Monday’s BCS championship game will feature two coaches connected to interest from the NFL: Alabama’s Nick Saban and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly.
Saban, as recently as today, downplayed more questioning from reporters about leaving the Tide, claiming “I don’t have any unfinished business in the NFL... It’s not something I’m concerned about. It’s not even anything I want to do.”
Believe Saban’s remarks are your own risk, but he was at least direct about his intentions. Kelly, on the other hand, was more noncommittal at first. When asked about a possibility to coach in the NFL, Kelly gave a relatively standard response.
“It’s flattering if there is interest, which I don’t know that there is,” Kelly said. “From my perspective, I’ve got the best job in the country -- NFL, college, high school, whatever.”
(For what it’s worth, Kelly was more decisive later about his answers)
Reported interest in Kelly has surfaced only recently. Earlier this week, CBSSports’ Bruce Feldman tweeted that “some” NFL teams had Kelly on their radar, but did not elaborate. So it’s not clear which teams were, or still are, eyeing Kelly and exactly where he is on the list of candidates.
Like just about any coach, one would think Kelly would listen to an NFL organization (or, his agent, to whom he publicly deferred for such matters) if he received a call. Whether he’d answer the call, so to speak, is another matter entirely and one that is too early to tell one way or the other.