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Tim Daniels is the featured Columnist for Notre Dame Football.
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Brian Kelly spoke with his players for three minutes and 42 seconds Tuesday morning before leaving for LSU.
The audio recording of Kelly's farewell message was obtained by Matt and Pete of The Athletic.
Good morning!" Thanks for getting here in a timely manner. I sent out a text last night to give you as much notice as possible, because we all know that things happen on social media. I want to be able to tell you why we're at this point, because I know we've been through this together. The past 12 years have been the most amazing 12 years of my life, for me and my family, at Notre Dame. We've been able to build with the most incredible student-athletes, and I'm looking at them right now.
Kelly sent a group message to Notre Dame players after rumors began to circulate that he was going to become the new head coach at LSU.
PeteSampson, Pete Sampson
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Brian Kelly messaged the team in Team Works that he was leaving Notre Dame, and the plan is for him to meet with the team tomorrow at 7 a.m. The full message is here.
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Shortly after Kelly's meeting with the Fighting Irish, the Tigers officially announced his hiring on a 10-year, $95 million contract.
The timing was odd since Notre Dame is sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Gary Barta said the coaching change could be part of the discussion if Notre Dame is involved in the final discussion.
College football is covered by Yahoo Sports.
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Gary Barta said that the committee could view Notre Dame next week.
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The athletic director will make sure the team is in good hands, according to Kelly, who won't be involved in the Irish's postseason coaching staff.
"I think you're one of the best teams in the country," he said. Jack is going to get someone that will continue to lead this program. I hope that it means that you're playing for the national championship, because you absolutely deserve it, because I don't know what it holds for us moving forward.
Kelly didn't meet with any of the assistant coaches who were present for the meeting and didn't take questions from anyone in attendance. He felt it was best for his family that he take the LSU job.
The meeting was closed by him.
I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you directly, and I would also like to thank you for allowing me to pursue what I love to do. No matter what happens, you will continue to achieve at the highest level and have great success. It's a sad day, but I know that each one of you will do great things, and you have more to do. I would like to thank you for the opportunity that you've given me and my family. Thank you guys for that.
The Notre Dame program had 21 wins from the 2012 and '13 seasons taken away by the NCAA because of academic misconduct, but Kelly's record was still a great 112-40. In the past five seasons, the Fighting Irish have won at least 10 games.
He didn't provide a timetable for naming a replacement for Kelly, but he was not surprised by his decision to leave. It's possible that the team finishes the season without a full-time coach, and that's before a new one is hired.
If at least two teams from the group of Michigan, Alabama, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State lose in the conference title games Saturday, Notre Dame could still earn a spot in the CFP.
