Brian Kelly staying at Notre Dame

Notre Dame has announced that Brian Kelly will be staying on as the Fighting Irish head coach, ending any speculation that he would jump to the NFL to become head coach of the Eagles.

"This week I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach," said Kelly. "Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame."

The news comes just hours after the Eagles scheduled interview with Seattle DC Gus Bradley, who according to Geoff Mosher is believed to be their top choice. So the news could certainly mean that Kelly just wanted to stay at Notre Dame or it could be that the Eagles told him Bradley was their guy.

As we noted earlier, Kelly really needed to wrap up his situation by the end of the weekend, so the fact that the news came so soon is no surprise. Kelly's decision also means that the next Eagles head coach will not be coming from the college ranks. The Eagles actually confirmed this in a statement on their website.

"There is no question we spent a considerable amount of time and effort looking at who we thought were the best collegiate candidates for our head coaching job. We did so knowing that there was a remote chance that these coaches would leave their current posts.

"We understood that going into the process, but we wanted to leave no stone unturned while trying to find the best head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have no regrets about the effort we made in that direction and we will continue to proceed as planned in our search."

So where does this leave the Eagles search? Jay Gruden has an interview scheduled for Monday and Bruce Arians is set for Tuesday. However, if Atlanta were to beat the Seahawks tomorrow, the Eagles could move to wrap up Gus Bradley quickly.