Aha! A Cincinnati man has figured out the root of Notre Dame’s crisis. In a letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the gentleman wrote:

Notre Damers, quit picking on coach Charlie Weis. There is nothing he can do because it’s out of his hands. God has intervened and is repaying Notre Dame for bestowing an honorary degree on pro-abortion President Obama.

 Charlie O’Leary

I wonder if Mr. O’Leary realizes that President Obama held a rally at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium last November 2. That ended up working out alright for the Bearcats.

I’m guessing Brian Kelly’s politics (he did once work for then-Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart) won’t matter if Notre Dame comes calling. Or, when, as it’s looking now. There’s been no vote of confidence issued by the Irish athletic director and Weis himself has sounded awfully resigned. Uncovering a fabulous nugget, the South Bend Tribune found Notre Dame has taken its university jet off  a web flight-tracking site. Urban Meyer is again a popular name (remember, he turned down the circus when he took the Florida gig four years ago), but IrishCentral.com has been advocating for Kelly – the Irish-American son of an Alderman – for months now. ChuckWeis.com likes Kelly on its shortlist and a report this weekend said Kelly joins Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh on the administration’s already-conceived shortlist.

So of course Kelly was asked about Notre Dame on Monday’s Big East coaches teleconference. And of course he left a whole set of double doors open, focusing only on the distraction part of the query.

“As far as the rumors go, our kids really don’t pay much attention to them, because I don’t,” he said. “I don’t get distracted. We’re humbled that our name is being associated with programs, but we don’t really spend much time thinking about it. Our kids have become immune to it, as I have.”

I don’t know. If UConn does its job by the league this weekend (a Huskies win further distances Notre Dame from the Big East’s coveted Gator Bowl slot), I expect the noise around Notre Dame’s coaching situation will only get louder. Which means the noise around Kelly will only get louder. Unless he defuses it.

I’m all for entertaining job offers and keeping one’s ears – and mind – open. But I’m also with this writer: there’s something distinctly unique – and lasting – in creating where something hasn’t been before. It’s like I used to say about all the people who were sure Greg Schiano was biding his time at Rutgers until Joe Paterno retired. Why would he want to go somewhere where the program would forever be affiliated with someone else? Why not be the “Joe Paterno” of Rutgers? I sure don’t know if Brian Kelly has that sort of mindset, or if he even believes the Cincinnati administration will pony up the support necessary for a year-in, year-out contender.

Either way, I’d warn against going to a place where God takes his anger out on the football team.