Top 25
31-38
- Games
- 69
- Win rate
- 44.9%
Back to Coaches
Peak DominatorBalancedLong Career
Coach Profile
Brian Kelly
2004-2025 • Central Michigan, Cincinnati, LSU, Notre Dame
4 schools coached, anchored by Notre Dame.
Brian Kelly's coaching record is 202-79, highlighted by seasons at Notre Dame from 2004 to 2025.
Brian Kelly coached 23 seasons, won 71.9%, and posted an average SRS of 10.3. Best season: 2017 Notre Dame. The profile was balanced with a highly volatile profile. 4 stints shaped the career arc.
- Career record
- 202-79
- Career win rate
- 71.9%
- Average SRS
- 10.3
- Peak SRS
- 22.0
Career Dossier
One glance at the full arc.
The profile below keeps the headline numbers visible, then moves into tenure shape, school impact, and full season detail.
- Seasons coached
- 23
- Career span
- 22 years
- Best finish
- #4
- Consistency
- 16.0
Primary school anchor
Notre Dame
Balanced profile with 4 program stops and a peak score of 88.5.
Quick Answers
Records fans search first
Headline records use countable season rows after completed-game fallback. Partial seasons and provisional placeholders are called out separately.
- Overall record
- 202-79
- Notre Dame record
- 113-40
- Full-season record
- 162-68
- Partial-season record
- 33-5
- Vs AP Top 10
- 8-18
- Vs AP Top 5
- 2-13
- Vs Navy
- 8-2
- Postseason / bowl record
- 9-7
- CFP record
- 0-2
- National titles
- 0
281 countable games, 71.9% win rate.
12 countable seasons at Notre Dame.
18 full season rows; partial and backfilled current rows are separated.
Rows where the coach-season record covers fewer games than the team's completed season.
26 games using AP ranking at game time.
15 games using AP ranking at game time.
Navy-Notre Dame games in this dataset.
16 scored postseason games in this dataset.
2 College Football Playoff-labeled games since 2014.
Matched by coach team-season against the national championship dataset.
Record definition and data status
Career records use countable coach-season rows. Zero-game placeholders are excluded from aggregates until a completed-game fallback can verify the record.
Completed-game fallback uses scored games joined by coach, team, and season; advanced ratings are left blank when the season summary has not supplied them.
Latest completed coached game in this dataset: Dec 28, 2025. At least one season record was backfilled from completed games, so current-season totals may move as more scores are loaded.
Career Arc
Track how the coach's season-to-season performance changed over time, where the peak landed, and where each school stint appears.
Focus on where peaks separate, where floors hold, and how the shape of each career changed over time.
Brian Kelly
EliteStrongAverageLean
Brian Kelly: 2006 CincinnatiBrian Kelly: 2010 Notre DameBrian Kelly: 2022 LSU
2004Actual season year • SRS range -22.8 to 22.02025
Active comparison point
Brian Kelly • 2017
2017 Notre Dame
Best season10-3 • SRS 22.0 • SP Overall 20.8
Win %
76.9%
YoY SRS
+15.6
SP Off / Def
37.4 / 16.9
Finish
#11
Comparison context
Focus a point to inspect how it stacks up against the rest of the field.
Ranked opponent record
Track career record against ranked opponents with switchable poll source and ranking timing.
Using AP Top 25 rankings at the time of each game; week-one games use the week-one ranking release when available.
Top 10
8-18
- Games
- 26
- Win rate
- 30.8%
Top 5
2-13
- Games
- 15
- Win rate
- 13.3%
View ranked game results69
Tenure map
Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.
Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint
LSU
2022-2025 • 4 seasons
Avg SRS 13.3 • Win % 67.9%
Notre Dame
2010-2021 • 12 seasons
Avg SRS 14.4 • Win % 73.9%
Cincinnati
2006-2009 • 4 seasons
Avg SRS 9.7 • Win % 85.0%
Central Michigan
2004-2006 • 3 seasons
Avg SRS -7.8 • Win % 54.3%
- Longest tenure
- Notre Dame • 12 seasons
- Best tenure
- Notre Dame • 14.4 SRS
- Best tenure win rate
- Cincinnati • 85.0%
Style and Strength Profile
Compare strength, identity, steadiness, and ceiling through normalized bars with raw SP and SRS context underneath.
These bars are normalized against the full coach dataset. Raw SP and SRS values stay visible so the profile reads as evidence, not decoration.
Overall Strength
Start with total quality before splitting style and variance.
Brian Kelly sets the reference point in overall strength.
Overall Strength
Decisive edgeBrian Kelly sets the reference point in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Brian Kelly
Elite
- Raw avg SP Overall
- 12.2
- Percentile
- 90th pct
Elite
Normalized against the full tracked coach pool.
Impact by school
See how each stint compared with what that program usually looked like outside that same span.
