notre Dame move on from Kelly and hire the former LSU head coach. These tweets occurred in the two weeks after LSU fired Miles. After those liked tweets were discovered and starting making the rounds on the internet, Tilery responded with a tweet of his own on Sunday morning, suggesting he did not necessarily endorse the comments.
Does Brian Kelly have a locker room problem? He would not be the first coach with a 2-5 record to be in that situation if he does. It is obvious things are not going according to plan in South Bend, but the Irish still have a chance to reach the postseason. It will just be difficult to avoid two more losses the way this team has been playing, especially on offense. Notre Dame must win four of its final five games against Miami, Navy, Army, Virginia Tech and USC in order to reach the six-win minimum to qualify for a postseason bowl game. The Irish have not missed the postseason since Kelly’s arrival from Cincinnati in 2010. One more loss will set a new high for losses in a season for Notre Dame under Kelly.