Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly Sparks Backlash for Joking His ‘Team Needs To Be Executed’ After Florida State Game

Norte Dame football coach Brian Kelly made a joke after his team’s win against Florida State … and it did not go over well.

While Notre Dame won on Sunday, the team blew a 38-20 lead, ultimately beating the Seminoles with a final score of 41-38.

When later asked about his team’s performance by ESPN’s Katie George, Kelly attempted to pay homage to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay.

“I’m in favor of execution,” Kelly joked. “Maybe our entire team needs to be executed after tonight. We just didn’t execute very well.”

Kelly was attempting to reference a McKay quote, but apparently, he didn’t execute the joke very well either, sparking a backlash on Twitter:

Brian Kelly pic.twitter.com/YnHNa6ipg6

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly telling every media member how he wants to execute his playershttps://t.co/nbpOLkI8sE

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly getting ready for practice this week ? pic.twitter.com/56ZCfxfB3d

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly pic.twitter.com/T54bBNgmJ5

— Kyle Koster (@KyleKoster) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly’s postgame strategy next week pic.twitter.com/Jp1H4sYtYI

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 6, 2021

Most had no idea ..but you should start by saying “a great head coach John McKay once said…… #BrianKelly

— Mike North (@North2North) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly is an ass. That’s it, that’s the tweet.

— Pat Huggins (@phuggsports) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly’s biggest infraction last night was botching an old John McKay line… if you’re outraged right now, lighten up. Kelly lacks wit and comedic timing, but pretty certain he does not condone the execution of student-athletes who nearly blow second-half leads

— Rich Cirminiello (@RichCirminiello) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly should be fired for butchering a previously funny joke so badly.

— Jeff Asher (@Crimealytics) September 6, 2021

Yes, Brian Kelly was trying to make a joke in reference to John McKay, but it fell flat cause he completely fumbled the joke’s execution lol

— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly should have been fired years ago and handed a massive show-cause penalty https://t.co/GGIxtuPnGj

— Avry’s Sports Show (@Avry) September 6, 2021

Reporter: “What do you think of your team’s execution?”

Brian Kelly: “GOTCHA!!!” pic.twitter.com/Gt4qCUzz2M

— Evan Schreiber (@SchreiberEvan) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly was attempting to quote the late John McKay…1976 was a different time, man pic.twitter.com/b7bWYlWLpK

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly TBH pic.twitter.com/yY3KPoPrpX

— Michael Schottey (@Schottey) September 6, 2021

Honestly just mad that Brian Kelly took a perfectly good joke and butchered it. I didn’t know it was possible to do such a poor job delivering a punchline.

— Christopher Price (@cpriceglobe) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly just revealed to the entire country he has no sense of humor and doesn’t even realize it. What an L. https://t.co/y1jM7XV0WO

— Khari Thompson (@kdthompson5) September 6, 2021

Very easy to dislike Brian Kelly

— Chris Trapasso (@ChrisTrapasso) September 6, 2021

Texted my family after ND game about Brian Kelly’s behavior and it’s telling that, on a night where he’d joked about executing his team, at least one person assumed I was talking about his antics towards the refs.

— Andrew Kahn (@AndrewKahn) September 6, 2021

The worst part about Brian Kelly last night is that he both A) had clearly decided to make that joke before hand as HE set himself up for it and B) had a chance to bail out of it and pushed through when it made no sense.#StopBadJokes#KnowWhenYouArentFunny

— Josh McCuistion (@Josh_Scoop) September 6, 2021

Admittedly fell asleep in the 4th last night so I’m just seeing the Brian Kelly quote and YIKES!

I understand what he was trying to replicate but it’s a different time, situation, and he may wanna remember his own history before going with “execution” for his players.

— Greg Vorse TV (@GregVorse) September 6, 2021

Took an allergy pill last night and slept like 10 hours and woke up bleary eyed and confused, opened Twitter an—BRIAN KELLY SAID WHAT

— Amanda Mull (@amandamull) September 6, 2021

Incredible how badly Brian Kelly executed this ‘joke.’https://t.co/3qJPz5Oy8p

— Nathan Kalman-Lamb (@nkalamb) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly wakin up like pic.twitter.com/Z5C0bXaTvq

— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) September 6, 2021

Brian Kelly trying John McKay’s joke: pic.twitter.com/kgAzgWrgXp

— Ken Carman (@KenCarman) September 6, 2021

John McKay’s one-liner was actually funny because it happened organically while he responded to a question. Brian Kelly forced it with his own set up. Obviously, he’s no John McKay. https://t.co/DFpGBqIQSU

— Jason Reid (@JReidESPN) September 6, 2021

“It’s an old John McKay quote,” Kelly later told reporters in Tallahassee. “I was kidding. It was tongue-in-cheek. It wasn’t funny? … I was talking and making a joke about it. It was taken serious? Are you people crazy?”

Watch above, via YouTube.