Brian Kelly was feeling cheery after Notre Dame's win vs. Michigan State.
Notre Dame players circled around Brian Kelly as the coach danced in the visiting locker room following Saturday's 38-18 victory at Michigan State.
"Dancing with the Stars" isn't in Kelly's future, but the moves did catch the attention of his wife, Paqui.
"My wife informed me that I cannot decline any dances with her in the future," Kelly joked on Sunday.
The Irish (3-1) continued moving in the right direction by winning their second consecutive road game.
Quarterback Brandon Wimbush got into a passing rhythm early on the way to completing 14 of 20 for 173 yards and a touchdown. Notre Dame's first five plays were passes, and Wimbush completed four of them."I just feel like getting the quarterback off with some quick throws, some easy throws to get into a rhythm was important," Kelly said. "I wanted to make sure that (offensive coordinator) Chip (Long) got some openers for him ... and get him into a nice rhythm, which he did."
The previous game against Boston College, Wimbush completed 11 of 24 passes for 96 yards. Kelly said the coaching staff made a slight adjustment to Wimbush's throwing motion, instructing him to hold the ball higher during throws.
The Megaphone is coming home!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/DHv0zz2r9l
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 24, 2017
"It's not uncommon when you go through the volume in terms of preseason camp and all the throwing that sometimes the ball drops a little bit," Kelly said. "It was just a slight adjustment, and he's throwing the ball perfectly."
Notre Dame forced three more turnovers, giving it nine takeaways this season. In one crucial sequence, cornerback Shaun Crawford forced a fumble and recovered it in the Spartans' end zone for a touchdback in the second quarter.
"Those are the little things that you have to do," Kelly said. "You've got to be smart as a football team, too, and ... we're playing much smarter. Turnover-free on the offensive side of the ball, and coming up with a play like (Crawford's) and playing really smart football on the road, those are the traits that you need to be successful."
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The traits have led to another road win, and the postgame dance moves.
"When you have those opportunities to enjoy it, they're kids, they're young, and sometimes we need to share that with them and be young," Kelly said. "You're with young guys all the time, and it's important that you get to share that with them.
"I made a promise to them that we'd get that megaphone (trophy) back, so I wanted to make sure that we were able to present it to them."
This article is written by Lamond Pope from Chicago Tribune and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
