5 people to replace Brian Kelly as head coach

Luke Fickel. Required Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA Sports TODAY

Notre Dame Fighting Irish is in need of a new head coach, now Brian Kelly is expected to be hired at LSU. Here are some potential candidates.

If you thought the silly season was made in college football after the news Lincoln Riley hopped the train from Oklahoma to USC, you’d be wrong. On Monday night, Yahoo Sports ‘Pete Thamel reported that LSU Tigers Expected to Hire Brian Kelly as their next head coach, with an announcement likely to come as early as Tuesday.

With that, Notre Dame Fighting Irish is in need of a new head coach. It certainly won’t be difficult for them to find a suitable replacement, given how illustrious the show is. But who really fits the bill for the Notre Dame coach?

Here are five potential Brian Kelly alternatives to Brian Kelly.

5 potential candidates that Notre Dame must consider to replace Brian Kelly

Luke Fickell

This is probably the best possible option for Fighting Irish. Luke Fickell has done nothing but succeed as head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Since being hired by Cincinnati in 2017, Fickell has had a flop and it was his first year. Since then, the Bearcats have never lost more than two games in a single campaign. But perhaps his best success came in 2021.

This year, the Cincinnati are one of only two unbeaten teams left in college football, alongside the highest-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. With the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes losing two games this season, the Bearcats are a win in the AAC Championship Game if they don’t win a spot in the College Rugby Round.

Notre Dame got a first look at what Fickell can bring to a show, when his Bearcats beat 24-13 earlier this year. If they can secure him a deal, that would be a good opportunity for the university.