Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Interested In Notre Dame's Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly just had a fantastic season at Notre Dame, with an undefeated regular season before a disappointing 30-3 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal. A good year like that will draw attention and apparently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are interested.

The Bucs fired head coach Dirk Koetter after Sunday’s season-ending loss, and a search firm Tampa hired suggested Kelly. But is Tampa Bay a better job than Notre Dame?

Here’s the thing from Kelly’s perspective: On paper it certainly looks like Notre Dame is a better gig than Tampa Bay. But where else can Kelly legitimately take the Irish? Can he really compete with teams like Clemson, Alabama and Georgia for national titles? It’s hard to see that happening.

Additionally, if Kelly ever wanted to make the leap to the NFL, this seems like it would be his only chance. He’s coming off an undefeated season and he’s 57 at a time when the NFL is trending towards younger coaches. This might be the last time he gets a shot like this.

Additionally, it looks like Tampa is ready to do a full rebuild, which means Kelly would have a say in the makeup of his roster and a few years of leeway to make it work.

Obviously this is a long way from happening, but it’s worth talking about. Kelly was almost fired at Notre Dame two years ago when he went 4-8 in 2016. Now he’s riding high, but how long will that last?

If he has ever had NFL aspirations it seems like this would be the time to strike. But as mentioned above, he already has a better job than Tampa Bay. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.