Brian Kelly talks health, wants to continue coaching college football

Brian Kelly hasn’t coached a game for LSU yet. But he is in no rush to look too far ahead at his future as a coach in college football.

LSU hired Kelly early in the offseason, and he came to Baton Rouge following a long stint as the head coach at Notre Dame. Now, as Kelly sets to enter another year in college football at age 60, he is still able to find the excitement in the job that allows him to come to work each and every day.

“I feel great,” Kelly said. “I mean I’m in the best shape of my life, at least that’s what the doctors tell me. So you know from that perspective, I’ve got great energy. This job excites me. I think when you’re tired and you don’t love what you’re doing and you don’t have your ‘why’ defined, maybe you feel the age. But for me, having the experience, having the confidence, having the resources, having great alignment allows you to come to work every day and feel like it doesn’t matter what age is.”

Kelly began his coaching career as an assistant all the way back in 1983. He got his first job as a head coach at Grand Valley State in 1991, and he was there until 2003 when he was hired by Central Michigan. Kelly then took the same job at Cincinnati in 2006 before going to Notre Dame in 2010.

Kelly is focused on LSU, not on a potential looming retirement

Throughout his coaching career, Kelly has amassed 263 victories. 166 of those victories came in Division I across Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. Over the past 18 years, Kelly has been to 13 bowl games, and he led the Irish to a 14th last season before leaving the team after being hired by LSU.

As Kelly talked about his future, he said that he is just trying to take things one year at a time.

“You know, I take it one year at a time,” Kelly said. “I didn’t know that I’d be the longest tenured coach, winningest coach in Notre Dame history. That was never part of that first first contract. You never think in those terms. You think about, I always wanted to make sure I ran out of the tunnel and didn’t trip my first game and embarrass myself and my family. So I really try to stay in the present. I know what my job is. I’m excited about it here, but again, I think looking too far in the future, I try to stay away from that.”