The Cincinnati Bearcats got a massive resume win over Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. The fact that Kelly used to coach the Bearcats was not lost on anyone, either.
Cincinnati came armed and ready on social media after their 24-13 win. Most notable was a video of various comments made by Kelly during his time at Cincinnati, stitched together to sound like he was praising the Bearcats’ performance.
Big win for the Bearcats in South Bend!
You heard the man, Cincinnati is the place to be! pic.twitter.com/n5CQq8vBrw
— Cincinnati Bearcats (@GoBEARCATS) October 2, 2021
That wasn’t all. The Bearcats also referenced a comment Kelly made in the leadup to Saturday’s game in which he said he wanted to give schools like Cincinnati “an opportunity to play Notre Dame.” Some Cincinnati fans found the comment from their former coach patronizing, and the team’s Twitter account didn’t let it go unnoticed.
Just grateful for this opportunity.
Thank you, @CoachBrianKelly!Final from South Bend.#Bearcats pic.twitter.com/lEqnKjIW72
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) October 2, 2021
Kelly replaced Charlie Weis at Notre Dame in December 2009, having left Cincinnati to do so. That still stings for some in southwest Ohio, and you can hardly blame the Bearcats’ social media folks for embracing that. Kelly probably should have seen it coming, especially since he’s been motivated by perceived slights in the past, too.
