Kelly Tells Team He's 'Here to Stay,' But Won't Address Future After Game

• • Brett McMurphy
  • 
    

PITTSBURGH -- Cincinnati wide receiver Mardy Gilyard told FanHouse that Coach Brian Kelly said he will not go to Notre Dame, but Kelly would not address the situation after the Bearcats' 45-44 victory at Pittsburgh.

"We ain't going to lose him," Gilyard told FanHouse. "He ain't going nowhere. He already addressed the team on that a couple of days ago.

"That's dust under the rug. It's been popping up everywhere. Coach, he didn't shy away from it. Coach said, 'Listen guys, I'm here. I'm here to stay. I like you guys. I like the city. I like my team.' He's never lied to me personally."

However, Kelly told the ABC broadcast crew Wednesday that he would "entertain" Notre Dame's request if they wanted to talk to him about the vacant Irish coaching position, ESPN reported.

Kelly was evasive after Saturday's victory about his future.

"I'm not going to talk about any job situations," Kelly said. "I'm going to enjoy this victory. If anyone else wants to ask a question, here's the response you'll get: 'let's talk about back to back championship teams and these kids.' That's the focus."

Kelly was then asked about his comments to ABC made earlier in the week.

"I'm not going to get into any of that," Kelly said. "I think we've all learned a lot of things in the last couple of weeks, OK? There is more misinformation out there and you folks need to get a handle on it, because it's ridiculous. I'm going to talk about back-to-back championships and I'm going to talk about this football team." Kelly had said this week that he promised fans he would focus on the upcoming game against Pittsburgh and said any speculation about his interest with the Notre Dame opening wouldn't be a distraction.

But Kelly told the ABC crew that worked the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game, he would entertain the Irish's request, so long as they didn't broadcast it until after the start of Saturday's game.