LSU
2022-2025 • 36-17
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 13.3Win % 67.9%
Avg wins
Higher is better
9.0 during vs 8.4 baseline
+0.6
Avg SRS
Higher is better
13.3 during vs 14.8 baseline
-1.6
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
15.4 during vs 17.7 baseline
-2.3
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
50.0% during vs 40.0% baseline
+10.0%
Notre Dame
2010-2021 • 113-40
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 14.4Win % 73.9%
Avg wins
Higher is better
9.3 during vs 7.0 baseline
+2.3
Avg SRS
Higher is better
14.2 during vs 6.8 baseline
+7.4
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
17.4 during vs 8.3 baseline
+9.1
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
54.5% during vs 40.0% baseline
+14.5%
Cincinnati
2006-2009 • 34-6
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 9.7Win % 85.0%
Avg wins
Higher is better
10.5 during vs 6.0 baseline
+4.5
Avg SRS
Higher is better
10.3 during vs -2.1 baseline
+12.5
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
13.1 during vs 0.3 baseline
+12.8
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
100.0% during vs 0.0% baseline
+100.0%
Central Michigan
2004-2006 • 19-16
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS -7.8Win % 54.3%
Avg wins
Higher is better
5.0 during vs 3.2 baseline
+1.8
Avg SRS
Higher is better
-12.3 during vs -18.9 baseline
+6.6
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
-15.2 during vs -19.7 baseline
+4.5
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline
+0.0%
Career highs and lows
High Points
Best Season
Notre Dame 2017
10-3 • SRS 22.0
Biggest Improvement
Central Michigan 2005
6-5 • 21.0 SRS
Best Offensive Season
LSU 2023
10-3 • SP Off 44.6
Best Defensive Season
Notre Dame 2012
12-1 • SP Def 13.8
Setbacks
Lowest SRS Season
Central Michigan 2004
4-7 • SRS -22.8
Biggest Drop
Cincinnati 2008
11-3 • -11.9 SRS
Season-by-season results
Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.
| LSU | 2025 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 53.8% | — | — | 8.2 | 10.3 | 25.8 | 16.1 | -4.7 | -15.4% | Completed-game fallback |
| LSU | 2024 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 69.2% | #13 | — | 12.9 | 15.9 | 36.8 | 21.7 | -4.2 | -7.7% | Season summary |
| LSU | 2023 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 76.9% | #5 | #12 | 17.1 | 19.1 | 44.6 | 25.0 | +2.3 | +5.5% | Season summary |
| LSU | 2022 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.4% | — | #16 | 14.8 | 16.2 | 34.2 | 17.6 | -1.6 | -20.2% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2021 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 91.7% | #9 | #8 | 16.4 | 17.4 | 36.2 | 18.9 | — | +8.3% | Partial season |
| Notre Dame | 2020 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.3% | #10 | #5 | — | — | — | — | — | -1.3% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2019 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 84.6% | #9 | #12 | 18.8 | 17.7 | 35.8 | 18.5 | +1.1 | -7.7% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2018 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 92.3% | #12 | — | 17.7 | 20.7 | 34.6 | 14.5 | -4.3 | +15.4% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2017 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 76.9% | — | #11 | 22.0 | 20.8 | 37.4 | 16.9 | +15.6 | +43.6% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2016 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 33.3% | #10 | — | 6.4 | 15.7 | 39.4 | 23.2 | -11.1 | -43.6% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2015 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 76.9% | #11 | #11 | 17.5 | 22.4 | 44.1 | 21.2 | +9.1 | +15.4% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2014 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 61.5% | #17 | — | 8.4 | 10.8 | 37.5 | 26.0 | -0.7 | -7.7% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2013 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 69.2% | #14 | #20 | 9.1 | 13.2 | 35.2 | 21.9 | -9.5 | -23.1% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2012 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 92.3% | — | #4 | 18.6 | 19.2 | 33.4 | 13.8 | +5.8 | +30.8% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2011 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 61.5% | #16 | — | 12.8 | 17.2 | 34.6 | 17.0 | +2.1 | 0.0% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 2010 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 61.5% | — | — | 10.7 | 16.5 | 32.2 | 16.7 | -3.3 | -38.5% | Season summary |
| Cincinnati | 2009 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | — | #8 | 14.0 | 18.2 | 40.8 | 23.4 | +9.6 | +21.4% | Partial season |
| Cincinnati | 2008 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 78.6% | — | #17 | 4.4 | 8.6 | 25.9 | 19.7 | -11.9 | +1.7% | Season summary |
| Cincinnati | 2007 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 76.9% | — | #17 | 16.3 | 17.5 | 37.2 | 19.9 | +12.2 | -23.1% | Season summary |
| Central Michigan | 2006 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 69.2% | — | — | 1.2 | -6.1 | 23.5 | 28.8 | +3.0 | +14.7% | Partial season |
| Cincinnati | 2006 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | — | — | 4.1 | 7.9 | 23.6 | 16.7 | +2.9 | +30.8% | Partial season |
| Central Michigan | 2005 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.5% | — | — | -1.8 | -8.1 | 22.1 | 30.1 | +21.0 | +18.2% | Season summary |
| Central Michigan | 2004 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | -22.8 | -22.2 | 25.4 | 42.6 | — | — | Season summary |
Similar coaches
Popular comparisons are fan-facing matchups. Statistical comps are matched by style, strength band, volatility band, peak range, and career length.
Statistical comps
Carl Snavely
same balanced identity • avg SRS within 0.0
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Best finish #3 • Volatility 9.7
Open profile →Wallace Butts
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Open profile →Gary Patterson
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Avg SRS 9.8 • Peak SRS 26.8 • 22 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 8.1
Open profile →Earle Bruce
same balanced identity • avg SRS within 0.2
Avg SRS 10.1 • Peak SRS 24.9 • 19 seasons
Best finish #4 • Volatility 8.6
Open profile →John Cooper
same balanced identity • avg SRS within 0.5
Avg SRS 9.8 • Peak SRS 28.2 • 24 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 10.9
Open profile →Don James
same balanced identity • volatility within 1.0
Avg SRS 12.3 • Peak SRS 33.4 • 22 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 10.5
Open profile →