After a frustrating season, I am still not quite yet on the bandwagon to part ways with Coach Brian Kelly. He does deserve another season, but the seat should definitely be hot. I mentioned before that there are things that are of legit concern such as his lack of accountability, poor special teams, playing down to competition, etc.
But there is one concern I haven't mentioned. As we know, each year Notre Dame ends it's season with a November road trip to face a PAC 12 opponent which is either USC or Stanford. This season they actually had two such trips as Arizona State was on the schedule. I am not sure what it is about those games but they have been some of Coach Kelly's worst games at Notre Dame. Both trips to Stanford have been a disaster. Notre Dame's two worst games this year were USC and Arizona State.
I know it is not because these programs are superior in talent because the Irish beat both of them last year and they both had relatively the same team. One was at home and the other was the Shamrock Series. Watching these PAC 12 road games, it always seems that the team is just not ready to play. Notre Dame seems fine going to other places, but the PAC 12 stadiums have not been kind.
Even the two USC games that he did win weren't exactly signature wins. They were in a way because it was against the main rival. But talking in terms of looking great as a football team, not so much. In six total PAC 12 road games, Kelly is 2-4. Maybe that is just coincidence, but more likely there is something to the preparation for these long road trips. It just seems to happen too frequently to be circumstantial.
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