Good news for Bearcat fans, and for the Big East!! I like his comment about UC being a better job than Boston College.
Kelly, UC close to deal
By Bill Koch • bkoch@enquirer.com • January 8, 2009
UC and football coach Brian Kelly are close to agreeing on a new contract that Kelly says “will continue to allow us to continue to build our program.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said today that athletic director Mike Thomas is proceeding with plans to renovate Nippert Stadium.
“They’ve moved very quickly,” Kelly said.
Kelly said his lawyers are reviewing the contract and that it could be finalized as early as next week.
“We’re talking about the length of the contract, about some of the things that would go with me staying here and how that would benefit me from a longevity standpoint,” said Kelly, who has proposed a deal that would keep him at UC through 2013.
“It’s not like I’ve got to get paid x amount of dollars because that’s what everybody else is getting paid,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to get to the point where both parties are vested. We’ve got a lot of things we want to do with the program. A lot of that has to do with fund-raising and initiatives. I need to be around for those…What I’m saying is that there will be just compensation down the road.”
With the Boston College job having opened this week, Kelly said he has been asked frequently if he would be interested in returning to his home town to coach the Eagles. He says he’s not.
“I grew up there and watched BC,” he said. “We’ve got a great deal of respect for their program, but that’s not a job I would be interested in. At the end of the day, I’ve got a better situation here at the University of Cincinnati.”
Kelly, who said repeatedly during the season that he would reflect on the Bearcats’ accomplishments after the bowl game, said he had a difficult time getting rid of the bad taste left by the 20-7 Orange Bowl loss to Virginia Tech on Jan. 1.
“I don’t like the way it was coached,” Kelly said, “or the way it was played. There’s accountability for everybody and it starts with me. I just think I did a poor job of getting our kids to make the plays necessary to win.”
Kelly said he did not regret keeping quarterback Tony Pike, who was intercepted four times, in the game. But he said he could have done a better job of play-calling to minimize the chances for those interceptions.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090...4/1062/SPT