Ordinarily, a coaching move involving Cincinnati and Tennessee would be of little or no interest to Notre Dame. But given the history of Brian Kelly and Butch Jones, this could ultimately cost the Fighting Irish the best assistant coach in the country in Bob Diaco. I know Irish fans don't want to lose Diaco and I don't either. But the reality is that he is gone. You don't have the kind of year he had and not get a head coaching job.
Whether he is ready to be a head coach or not is irrelevant. His stock is high now. Therefore, all we can do is hope he lands the job that is right for him. Now that the Cincinnati job is open, that looks like the perfect job for him. Diaco was with Kelly at both Central Michigan and Cincinnati.
Ironically, it was Jones who followed Kelly at both of those schools. Jones is a coach that runs a similar style to that of Kelly. I am not sure if they ever coached on the same staff, but they are definitely from the same "football school."
Diaco is from that school as well. Being that he has a history at Cincinnati, it would only be logical to think that he would be on their short list. The Bearcats have hired two straight established head coaches who used the school as a stepping stone for better opportunities. While you can't fault Kelly or Jones for doing that, Cincinnati might want a guy that will be there longer and a first time head coach would likely do that.
For those reasons and as much as it hurts to lose him, Bob Diaco to Cincinnati just flat out makes sense.
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