Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly says Charlie Strong will win big at Texas

Published May. 12, 2015 5:19 p.m. ET

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Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly seems to be a big fan of Charlie Strong, predicting that the second-year Longhorns coach will do at Texas what he did at Louisville -- win.

"We all know what he did at Louisville, and he’s going to do it at Texas, it’s just going to be a matter of time," Kelly said during a recent appearance on KRLD-FM 105.3 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Kelly surely prefers Texas' upward trajectory to take off some time after the Horns depart South Bend following their 2015 season-opener. Texas will play at Notre Dame in a nationally televised prime-time game on Sept. 5.

Strong finished his first season at Texas with a 6-7 record, and ended the season on a sour note following a disastrous regular-season finale against Big 12 co-champ TCU and an ugly bowl loss to Arkansas in which the Horns' offense was completely inept.

Texas is changing offensive styles, moving to a spread, more up-tempo attack, but Strong still doesn't know who his starting quarterback will be, Tyrone Swoopes or Jerrod Heard. It appears it won't be former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson, who is transferring for his final season after an erratic and disappointing 2014.

According to FOX Sports' Bruce Feldman, Texas has interest in Golson, but Florida State appears to have the edge.

Here's Kelly's full comments on Strong and the Longhorns:

“Well certainly Texas is tradition. Texas is obviously incredible football when you talk about high school football and on up, you know what kinds of players you’re going tot get," Kelly said. "Coach Strong has gotten a year under his belt to exert his style on that program. We all know what he did at Louisville, and he’s going to do it at Texas, it’s just going to be a matter of time. He’s going to have that program back to where it’s been, competing for championships, but it takes some time.

"It’s a different style and a personality from coach [Mack] Brown, who I admire and respect greatly, but there’s two different styles and personalities. There’s a bit of a transition there. They’re going to be physical on defense; they’re going to be multiple. And then when they get their players in place offensively, they’ll be difficult to defend.

"We just think it's a great matchup between two schools that have great traditions, obviously care a lot about academics and that's why we wanted to enter into this agreement of playing the University of Texas."

(h/t Dallas Morning News)

Photo Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

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