Look out Ohio. Here comes Notre Dame, more specifically, here comes the Brian Kelly recruiting machine. The hiring of Kelly by Notre Dame instantly makes the Fighting Irish a player in a state they recruited sporadically under Charlie Weis.
A quick glance at the current Notre Dame roster shows a sprinkling of Ohio-bred football players, mostly from two high schools, Cleveland St. Ignatius and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.
That is likely to change under Kelly, and in a hurry. Brian Kelly has built a great reputation among high school football coaches and players in Ohio, a reputation that is now enhanced by being the head coach at Notre Dame.
Charlie Weis was never accepted as a recruiter in Ohio, not by the high school coaches, or the players. Brian Kelly doesn't have that problem, and by taking the head coaching position at Notre Dame, he just eliminated the only problem he had in Ohio, the fact that Cincinnati football is viewed as minor league compared to Ohio State.
The Kelly reputation has been built by two facets of his life, the ability to win football games, and his own personality. Winning football games is a fact that can be researched through his biography. Listen to what ESPN radio personality Eric Kuselias had to say after meeting Kelly:
"Folks, we get a lot of people that come through the ESPN campus. We get Kobe, Jordan, Stoops, Meyer, etc. You name it..... we get it. I can say maybe the most impressive person to come through here is Brian Kelly. Folks, from the people in the cafeteria, to the people in the executive suits.... the guy nailed it. He was awesome, as gracious as anyone to EVER come through here. Stud. Star. Gracious, confident, professional, everything."
No offense to Charlie Weis, but he's NEVER been described in that manner, not in Ohio, nor anywhere else. Brian Kelly as the head coach at Notre Dame should not be taken lightly, no offense to Weis.
Kelly's first major battle with Ohio State and Jim Tressel involves Cincinnati St. Xavier star offensive lineman Matt James, and it's a recruiting war Kelly entered into as the Cincinnati head coach.
If Kelly is able to land James for the Fighting Irish, it will signal the first shot being fired in what could now be described as a fair fight between the Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish. Charlie Weis going against Jim Tressel in recruiting the top football talent in Ohio was anything but an even contest.
Braxton Miller is considered by most recruiting experts to be the top prospect in the Ohio 2011 class. He has received several scholarship offers from across America, and there should be more coming.
To this point, he has not had Notre Dame very high on his list, but that could soon be changing. Miller has a good relationship with Kelly, who offered him a scholarship with Cincinnati. Miller commented on his feelings about Kelly landing in South Bend.
"He's going to do good," Miller commented. "It will be fun to watch what he will do to turn them around. He's a great coach."
Look out Ohio. Brian Kelly is on the loose, and he might be headed to a high school near you.