Brian Kelly not sure Notre Dame will play in the playoffs "if parents can’t be there"
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The tenor of the conversation about the ACC Championship shifted in a hurry today as Brian Kelly was fired up about what could happen if the Fighting Irish head to the Rose Bowl.
After watching schools across the country opt-out of bowl games, ClemsonSportsTalk.com asked Kelly about the trend and whether Notre Dame, if not playing in a high stakes playoff game, would choose the same route. His answer was shocking.
“I’m not sure we will play in the playoffs if parents can’t be there,” Kelly said before voting his concerns about the Rose Bowl.
“To be honest with you, why would we play if you can't have the families at the game? So a bowl game? Yeah, we would opt-out if you can't have families at bowl games,” Kelly stated. “I mean, why would you go to a game where your families can't be part of it? What's the sense of playing a game?”
Kelly went on to explain that a bowl game isn’t much of a reward in 2020.
"There's so many sacrifices these kids have had to make and to go to a bowl game where there are no real opportunities for them to do anything,” Kelly stated. “They're going to stay on campus that may show up at the bowl game 24-48 hours prior to. So there's no real reward. Go home and see your families. You know what I mean? Go home for Christmas. That's the reward really more than anything else-- than playing in a bowl game.”
Pressed further on the topic, Kelly stood firm and been suggested the Rose Bowl be moved (which it has in the past during WWII).
"Absolutely. Why can't it be the Rose Bowl in Las Vegas? Or can't it be the Rose Bowl in another town? Where's the flexibility for the student-athlete is all I'm saying. The one thing these kids have been is incredibly flexible. And then, on the other side, we can't be flexible. It's just it's hard to imagine,” Kelly said.
For now, the focus is on No. 3 Clemson and the ACC Championship, but come Sunday, if the Irish are in the playoffs, all bets are off for Pasadena and the Rose Bowl.
“We'll talk it over with our team. The players drive this. I don't drive it. I'm echoing their concerns. I'm not the guy out there making this up because it's not about my family-- it's about their family. I'm a voice for our team, and they're concerned,” Kelly noted. “They're focused on the ACC Championship. They're not going to be speaking about these things. But if, in fact, were selected to be part of it, this will then be No. 1 on their radar."